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 69
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J AMES POULTON comes of an old Penn- sylvania family which was identified with the Society of Friends. His great-grand- father Poulton was a native of Scotland, and his maternal great-grandfather, Townsend Hall, served in the War for Independence of the thir- teen colonies of the United States. Both were early colonists of Virginia, and both are sleeping their last sleep in Hampton church-yard, one of the oldest cemeteries in Virginia.
The birth of James Poulton took place in the Keystone state sixty years ago, his parents, James and Sarah (Hall) Poulton, also being natives of the same state. He lived upon a farm and received the usual advantages of a country boy, his elementary education being gained in the district school. At the breaking out of the Civil war he volunteered in Company M, Eighth Pennsylvania Cavalry, and served for four long years, being mustered out in Lynchburg. Va., and being honorably discharged in August, 1865. Among the numerous important battles in which he gallantly bore a part are the famous Williams- burg, Fair Oaks, seven days' Wilderness fight, Antietam, Gettysburg, Fredericksburg, Mal- vern Hill and the second battle of Bull Run.
Returning to the old homestead James Peul- ton remained there for two years, after which he went to Cook county, Ill., and conducted a farm for five years. He then went to Lee county, Iowa, with whose interests his own were closely associated for seven years. During the five years that followed he lived in Adair county, Mo., and then, until 1885, dwelt in Cowley county, Kans. Fifteen years ago he came to this territory and leased land from the Indians, and ever since has resided here or in the Pawnee reservation. In 1892 he held the responsible position of manager of the government farm at the Pawnee agency, winning the approval of the authorities over him. In 1803 he made the race into Pawnee county, and located a claim. which he afterward sold. He now resides upon
his son's farm, which is situated in the southcast- ern part of section 23, township 23, range 4 cast.
In 1868 the marriage of Mr. Poulton and Miss Mary H. Bice was solemnized in Trenton, N. J. She is a daughter of Pennsylvanians, Aaronr and Martha Bice. The first-born of our subject and wife is Jesse, now an enterprising stock-dealer at Coldwater, Kans. The next son, William, and the two married daughters, Mrs. Neilie Schrofe and Mrs. Flora Schrofe, reside in the Osage Nation. The younger children, Charles, Clyde, Adrian and Jenett, are living with their parents.
The first presidential ballot of Mr. Poulton was cast for Abraham Lincoln, and never since has he wavered in his allegiance to the Repub- lican party, which has carried this country for- ward to its present prosperity, though almost inseparable obstacles obstructed the path of progress at times. Though, in general, a man of peace, and a strict adherent to the rules of the Society of Friends, in which faith he was reared, Mr. Poulton hesitated not when his country was in danger to go to her assistance, and thus placed his name on the nation's roll of honor.
R EV. WHEELER M. WELLMAN. For upwards of a quarter of a century Mr. Well- man has been actively engaged in the noble work of ministering to the spiritual and tem- poral needs of the people, and wherever he has gone he has won multitudes of sincere friends. It would be impossible to more than outline his worthy career in the limitations of this arti- cle, and thousands of his friends and acquaint- ances and hosts of those not personally known to him have read with deep interest the story of his life as printed in a history of Kansas some years ago, and other sketches in various papers throughout the land.
The birth of our subject took place in Darke county, Ohio, whence he removed with his par- ents to Indiana, there spending about seven years. Later they settled in Bureau county, Ill., and young Wellman received his education in the public schools and college of Eureka, Ill. Subsequent to his graduation in 1866 he went to Clay county, Mo .. where he was the first teacher 'from the north who dared to ven- ture there after the war. His experiences often were far from pleasant, and, like his father, who . then was engaged in the practice of medicine at Kansas City, he appeared to be a special tar- get for persecution. In 1860 he went to Wilson county, Kans., where he homesteaded a tract of land, and later opened and carried on a gen- eral store in Fredonia. Having entered the min- istry in 1874 he went to Smith county, Kans .. and was ordained to the work of the Congrega-
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tional denomination. The state soon after ap- pointed him to act as special agent for the relief commission which had been appointed by Gov- ernor Osborne, to aid the poor, on account of the appalling grasshopper scourge, which dev- astated that entire western region. A large pro- portion of the seed sowed by the farmers of five counties in that section was issued by him. He heartily and willingly aided the people in a multitude of ways, aside from the actual duties of his office, and at Smith Center he built the fist church erected in the county. There he acted as pastor for three years, and for over a year also was the superintendent of the com- mon schools of the county. He organized West- ern Star Lodge No. 96, A. F. & A. M., the first blue lodge formed in the county, and there he served as state lecturer, as he had previously done in Wilson county. Later he took charge of the work of the American Sunday-school Union in northern Kansas and in 1880 he took up his residence in Kansas City, where he or- ganized the Pilgrim Congregational Church. He officiated as its pastor for five years. and at the same time was so actively occupied in his grand labors among the needy that his name became a household word throughout that region. Through his instrumentality five other churches were or- ganized and gratifying results attended him wherever he went. He next was called by the State Home Mission Board to the post of state evangelist of Nebraska. While he thus spent several useful, busy years he made his home at Omaha, going thence to all portions of the state. Perhaps his most far-reaching work was accomplished in the vicinity of Wichita, as he succeeded in raising the funds required to keep Fairmount College going for a period, tiding the institution over a crisis.
Resigning his Kansas positions in 1894, Mr. Wellman came to El Reno and became pastor of the Congregational Church. During the eight- een months of his service there he went to Bos- ton, where he succeeded in raising sufficient money to meet the indebtedness resting on the church. Afterwards he resigned the charge and in February, 1807, became the president of the Oklahoma Board of Home Missions, with special work among the Indians. He has made Darlington his headquarters, and' in addition to his regular duties he has maintained a free ยท medical dispensary and hospital for the Indians. He studied medicine years ago, knowing that it might be of great use to him in his deal- ings with the poor people, and since his gradua- tion as a physician he has reached the hearts of many in this practical, humanitarian way. The hospital and dispensary, which he supports at his own expense, is the only institution of the kind devoted to the red race in Oklahoma. An-
other of his eminently practical benevolences is the editing of the little paper known as the "Oklahoma Advance," "published in behalf of the Congregational Churches of Oklahoma and the Darlington Indian Mission:" All of the mechanical work of the journal is performed by two Indian lads about thirteen years old. In his political views Mr. Wellman is an ardent Re- publican.
The marriage of Mr. Wellman was solemnized December 18, 1870. His bride was Miss Ma- linda J. Blake, of Fredonia, and one of the suc- cessful teachers of Wilson county at that time. The eldest child of this worthy couple is Fred Creighton, who was born in Fredonia and edu- cated in the public schools of Kansas City. He was graduated in the Medical College of that place, taking first prize, and later he took a de- gree in the Chicago Theological Seminary. For three years he has served under the American Board as a missionary in western Africa, but on account of his failing health he then returned to the United States, and at present is residing in Utah with his devoted wife and their two children. Mrs. Laura Robinson, eldest daughter of our subject, and mother of two children, is the wife of Oliver T. Robinson, who holds the position of physician to the Indians at the gov- ernment Indian school at Colony, Okla. She is a graduate of Fairmount College, having been in the class of 1895, the first class receiving di- plomas at that institution. Clarence Lovejoy, named for Rev. Owen Lovejoy, the martyr, a cousin of his father, was born in the town of Blue Rapids, Kans. He, too, is obtaining an excellent preparation for his future life, as he was a student at Fairmount College for two years, then spent a year in the Oberlin (Ohio) College, and now is attending the Kansas City Medical College, where he will graduate March, 1901. Helen, the younger daughter of our sub- ject, died at the age of six years, at Mount Hope, Kans.
JOHN W. WRIGHT, one of the best citizens of Logan county, has been identified with the fortunes of Oklahoma since its opening to the occupation of the white race. . His entire life has been spent in the south, and his ances- tors on both sides of the family were residents of the Carolinas. His grandfather, Joseph Wright, was a native of Waite county, and dur- ing the war of 1812 he volunteered his services to his beloved land, and served under the lead- ership of General Jackson at the battle of New Orleans. He lived to attain a ripe age, his death occurring only some fifteen years ago.
The parents of the subject of this sketch were Aaron W. and Sarah C. (Hall) Wright, both
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natives of North Carolina. The mother's father, Enoch Hall, was one of the first settlers in the western part of the state mentioned. The mar- riage of Mr. and Mrs. Wright was solemnized in 1839, and together they pursued the journey of life for fifty-five years, the devoted wife being summoned to the better land in 1894. The father, whose home has been in Cowley county, Kans., for a number of years, remained in his native state until 1871, when he removed with his family to .Missouri.
John W. Wright was born in North Carolina October 22, 1844, and with his four brothers and three sisters was reared to habits of industry and integrity. He obtained an excellent educa- tion, and was attending an academy at the time that war was declared between the north and south. Naturally, his sympathies were with his own section of the states, and, with the enthusi- asm of a youth of eighteen years, he enlisted in the army as soon as his age permitted. In 1862 he joined the First North Carolina Battalion of Infantry, which was merged into the Sixteenthi Regiment of that state, at Greenville, Tenn. The young man soon received his baptism of blood, for he participated in the terrible battles of Shi- loh, Stone River, Jackson (Miss.), and many other important campaigns, and at all times he bravely stood at the post of duty to which he was assigned. During the fierce engagement of Chickamauga, he was captured, with twelve of his comrades, and, being sent to Camp Doug- las, Chicago, he was kept as a prisoner for seven- teen months and ten days. A complete change of views on the situation of our distraught coun- try and the right and wrong in the great ques- tions which threatened the life and prosperity of the Union came to the young man in the meantime, when he had plenty of time for thought and investigation, and in March. 1865, he enlisted in the Federal army. Happily, for all, the war soon afterward came to an end, and the passing years have gradually cemented the ties of brotherhood which every patriotic citizen of this great country hopes will never more be menaced.
When peace had been restored, young Wright resumed the cares of a business man, and in 1866 returned to North Carolina. Believing, however, that the west offered better opportu- nities to an ambitious young man. he went to- wards the setting sun in the following year, and. after another interval spent at his old home in 1868-69, he permanently cast in his lot with the trans-Mississippians. For a score of years he dwelt in Kansas, where he was successfully occupied in agricultural pursuits. On the 22nd of May, 1880, he came to Oklahoma and made the run from Guthrie to his present homestead, which is situated on section 3, township 16,
range 4, Logan county. He has made numerous improvements upon this place, and has wrought a complete transformation in its appearance. He takes genuine interest in the prosperity and advancement of his country and own neigh- borhood, and, in accordance with his political faith, he stands upon the platform of the Re- publican party.
In 1868 Mr. Wright and Margareta Hall were united in marriage at the home of her parents, T. M. and Mary (Hawkins) Hall, in North Caro- lina. The mother died in 1864, but the father is yet living at his old home in the south. Of the thirteen children born to our subject and wife, five are married and reside in this terri- tory, and eight children are still under the parental roof.
C HARLES C. WELLS. Among the native sons of Illinois which that state has, con- tributed to Oklahoma, Charles C. Wells is one of the most enterprising. Though he pos- sessed small capital when he landed here, he soon was on the highway leading to prosperity, and now is well-to-do and influential. His ex- ample as a citizen and business man is well worthy of emulation and all respect and esteem him.
For several generations the Wells family has lived in New York state. Our subject's grand- father, Jonathan Wells, went to Illinois about 1840, and became identified among the early settlers of that then new state. He owned large tracts of land and took an active part in all local affairs until his death. Our subject's father, P. L. Wells, was born in the Empire state, but was reared to maturity in McHenry county, Ill., and spent a number of years subse- quently in that locality. In 1877 he removed to Sumner county, Kans., where he dwelt for twelve years, and at the opening of Oklahoma secured a claim. After spending several years on it, he changed his place of residence, and now owns a large ranch in Woods county, and keeps a herd of about one thousand native cat- tle. His wife and their seven children are all living.
Charles C. Wells was born in McHenry county, Ill., in.1866, and consequently was eleven years old when his family became residents of Sumner county, Kans. Prior to the date of the general settlement of this territory, he, in com- pany with his father, leased a ranch near the Cimarron and Hoyle creek district, and kept cattle, usually having five hundred head. On the 22nd of April, 1889, our subject, with a mul- titude of home-seekers, raced from Buffalo Springs, some thirty miles, and secured the southwest quarter of section 33, township 17,
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range 5, Kingfisher county. To-day, after years of industry and perseverance in his undertak- ings, he has a valuable homestead, one hundred and twenty acres of which are under cultivation. A well-kept orchard of nine hundred trees yields an excellent crop each year. Mr. Wells has been especially successful as a stock-raiser, and in the winter of 1899 he fed two hundred head of cat- tle and some fine Poland-China hogs. Thus fourteen thousand bushels of corn were con- sumed, and the resources of the farm taxed to the utmost, but the venture proved a successful one.
Eight years ago Mr. Wells erected a com- fortable house here, twenty-four feet square, and the same year brought to preside over its hospitalities his bride, who, prior to their mar- riage, bore the name of Cassie Brown. Her father, Matthew Brown, is a well-known horti- culturist and farmer of Woods county, and keeps an extensive line of nursery stock. Two children bless the union of our subject and wife.
In his political faith Mr. Wells is a stalwart Republican, thoroughly believing in the wisdom of the party which has steered the ship of state through some perilous storms. He takes the part of a patriot in all public affairs, whether referring to his own community or to the coun- try in general.
H ON. F. L. WINKLER, M. D., of King- fisher, has taken an influential part in the important work of placing Oklahoma upon a safe and progressive basis in the crucial pio- neer period of its existence. A sketch of his life will prove of interest to his innumerable friends here and elsewhere, and the following facts in regard to him have been gleaned.
Of German descent on the paternal side of the family, his great-grandfather, John Winkler, was the first of the name to make a permanent settlement in America, his home being in eastern Pennsylvania. In that state George, grand- father of our subject, was born, but at an early day he removed to the wilds of Kentucky, and later located in White county, Ill. His son, John W., father of our subject, was a native of Davis county, Ky., and for a number of years was identified with the agriculturists of Illinois. Subsequent to the Civil war he removed to a farm near Irondale, Mo., and later engaged in merchandising in the same state, at a place called Winkler. Now in his seventy-ninth year, he is living retired from the arduous cares of active life. His wife, Cecelia, a native of Illinois, was a daughter of John Adams, a soldier of the war of 1812 .. ITe was born in Kentucky and at an carly day took up his abode in Illinois. IIis
wife was a Miss Warren, who came of an old southern family.
The birth of our subject occurred in Sacra- mento, Ill., June 3, 1850, and his boyhood was passed in his native state and in Missouri. In 1867 he accompanied the family from the vi- cinity of Irondale, Mo., to Phelps county, Mo., where for five years he was a teacher and prin- cipal of county schools. Ile had acquired a good general education in the public schools and Irondale Academy, and at eighteen commenced the study of medicine in Rollo, Mo., devoting his small leisure to that science. In 1872 he matriculated in the St. Louis Medical College, and in 1878 was graduated from the Medical College of the University of Iowa. He holds degrees from both colleges, and has taken two terms of special instruction in the St. Louis Post-Graduate College, and in 1891 and 1892 pursued post-graduate work in New York City. From April, 1876, to the spring of 1880, he was engaged in practice at Thomasville. Mo., the ensuing four years was located in Alton, county seat of Oregon county, Mo., and then for eight years pursued his profession in West Plains, Mo.
In 1886 Dr. Winkler was honored by the peo- ple of Howell county, who elected him to the responsible post of county treasurer, and at the close of his term he was tendered the nomina- tion for state representative, but declined. Dur- ing Cleveland's administration he was appointed a member of the board of pension examiners, and continued in that office until he removed from that locality. In July, 1892, he established himself in Kingfisher, and since that time has enjoyed a large and remunerative practice, mak- ing a specialty of diseases of the eye and ear. During Cleveland's second administration he again was appointed to the board of pension ex- aminers, and is yet acting with that body. now in the capacity of president. In 1895 he was elected mayor of Kingfisher, and at the close of his term, in 1897, was again elected to that office.
The active part which Dr. Winkler has taken in the support of the Republican party has ren- dered him extremely popular with his political brethren, and in 1898 he was nominated as rep- resentative in the territorial assembly or council. Though the fusionists of this district had a ma- jority of over three hundred, his friends carried the day, and elected him by a flattering majority of six hundred and thirty-four votes. In the fifthi general assembly he served as chairman of the committee on ways and means, and was a member of the committee on education and others. Besides, he was the author of several important bills, among them that for the estab- lishment and regulating of a territorial board of equalization. The bill providing for the crection
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W. E. GORTON, Pawnee.
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of an additional building for the Agricultural and Mechanical College, at Stillwater, was orig- inated by him, as well as the one which advanced the idea of appropriating a fund for the Langs- ton College for the Colored People, and this, it may be mentioned, recently was approved by congress. A bill introduced by him, advocating the payment of a dollar and a half, instead of a dollar, a day to jurymen of a regular postal dis- trict, was passed by the house but vetoed by the governor, and the same fate befell the county weighers' bill, of which he was the author. Though several bills which he brought before the consideration of the assembly either were not passed by that body, and subsequently were vetoed, five bills became laws, and no doubt is felt as to the wisdom and unusual forethought which he displayed in meeting many of the great local issues.
While a resident of West Plains, Mo., Dr. Winkler was initiated into Masonry, and be- came a member of the Chapter and Commandery there. . He now is affiliated with Kingfisher Lodge No. 12, A. F. & A. M .; is secretary of Kingfisher Chapter No. 8, R. A. M .; and be- longs to India Temple, Mystic Shrine. In his profession he is highly esteemed, and is identi- fied with the Territorial Medical Association.
The first marriage of the doctor took place in Phelps county, Mo., Miss Annie Field, a native of England, being the lady of his choice. She died at their Missouri home, leaving four chil- dren, namely: Mrs. Alice Harlan, of Dora, Mo .; Felix, who is engaged in the printer's trade, in St. Louis; and Lois and Emily, who live with their father. In this city Dr. Winkler married Miss Olive Bell, who was born in Flora, Ill., and by her marriage is the mother of a daughter, named in her honor, Olive.
W E. GORTON. Of all who strive for success and distinction in this busy world of competition the inventor of useful things is the most happily independent, and the most to be envied of all the toilers of men. He who invents a labor-saving device. thereby forcing the laborer to a higher plane of occupation, or makes a compulsory task easier of accomplishment, or by patient or laborious study through the long hours of the night throws his brain power into remote crevices wherein is stored some future greatness of the world, has created a landmark in the progress of events and placed a peg to the credit of talent or genius. It is likewise true that, as the farm- ers are the bulwarks of a nation, in like propor- tion is he a benefactor who assists so materially in turning the fruits of their industry to the best possible account. It is therefore surmised that
of the various lines of activity in which Mr. Gor- ton has been engaged, he is most to be com- mended as the inventor of several valuable de- vices in milling machinery, which have been found to be of practical benefit and general util- ity. That his adopted town of Pawnee should profit by his attainments is but one of the many excellent chances that have come the way of this wonderfully prosperous city and locality.
The stepping stones in the lives of all success- ful men are of interest to those who would make the most of their own gifts and opportunities. The early life of Mr. Gorton was spent in Otsego county, N. Y., where he was born November 25, 1844. Of English ancestry, the first members to settle in America cast their lot with the pio- neers of Rhode Island, and many of them fought with courage and distinction in the Revolution- ary war and in the war of 1812. The paternal great-grandfather was born in Rhode Island, and later settled in Otsego county, N. Y. He was related to the Arnolds, and General Na- thaniel Greene was of the same family. The pa- ternal grandfather married a Miss Foster, and died in Garrettsville, N. Y. The next in de- scent, Jacob Gorton, the father of W. E., was a native of Otsego county, and was a millwright by trade. For a time he conducted a saw-mill in St. Lawrence county, N. Y., and later lived in Michigan and northern Indiana, where he built and operated flour mills. His last field of effort was at Eau Claire, Wis., and at Mondova, where he built mills and operated them until his death at Eau Claire, at the age of eighty-seven years. His wife, formerly Lucina Bowen Eddy, was born in New York, and came of the old and distinguished Eddy family, of New England, and of Scotch-Irish extraction. Thomas M. Eddy, D. D., was a first cousin of Mrs. Gorton. She became the mother of five children, and died in Eau Claire, Wis. Of the three sons and two daughters, Alonzo was born in Michigan and died in Eau Claire; Laurentine was born in New York, and is a manufacturer of flour and lumber at Chippewa Falls, Wis .; Mary, the wife of Mr. Spaulding, lives in Boise City, Idaho, and is a graduate physician with an extended practice; William E. is an inventor and mill- wright of Pawnee, and Sarah is the wife of Mr. Stevens, of Eau Claire.
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