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 6
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The success of Dr. Sewell is easily traceable to the fact that he has unbounded faith in the best tenets of a great profession, and determina- tion sufficient to keep pace with its advancement as developed in all parts of the world. Then, too, he has grasped the spirit of push and enter- prise of the locality of which he is a part, and has associated himself with its most intelligent and material advancement. As a result of his lucrative practice here and elsewhere, he now owns considerable property in and near Tecum- seh, and anticipates a permanent residence within the borders of the town. A Democrat in pol- itics, he yet has no aspirations towards political preferment, owing to a desire to devote all of his time to his life work. He has always been devoted to the interests of the Baptist Church, and has been a member since his twentieth year. Fraternally, he is associated with the Independ- ent Order of Odd Fellows, has taken the Royal Arch degree in Masonry, and belongs to the Knights of Pythias.
W T. VOWELL. The remunerative and well-developed claim of Mr. Vowell is located on the northeast quarter of sec- tion 35, township 9. range 3 west, Cleveland county. To this original claim he added, in 1896, by the purchase of the southwest quarter of section 35, of the same township and range. Ilis land is under a high state of cultivation and the residence and outbuildings are requisite for the demands to which they are put.
Like most who turn their attention to tilling the soil, Mr. Vowell had the advantage of gen- eral instruction along that line in early life. He was born in Randolph county, Ala., October 15,
W. J. FARIS, M. D., Kremlin.
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1863, and is a son of Marion and Amanda (Cock- rell) Vowell. He lived on his father's farm until about twenty years of age and received a fair common-school education. In 1884 he went to Texas in hopes of brightening his prospects, and worked by the month in Hunt county, and for about seven years Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mis- souri and Kansas were the scenes of his varied efforts. Being a good and painstaking workman he rarely had trouble in finding something to do, and, during his travels and different occupations, managed to save a fair amount of money.
A few days after the opening, in 1889, Mr. Vowell located on the claim which has since been his home, and for $30 bought out the man who had previously aspired to it. After coming to Oklahoma he married, in 1892, Eva Green, of Cleveland county, and a native of Hopkins county, Tex. She is a daughter of C. M. and Mary Green, and has proved of valuable assist- ance to her husband since their marriage. Mrs. Vowell came to the territory in 1891 with her parents. To Mr. and Mrs. Vowell have been born five children: Jessie, Homer, Myrtis, Phoebe and Walter. Mr. Vowell is a believer in the principles and issues of the Democratic party, and, although interested in all of its undertak- ings, has never sought political preferment for himself. He is a hard working and conscien- tious farmer and a good friend and neighbor.
W ILLIAM J. FARIS, M. D. Since com- ing to Kremlin in 1898, Dr. Faris has met with the recognition and apprecia- tion due so painstaking and erudite a student of medicine and surgery.
The youth of Dr. Faris was spent upon his father's farm in Wapello county, Iowa, where he was born November 19. 1848. His parents were Dudley and Margaret (Alstot) Faris, the former a successful agriculturist and stock- raiser. When but a boy of nine, William J. lost the best friend he had in the world, his mother, and in 1858 he was taken by his father to Ap- panoose county, where the occupation of farm- ing was continued. Owing to the arduous duties connected with the management of the farm, and the scarcity of schools in the locality, the early opportunities for acquiring an education were rather meager. When a boy of fourteen, Octo- ber 21, 1863, he was initiated into the serious- ness and tragedy of life, when he enlisted in Company I, Ninth Iowa Cavalry, and served during the Civil war until March 15, 1866. The greater part of the time the regiment was in Arkansas, and was engaged in many of the nu- merous skirmishes which took place in va- rious parts of that state during the year 1864, and he had many narrow escapes,
but not once during his service was he either badly wounded, nor was he captured. He suf- fered some inconvenience from being thrown from a horse, and as a result was ordered discharged. For a time he was in the hos- pital at Little Rock, and was there at the presidential election in 1864. Because of the scarcity of men, his discharge was not permitted to take effect, and after remaining in the hospital about one month was, at his own request, re- turned to his regiment, which was stationed at Brownsville, on the Memphis & Little Rock railroad. In December of this same year a por- tion of his regiment, together with some of the Eighth Missouri Cavalry and a part of the Tenth Illinois Cavalry, made a campaign from Browns- ville to Augusta, on White river. While on this expedition the soldier and about twenty of his comrades were ordered to remove two wagons from a swollen stream, the mules having been drowned. This was a time when our young soldier was "cool in action," as the ice was float- ing on the water. It was from exposure during this trip that the boy of but sixteen has never fully recovered. The officer in charge of the detachment was Major Edgar T. Ensign, now of Colorado Springs.
After the suspension of hostilities, Mr. Faris returned to his home in Iowa. At the time he could neither write nor figure, although he had learned to read. From the moment of his return he set about to acquire an education, and began at the bottom in the little schoolhouse on his father's farm. The following summer found him busily engaged in assisting his father in the per- formance of his duties, and in this way he man- aged to save sufficient money to further his plan for a higher education. In 1870 he entered the Garden Grove Seminary, under Prof. Richard A. Harkness, and after remaining there for a year, discontinued his study to engage in school teaching. His field of operation covered Wayne and Appanoose counties, and Reno county. Kans., where, in 1873, he took up a homestead. He studied medicine under Dr. E. P. Burton, of New York, Iowa, a surgeon in the Civil war and one of the ablest medical practitioners in that part of the state. In the spring of 1878 he attended a course of lectures at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Keokuk, and was graduated with honors in the class of 1879.
As a preliminary to his years of extended usc- fulness and research, Dr. Faris began the prac- tice of medicine in Iconium, Appanoose county. Iowa, remaining there for two years, and subse- quently spending the same length of time in Confidence. Upon locating at Montrose, Colo .. he was appointed physician and surgeon of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad Company, and also served as medical examiner on the pension
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board. Owing to failing health, he undertook a trip to Florida in 1885, and for a time was located at Dade City. Still in search of renewed strength, he went to the Pacific coast, visiting Oregon, California and Arizona, and was in California during the campaign of 1888. Upon returning east in 1890, he entered the St. Louis Polyclinic, and took a post-graduate course, and . in the fall of 1890 went to New Mexico, where he remained for about a year. September 4, 1892, in Lyons, Kans., Dr. Faris married Me- lissa A. Kleiner, of Otterville, Cooper county, Mo., and a native of Sedalia, Mo. Mrs. Faris died in 1895, and left one child, David Kleiner.'
Upon coming to Oklahoma in 1891, Dr. Faris located at Moore, Cleveland county, and in 1898 took up his permanent residence in Kremlin, since which he has built up a large practice, and is considered one of the most reliable and enter- prising citizens and physicians in the locality. Dr. Faris is a believer in the principles of the Republican party, and voted for U. S. Grant in 1872. While a resident of Wayne county, he was a candidate before the convention for county superintendent of schools, but did not secure the nomination. He is a member of the Central Dis- trict Medical Association, and fraternally is as- sociated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, at Montrose, Colo., being a charter member. He is also connected with the Grand Army of the Republic.
R. F. O'REAR, M. D. While living in his adopted town of Jefferson, Grant county, Dr. O'Rear has gained the confidence and esteem of a large portion of the community, through the exercise of his broadly acquired knowledge of his profession, and his skill in diagnosis and treatment.
A son of Newton and Cynthia (Evans) O'Rear, the doctor was born in Kentucky, in 1841. His parents were also natives of Kentucky, and his grandparents were very early settlers in that part of the country, the paternal grandfather coming from Virginia. Grandmother Evans was obliged to hide in cane-brakes to escape the notice and persecutions of the Indians, who were at that early day very troublesome mem- bers of society. In fact, most of the early rec- ollections of the grandparents were inseparably interwoven with the deeds of daring and blood- shed of these red men, who considered the pale- face an intrusion.
At the age of sixteen years R. F. O'Rear left his native town of Mount Sterling, wherein he had received an excellent common-school edu- cation, and went to Indiana, where he continued to educate himself for the four succeeding years. April 16, 1861, he enlisted in Company G,
Eleventh Indiana Infantry, and after the time of service had expired, re-enlisted in the Home Guard, and served for three years. He read medicine by himself, and practiced for several years in order to raise the money for superior opportunities and advantages in the way of his profession. When in a position to do so, he entered the Indiana Medical College, at Indian- apolis, from which he was graduated in 1874 and 1875.
In North Salem, Ind., Dr. O'Rear entered upon the duties of his profession, and remained there eleven years. In 1883 he went to Inde- pendence, Kans., and ministered to the needs of suffering humanity for ten years. He was united in marriage at Jamestown, Ind., in 1864, with Mary Bamish, a daughter of William and Catherine Bamish, of Hendricks county, Ind. To this couple have been born five children: N. W., who is editor of the Port Townsend Leader, in Washington; Pascal O., a veterinary surgeon at Indianapolis; Odo C., a student in a dental college in Indianapolis; Cushman D .: and Mary E., living in Port Townsend, Wash.
The doctor was one of the first settlers in Jefferson, and, upon taking up his residence in the town, at once opened a drug store, which he has since continued to conduct. The com- bined enterprises of his drug store and medical practice have enabled him to amass considerable property in Jefferson, which is substantial evi- dence of his success along the lines of his chosen work. In politics Dr. O'Rear is a genuine Re- publican, and is a warm admirer of the princi- ples laid down and practiced by Abraham Lin- coln. His family and himself are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church and contribute generously towards its support. Fraternally he is connected with the Masons. Odd Fellows. Modern Woodmen of the World, and the Red Men. He joined the Odd Fellows December 27, 1863, at North Salem, Ind. During all this time he has never been delinquent in paying his dues, nor has he ever been obliged to draw a benefit, even to the extent of a dollar.
J. W. STOW, who has been serving as county . treasurer of Cleveland county since Jan- uary, 1899, has made an efficient officer. and has won the commendation of the public by his clever management of the affairs entrusted to him. Since the opening of this county he has been actively associated with its develop- ment, and in many ways has earned the right to be numbered among its founders.
A son of William and Elizabeth (Kattes) Stow, our subject is of English and German an- cestry, the Stows having originally located in Virginia and the Kattes in Pennsylvania. His
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father was born in Kentucky and his grand- father, Marvel Stow, also a native of the Blue Grass state, was a pioneer of Jefferson county, Mo. He owned a farm in the vicinity of St. Louis for a long period and passed his declining years in Henry county, Mo., dying when nearly four-score. William Stow was a farmer of Henry county in his early manhood, and in 1879 set- tled in Elk county, Kans., where he improved a homestead. During the past four years he has been engaged in farming in this county, and since coming here death deprived him of his faithful wife. She was born in Pennsylvania, as also was her father, Joseph Kattes. At an early day he took up his abode in Jefferson county, Mo., and at length, during the Civil war, he de- cided to become a resident of Texas. On his way to that state, while passing through Arkan- sas, he was killed by a band of Indians, who had left the Indian Territory and were on the war- path, taking advantage of the great Civil war then being waged.
Born on tlie old farm in Henry county, Mo., December 16, 1859, J. W. Stow shared the for- tunes of the family, removing to Elk county, ' Kans., when twenty years of age. His eldest brother, Edward, is a farmer of Grant county, Okla., and M. J. operates a farm and cotton-gin in this county. Joel died at the old Missouri home, and Mrs. Lucy Wade died in this terri- tory. Mrs. Anna Llewellyn is a resident of Mul- hall, Okla.
After working on the new farm in Elk county for about a year, J. W. Stow went to Belton, Tex., where he soon purchased some land, and proceeded to cultivate the soil. He prospered, as he deserved to do, gradually amassing a com- petence. In January, 1891, he came to Okla- homa, and awaited the Pottawatomie opening. September 22 he located a claim in the south- eastern part of section 13. township 10, range I west, and since that time has managed the prop- erty. A substantial house and other farm build- ings now stand on the farm, which the owner has improved in many material ways.
In 1894 Mr. Stow was nominated on the Peo- ple's ticket as county commissioner, and was elected, receiving within five votes of the com- bined majority votes of the other parties. In the second year of his office he was made chairman of the board, but in May, 1896, he resigned and resumed his accustomed agricultural labors. In the fall of 1898 his friends again brought for- ward his name, and, having nominated him, suc- ceeded in electing him to the important position he now occupies, that of county treasurer. In 1900 he was renominated and again elected. Though he continues to have his farm culti- vated, he and the members of his family have lived in Norman since he entered upon his new
duties. In his own township he served as a member of the school board for several years, and was clerk of that body for four years. Fra- ternally, he is a member of the Modern Wood- men of America.
In Bell county, Tex., Mr. Stow married Miss Georgie Ellis, who was born in Alabama and was reared in Mississippi and Texas. Six children bless this union, namely: Anna, J. W., Jr., Ethan A., Marion, Eli and Gertrude. Mrs. Stow, who is a member of the Baptist Church, is a lady of amiable qualities, and is a fine type of the south- ern woman.
D. W. STRAIN, contractor, builder and man- ufacturer of brick at Tecumseh, has been unusually successful in his chosen line of work, and has the while materially contributed towards the growth of the town, which bids fair to be numbered with the most progressive in the territory.
The youth of Mr. Strain was somewhat shad- owed with unforeseen vicissitudes, and the early necessity of earning a livelihood placed him in touch with the graver and more responsible as- pects of life. A native of Highland county, Ohio, he was born September 8, 1842, and is a son of James and Jane (Watts) Strain. A mill- wright by occupation, James Strain removed to Knox county, Ill., shortly before his death, when his son was about fourteen or fifteen years of age. Thrown thus upon his own responsi- bility, the lad turned his attention to a mastery of the carpenter's trade, in which he engaged until the breaking out of the Civil war. In Knox county, Ill., he enlisted in Company D, First Illinois Cavalry, and was sent to Missouri, where he participated in the battle of Lexington. In company with others, he was captured, and pa- roled the next day, and sent across the Missouri river, where they were marched for about sixty miles. The following February he was called 'back to service, and while guarding supply trains on the road near Batesville, Ark., it de- veloped that they had not been exchanged, and they were mustered out and sent home. The following August Mr. Strain enlisted in Com- pany I, Eighty-third Illinois Infantry, and was sent to Cairo, and thence, to Fort Donelson. where they had a battle September 3, 1863. They subsequently went to Clarksville, Tenn., and remained there until the close of the war, and gained for their regiment the name of "feather- bed," owing to the absence of the necessity for work of any kind.
After the restoration of peace, Mr. Strain re- turned to Knox county, and later, in Rock Is- land, engaged with Wright & Taylor, coll- tractors and builders. After the expiration of a
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year, he was employed by the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad to attend to the con- struction of depots and bridges, and in 1869 went to Missouri and worked for the Atlantic & Pacific Railroad, between Raleigh and Neo- sha. In the fall of 1870 he removed to Hood county, Tex., where he began to contract for the erection of court-houses. These contracts called for so much brick that he began the manufac- ture of brick, in which he has since been en- gaged. While living in Texas he met with a gratifying degree of success. In 1894 he re- moved to Norman, Okla., and erected the public school buildings, and was foreman during the erection of the insane asylum.
In 1896 Mr. Strain took up his permanent residence in Tecumseh, and almost immediately built the brick jail building, two stories high, and 46x48 feet in dimensions. For this building he burnt his own brick. He also made plans for the court-house, but was underbid, but has since had contracts for every other brick building in Tecumseh. At the present time he has contracts for four other buildings, and several more are "hanging fire." The brick-yard of which Mr. Strain is the owner and proprietor has a capacity of fifteen thousand bricks a day.
In Hood county, Tex., March 5, 1873, Mr. Strain married Addie Grundy, a native of Mar- lin, Falls county, Tex. Of this union there are six children, three living: Georgia married John H. Gill, has one child, and lives at Houston, Tex .; Jimmie L., is the wife of George L. Rose, abstract and loan agent in Tecumseh; and Felix is learning his father's business and lives at home. In national politics Mr. Strain is a Re- publican, but has no desire for political prefer- ment. Fraternally, he is associated with the Masons, and has taken the Royal Arch and the Council degrees.
C HARLES S. WATSON. As a wholesale and retail hardware merchant in Pond Creek, Mr. Watson has evinced a com- mendable degree of enterprise and has built up for himself a large patronage among the class of people who appreciate his reliable business meth- ods and readiness to please.
A native of DeKalb county, Ill., Mr. Watson was born in 1863, and is a son of Nelson L. and Mary E. Watson, natives, respectively, of Penn- sylvania and Illinois. The parents left their farm in Illinois in 1870 and took up their residence in Sedgwick county, Kans., where Charles S. grew to manhood and received his education in the public schools.
At the age of twenty-three Mr. Watson started out in the world for himself, and engaged in the lumber business at Andale, Kans., continuing in
the same line of occupation until the opening of the strip in 1893. In 1888 he married Mary .1. Harrover, a daughter of Alexander and Emma Harrover, of Sedgwick county, Kans. Of this union there have been two children, who are both at home: Frank N., ten years of age, and Stewart A., who is four years old.
In September of 1893 Mr. Watson came to Pond Creek and opened a hardware business. laying in a most complete line of hardware and agricultural implements. His affairs are con- ducted in a store erected by himself, and he has further evinced his interest in the town and his success by erecting a comfortable residence. He is regarded as a valuable acquisition to the city of his adoption, and his public-spirited efforts for its improvement have met with hearty co-opera- tion and support.
E DMOND K. WILLIAMS. To a degree Mr. Williams inherits his ability in a mer- cantile way, his father having been a mer- chant during the greater part of his useful and enterprising life. He was born in Ohio in 1860, and is a son of D. L. and F. R. Williams, natives, respectively, of Pennsylvania and Ohio. D. L. Williams died in Omaha in 1899, but his wife survives him and is living with her son in Med- ford.
E. K. Williams was reared in Delphos, Allen county, Ohio, and added to an excellent home training and the example of worthy parents, he was educated in the public schools and in the high school, from which he graduated. At the age of twenty-one he decided to start in business for himself, and with this in view entered the mercantile occupation with relatives in the east, and later continued the same line of work in Kansas, where he staid for two years, being for a time in Winfield, of the same state. July 23. 1896, he came to Oklahoma and located in Grant county, on the ground where Renfrow is now situated, and built the first house there one year before the general activity commenced. The building is 25x60 feet in dimensions, and con- tains the finest, largest and most varied assort- ment of goods in the general merchandise line of any store in town. Mr. Williams also owns a residence which he bought after it was con- structed, and which adds to the appearance of the town by its comfortable and homelike aspect.
At Oneida, Kans., in 1884, occurred the mar- riage of Mr. Williams and Gertie J. Turk. a daughter of A. W. Turk. Of this union there are four children, viz .: Guy, Glen, Gilmore and New- ton. The boys are all at home. In politics Mr. Williams adheres to the principles laid down by the Republican party, but has never been an office-seeker. Fraternally he is associated with
MR. AND MRS. BENAMAH KRUG, Garfield County.
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the Ancient Order of United Workmen, at Ma- rion, Kans. The family are devoted members of the Methodist Episcopal Church and are greatly interested in the new structure which is at the present time being erected. The town of Ren- frow derives its name from ex-Governor Ren- frow.
Mr. Williams is entitled to the respect and es- teem which his fellow-townsmen readily accord him and to the patronage which is his by right of upright business methods and strict attention to the duties which its proper management in- volve.
B ENAMAH KRUG. During his younger days Mr. Krug lived in a number of local- ities and engaged in various occupations. He is now a well-known farmer of Garfield county, residing on section 35, township 23, range 6. A son of Samuel and Dorothy (Myers) Krug, he was born in Lancaster county, Pa., May 8, 1842. His paternal grandfather, Hein- rich Krug, was a native of Germany, and settled in Lancaster county on his arrival in America. When our subject was thirteen years of age he accompanied his parents to Stark county, Ohio, the family buying land eighteen miles west of Canton, and there he grew to manhood. Be- sides learning how to conduct a farm he man- aged to acquire a fair education through the medium of home study.
While still on his father's farm Mr. Krug en- listed in the army. He served first with the vol- unteers in Company F, Fourth Ohio Infantry, and took part in a few skirmishes in West Vir- ginia. Upon re-enlisting in the same company he served until October, 1863, when he was dis- charged for general disability. Though not se- riously wounded in the service, he was several times temporarily disabled, his most alarming catastrophe being the loss of the hearing in one ear, caused by the bursting of an ear drum while he was serving in the artillery. He has never recovered his hearing in that ear. A day was as long as he was ever in a hospital. Among the engagements in which he took part were the Seven Days' battle on the peninsula and the bat- tles of Gettysburg and Chancellorsville.
After the war Mr. Krug returned to his former home in Stark county, Ohio. There, in Septem- ber, 1864. he married Harriet Yost, of the same county. She was born near Chambersburg, Pa., a daughter of Peter and Elizabeth (Bender) Yost, natives, respectively, of Germany and Pennsylvania. When she was four years of age she was taken by her parents to Ohio and there received a common-school education.
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