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 7
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In 1874 Mr. Krug removed from Ohio to Rice county, Kans., and a year later settled in Ness
county, but in 1877 went to Rich Hill, Mo., where he engaged in mining for five years. This was followed by six months in Cloud and Salina counties, Kans., whither he went to recuperate his failing health. His next location was Coffey county, Kans., where he engaged in farming and mining for four years. After six months in Linn county, Kans., he farmed for three years in Bourbon county, that state. At the opening of the Sac and Fox country in Oklahoma he went there, but soon returned to Kansas, settling first in Arkansas City, and later in Coldwater, where he spent a year. On his return to Oklahoma lie made the run with others and secured the claim on which he now lives. His first quarters were rather on the primitive order, and consisted of a box 8x8 feet in dimensions, which he occupied preparatory to the erection of a barn and gra- nary, and afterward he lived in the granary for two years. A more substantial place of abode became his when he erected his present dwell- ing. In December of 1893 he put peach seeds in the ground, from which he has since raised fruit, and he has a fine fruit-bearing orchard. On his farm there are also a good well, a wind- mill, a tank and many other desirable improve- ments.
Mr. Krug is public-spirited and enterprising, and is interested in all local undertakings. He is a Republican and cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln. While in Kansas he was connected with the Grand Army of the Republic. His children are: Franklin, who was born in Wayne county, Ohio, and is a farmer in Illinois; Mrs. Amanda Ward, of Colorado Springs, Colo .; Charles, at home; William, who lives in the Choctaw Nation; and Mrs. Laura Seeley, of Danville, Ill. Franklin and Amanda each have one child, while Mrs. Seeley is the mother of four children.
C HARLES M. MYERS resides on a well- improved farm on section 25, township 9. range 4 east. Pottawatomie county. He was born in Des Moines, Iowa, April 3, 1857, a son of Peter and Sarah E. (McGuire) Myers. His father, grandfather Myers and great-grand- father Myers were natives of Pennsylvania. When he was about ten years old the family re- moved to Jasper county, Mo., and there he grew to maturity. His common-school education was supplemented by a two years' course in St. Louis University, and since reaching his majority he has been self-supporting.
For several years he was engaged in the cattle business on the plains of Texas, and for five years subsequently he gave his attention to min- ing operations in Colorado. Returning home he made a long visit, and then took up his abode
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at Cimarron, Gray county, Kans., dealing in real estate, and in the meantime studying law and being admitted to the bar. The fight over the location of the county-seat then was being waged, and, though his business flourished for some time, he eventually lost everything. April 22, 1889, he made the race into this territory and secured some town lots in Kingfisher. Remain- ing there until this locality was thrown open to settlement, he filed a claim to his present home place and at once commenced cultivating the land and making improvements. Here he now has good buildings and a thrifty orchard, be- sides most of the minor attributes of a desirable farm.
In his enterprises Mr. Myers has found a true helpmate in his wife, formerly Miss Mary Bandy. They became acquainted in Kingfisher, and were married at her birthplace, Carrollton, Ill., Sep- tember 22, 1895. Her parents, William and Rhoda (Kelley) Bandy, were of Scotch descent, and gave her an excellent education, enabling her to become a successful teacher.
In politics Mr. Myers is a Democrat, and in 1898 was nominated on that ticket as county commissioner. Having been elected, he served as chairman of the board of commissioners for a year, and during his term a remarkable amount of work was transacted. The county warrants were made worth one hundred cents on the dol- lar; the running expenses of the county were materially reduced, notwithstanding the fact that nearly fifty bridges were constructed, two of them fine specimens of the steel variety, double track, and having a seventy-foot span. While a resi- dent of Cimarron, Kans., he was initiated into the Masonic and Odd Fellows orders, and filled all of the chairs in the lodge of the last-named society there. Later he became a member of the Garden City Encampment. He was demitted from the Cimarron Lodge of Masons, which, in- deed, has been discontinued for several years. In everything pertaining to the upbuilding and progress of this community he loyally performs his full share and is considered a thoroughly worthy citizen.
H OMER I. WASSON. There are few enter- prises in Pond Creek instituted for the de- velopment and progress of the town which have not received the hearty co-operation and support of this enterprising and far-sighted pio- neer. Homer I. Wasson. And it is doubtful if any citizens have received more cordial support from their fellow townsmen or have been more generously appreciated for their excellent traits of mind, character and heart. As a notable rep- resentative of the bar of Pond Creek. he has, perhaps, had greater opportunities for usefulness
than fall to the lot of the average citizen, en- grossed in a less far-reaching. occupation.
The paternal grandfather was a hero of the Revolutionary war, and participated in the battle of Tippecanoe; he was also a veteran of the Mex- ican war. He came to a lonely and desolate death on Island No. 10, a victim of smallpox, at the age of seventy-two years. His grandson, Homer I., was born in Delhi, Delaware county, Iowa, May 12, 1858. His parents, William and Rebecca (Alsbach) Wasson, were natives of Pennsylvania. William Wasson served during the Civil war in Captain Hayden's Dubuque bat- tery, known as the Third Iowa battery, the term of service being three years. His son Homer was reared in his native county and educated in the public schools and at the high school at Man- chester. This training was supplemented by a course at Cornell College, Mount Vernon, Iowa, and at the Upper Iowa University, which he at- tended until the junior year. From John H. Peters, of Iowa, and from ex-Chief Justice C. C. Cole, Mr. Wasson received his knowledge of law, and was admitted to the bar in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1886.
During two years Mr. Wasson engaged in a journalistic venture, and established and con- ducted the Algona Courier, of Algona, Iowa. He subsequently opened a law office at Knox- ville, Iowa, where he engaged in the practice of his profession until 1893. In September of that year he resolved to try the larger opportunities of the newly opened Cherokee strip, in Okla- homa, and came direct to Pond Creek, where he was among the first and most enthusiastic of the early settlers, and where he built the first house on the town site, a frame structure, still standing, and a good, comfortable home. Later, with P. T. Walton and J. W. Berryman, he erected what is known as the Bank building. To him belongs the distinction of establishing the first family in the locality, the other families having arrived later. He was also the first acting mayor for about three months.
For sixteen months Mr. Wasson has lived on a claim which he opened and improved on the northwest quarter of section 3, township 26. range 6, much of the work done having been accomplished by himself personally. Among his other interests is his one-third ownership in the Pond Creek Investment Company, which is operating with two hundred and fifty lots in the town. In his capacity as a lawyer he is attorney for the Oklahoma and Kansas Telephone Com- pany, whose lines cover this territory. As a pol- itician Mr. Wasson is a firm believer in the principles laid down by the Democratic party. and has been actively identified with all of the undertakings of his party in the locality. Dur- ing his residence in Towa he attended every state
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convention for a period covering twelve years. He was a member of the county central commit- tee for years, and the state central committee for three years, and has served as a delegate to the territorial conventions. As a candidate for judge of the fifth Iowa district he carried his county by one thousand majority, but was defeated by a small majority. In the winter of 1894, with Judge Mackey, he spent six weeks in Washing- ton, D. C., and assisted in securing the passage of a railroad bill to force the companies to put in depots in town. sites established by the govern- ment. The bill was, of course, applicable to Pond Creek, and, as a preliminary, Mr. Was- son headed a subscription list to raise $2,500 for the erection of the depot, the plan being carried out by twenty-five men each contributing $100.
As clerk of the board of education Mr. Was- son has an opportunity to evince his well-known interest in the cause of education, and he has been a member of the school board ever since it was first started. Fraternally he is associated with the Knights of Pythias order and the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, of which he is a charter member in his town.
Mrs. Wasson was formerly Cora D. Atherton, second daughter of Judge J. B. Atherton, of Marion county, Iowa, formerly of Coshocton, Ohio. Of this union there are three children, of whom Edith and Olive were born in Iowa, and Miriam was born in Oklahoma.
J OHN E. McKEE. Numbered among the leading business men of Tecumseh is John E. McKee, formerly manager of the lum- ber yards owned by S. M. Gloyd, but now conducting a business of his own, in partnership with his brother, A. T. McKee, in Tecumseh. He is a native of Greensburg, Ind., his birth having occurred November 3, 1858. When he was an infant he was taken to Kentucky, and his boyhood was passed in Falmouth, Pendleton county. His parents, John E. and Elizabeth (Perfect) McKee, gave him good educational ad- vantages, and at an early age he commenced learning the foundation principles of business under his father's instruction. The latter was then interested in the tobacco trade. and at sev . enteen our subject entered the employ of I. N. Walker, and eight years later accepted a position with B. M. Mullins, at DeMossville, Ky. For a number of years he continued with that house, handling an extensive business in tobacco and making himself valuable to his employers.
During the past decade Mr. McKee has given his time and attention to the lumber trade, and during this period has been identified with the upbuilding of Oklahoma. In 1890 he located in Oklahoma City, where he was employed by .1.
Ketcham & Co. for about six years, at the end of which period he came to Tecumseh. While a resident of Oklahoma City he served as lumber inspector in a number of lumber-yards, and in general contributed much to the material prog- ress of the city. Since 1896 he has been an equally valued citizen of Tecumseh. Here he opened a lumber yard and engaged in the work of a salesman, in which line of business he has met with success.
The first marriage of Mr. McKee occurred in Kentucky, the lady of his choice being Miss Mat- tie Tomlin, and their four children are named as follows: Belle, Jessie, Lee and Robert. Feb- ruary 20, 1897, Mr. McKee married one of Te- cumseh's popular young ladies, Miss Vallie Gil- bert. Both are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church South and are esteemed work- ers in the Sunday-school, Mrs. McKee being the present superintendent of the same, and Mr. Mc- Kee having charge of a class. He is a Demo- crat and belongs to the Ancient Order of United Workmen in Tecumseh.
R OBERT D. LOWTHER, M. D. During the last decade of the nineteenth century Dr. R. D. Lowther materially contributed to the upbuilding of one of the finest states yet to be admitted to the Union. Liberal and public- spirited, he has been greatly concerned in the progress of Oklahoma, and arrived in Cleveland county in time to help celebrate the Fourth of July, 1890, since which time he has taken an active part in affairs of this locality.
Dr. Lowther comes of the same family as did Sir William Lowther, M. P., of England. His great-grandfather Lowther came to the United States at an early period in its history and settled in Virginia, where he owned a plantation. His son, Dr. J. M., grandfather of the doctor, was born there, and at the age of twenty-two years settled in Arkansas. In a New Orleans medical college he was graduated, after which he contin- ted to practice his profession in Clarksville, Ark., until his death at the age of sixty-six. He was prominently associated with the affairs of his community, and for many years resided upon a large plantation, which he owned, adjoining the town.
The parents of our subject are Rev. J. M. and Caroline (Balch) Lowther, natives, respectively, of Clarksville and Hollywood, Ark. When the Civil war came on he enlisted, though quite young, and served under General Price. Subse- quently he devoted his attention to agriculture. until he entered the ministry. For some time he was connected with the Methodist Episcopal Church South, and later he became identified with the Methodist Protestant Church. In 1888
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he went to Texas, and since that year has labored in the Lone Star state, at present being located near San Saba. His wife, also living, is a daugh- ter of Rev. Hezekiah Balch, a native of Tennes- sce, and descendant of a pioneer of South Caro- lina. At an early period he removed to a planta- tion near Hollywood, Ark., and for many years was actively engaged in ministerial work, his circuit being extensive, as he went to different parts of several counties, always in the interests of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In his sixty- ninth year he was summoned to the better land, and left a host of friends, who mourn his loss.
Dr. R. D. Lowther was born in Hollywood, Ark., December 3, 1868, and with his three brothers and two sisters passed his early years happily. His elder brother, Dr. Edwin Du- Quesne, now engaged in practice in Hollywood, is a graduate of the Louisville (Ky.) Medical Col- lege. Having laid well the foundations of knowl- edge in the grammar and high school of Holly- wood and in Belleville Academy, where he was graduated in 1887, he devoted his entire atten- tion to the study of medicine. In 1889 he entered the medical department of the Arkansas Indus- trial University, at Little Rock, and at the end of a year went to Burnet county, Tex., where he was engaged in practice for six months.
Coming to Cleveland county June 3, 1890, the young doctor located at Denver, a town situated eight miles east of the county-seat, and for two years made his home there. In 1893 he went to Louisville, Ky., where he continued his medical studies in the well-known college. Being gradu- ated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine June 21, 1893, he returned to this county and estab- lished an office in Norman. In 1895 he engaged in the practice of his profession at Noble, having his home in that place until February, 1898, when he returned to Norman, and has steadily risen in his chosen field of labor. In the winter of 1897- 98 he took a post-graduate course in the Ken- tucky School of Medicine at Louisville, Ky .. perfecting himself in special departments of med- icine and surgery. He now belongs to the Okla- homa Territorial Medical Association, and is medical examiner for the Modern Woodmen of America, the American Union Life Insurance Company and other organizations. In Norman Lodge No. 5. A. F. & A. M., he was initiated into Masonry. He is identified with the Methodist Episcopal Church South, and contributes toward many kinds of benevolent and worthy enter- prises.
The pleasant modern residence which the doc- tor and family occupy is situated in the southern part of Norman, and was built by him. For a wife he chose Miss Dorothy Elizabeth Chesney. who was born in Belleville, Ark. They have three children, Flossie Nadine, Irma Leona and
Robert DuQuesne, who died January 14, 1901, at the age of two and a half years.
W ILLIAM HENRY JOHNSON. The ex- pression "the dignity of labor" is exem- plified in the life record of this gentleman, who, without reserve, attributes his success to earnest work. He is a man of strong force of character, purposeful and energetic, and his keen discrimination and sound judgment are shown in the capable management of his business affairs.
Mr. Johnson was born in northeastern Mis- souri October 16, 1855, and is a son of Mack and Martha (Scott) Johnson, also natives of that state. The father, who was a farmer by occupation, moved to Collins county, Tex., about 1857, and there died before the Civil war. The mother reared her two children and spent her remaining days in Texas. The older son, Mack, is now a resident of Mexico.
William H. Johnson, the younger son, spent his early life in Collins county, Tex., and was educated in private schools. As soon as able he began to provide for himself, and when thirteen years of age began herding cattle near Corsi- cana, Navarro county, Tex., remaining there un- til 1872. He then went to Gonzales county, that state, and engaged in the cattle business on his own account, his brand being known as drag A. B., which he still uses. For five years he was in partnership with G. W. Lilliefield. Taking his cattle, he removed to Tarrant county, Tex., where he conducted a ranch two years. On sell- ing out there he went to the Chickasaw Nation. I. T., in 1881, and entered the employ of For- syth & Smith. Four years later he established a ranch of his own near his present place, and has since successfully engaged in the cattle busi- ness. At the age of fifteen years he began on long trails, and had charge of herds grazing in Kansas and Nebraska. He delivered one herd to the Red Cloud agency in Min- nesota. For seven consecutive years he was on the trail, and had many encounters with the Indians, who levied tribute on his herds. His large ranch is located on a branch of Walnut creek. in the Chickasaw Nation, ten miles west of Norman. The property is fenced and two hundred and twenty-five acres are under cultivation. Upon his place he has a large herd of Hereford cattle, and annually feeds as high as one thousand head. He also raises a large num- ber of hogs. Besides the valuable ranch already mentioned, he owns three farms on a section of land adjoining Franklin on the Little river bot- tom; a two-story brick block on Main street. Norman, known as the Red Front building: two residences besides his own home, which he built ;
F.
John, He, Rhoads
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and, in addition, he is a stockholder in the First National Bank of Norman.
In Cleburne, Johnson county, Tex., Mr. John- son married Miss Rachel Tate, a native of Den- ton county, that state, and a daughter of Carroll and Margaret (Grant) Tate, who were born, re- spectively, in Tennessee and Missouri, and died in Texas. The father was an officer in the Civil war. Mrs. Johnson is the third in order of birth in a family of eight children, five of whom are still living. Our subject and his wife have three children, namely: Nellie Frances, Edgar Henry and James Burrell. Since 1896 the family have made their home in Norman.
While on the Chisholm trail Mr. Johnson first visited Oklahoma in 1870, and has therefore wit- nessed almost its entire growth and develop- ment. He is a member of the Fort Worth (Tex.) Cattle Raisers' Association, and is also connected with the Modern Woodmen of America and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. In his po- litical views he is a Democrat. His success in life is due entirely to his own well-directed and energetic efforts, and his career has been such as to commend him to the confidence and esteem of those with whom he has come in contact.
J OHN H. RHOADS is an agriculturist who delights in the charm of nearness to nature, as well as in the practical and remunerative phase of his work. His ancestors penetrated the shadowy morning of a county hitherto untrod by any save the roaming red man and built their house of logs under the protecting trees, and drew their water from a nearby spring. And out of the crude efforts of the faithful pioneers who sought a home and country from other shores has come a magnificent civilization, which. could they but know it, would repay them an hundred fold for the privations to which they were subjected.
John H. Rhoads was born in Harrison county, Ohio, May 26, 1841. He is a son of Mitchell Rhoads, who was born in Maryland, and was a farmer all his life in Maryland, Ohio and Indiana, where he died at Decatur, Adams county, July 4, 1875. His mother was also born in Maryland. and was named Sarah (Burrier) Rhoads. The ancestry of the family on both sides is German. The great-grandfathers, accompanied by Dan Newbourn, known as "Uncle Dan." came from Germany to Maryland, and later removed from that state to Ohio, where they were the only white people in the township. Their ex- periences in the early days were thrilling many times, and never monotonous. Uncle Dan owed his life to the intervention of grandfather Burrier in an exciting bear episode, which took place within an hundred yards of their dwelling. Uncle
Dan had succeeded in bending the barrel of his gun over the bear's lacerated head, and was la- boring without apparent results with the butt end of the same gun, and on the eve of an ignomini- ous surrender, when grandfather Burrier hap- pened along with fresh dogs and another gun. Bruin was killed with neatness and dispatch, and Uncle Dan recovered in short order. Grand- father Burrier settled in Jefferson county, Ohio, about 1830. In 1851 the family moved to Marion township, Allen county, Ind. Later he removed to Fort Wayne, and in 1874 took up his residence with his son John in Decatur, Adams county, Ind., where he died in 1875. His wife is now living in Oklahoma, and July 25, 1900, celebrated the one hundredth anniversary of her birth.
With his father's consent John Rhoads left his home at the age of nine years and went to work on a farm near Fort Wayne, his compensation for the first year being six dollars and board, and for the next eight months he received $10 and board per month. He continued to work out on various farms wherever he could do the best from a money standpoint, invariably sending his savings to his family to assist in their support. When the war began in 1861 he loaned out some money to merchants and farmers. He enlisted in Company E, Thirtieth Indiana Infantry, at Fort Wayne, was sworn in at Fort Wayne, and after being given uniforms proceeded to Louis- ville, Ky., where they drew guns. The regi- ment went about eighteen miles southeast of Louisville and surprised the enemy. Their first serious hardship was experienced at Laburn. on the Nolin river, where they made a forcel march through mud and water, and that night camped in ice and snow and nearly froze from exposure. Thence their course was to Bowling Green, Nashville and Franklin, and when on their way to Island No. 10 they received orders to reinforce Grant on the Tennessee river for the great battle which later took place with Beaure- gard on the other side. They made a forced march of twenty-five miles and a river voyage by boat of twenty miles more, reaching the scene of hostilities at four in the morning. The Union army was in hard straits, and, after landing. the new additions took their stand on the firing line, though it was still dark. As the dawn crept slowly over the fields and objects became vis- ible in the distance, there was a terrific charge of bayonets by the Union forces, and a scene of awful carnage ensued, the dead being horribly disfigured and burned from the discharges of powder. Captain Steele's battery was recap- tured that had been taken the day before, and many graves were dug for the soldiers who fell in the action. On both sides the loss was heavy. They have since slept in their crude graves, the
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blue and the gray side by side. Mr. Rhoads had charge as corporal of one of the burying squads, and he will never forget the gruesome sights during those three days. The next engagement of Company E was at Perryville, Tenn., after which they were at Stone River. In this engage- ment Mr. Rhoads was wounded in the right foot, but he supported himself on his gun. For a time himself and comrades fell back, then charged the enemy, Mr. Rhoads firing forty rounds dur- ing the engagement.
While making his way to the rear Mr. Rhoads was shot again the foot, his member being at this time in tatters .. He crawled to a clump of bushes, with thirteen holes in his blanket and his gunstock shot off. He was at this time sur- rounded by the rebels. While lying there in the grass a drummer boy came up and laid down beside him; he was a rebel lad, and his arm was shattered and he was bleeding to death. With the sublime humanity that makes all men kin, Mr. Rhoads tore his new shirt in two and bound the wounded arm, and the rebel soldier standing near, touched with pity, bound his foot, and both were placed in an ambulance. On their way to the rear they were captured by the Union men and taken back to Nashville hospital, where in ward 5, No. 8, the rebel drummer lad and the Union soldier convalesced in adjoining cots. Through Mr. Rhoad's intercession the boy was admitted, and it was Mr. Rhoad's money that paid for the amputation of the boy's arm above the elbow. Three months later, when they were discharged from the hospital, and later mustered out, Mr. Rhoads took the drummer boy home with him to Fort Wayne. The lad was Frederick Mecarry, and became a prosperous merchant of Lafayette, Ind.
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