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 8
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From Fort Wayne Mr. Rhoads went to Adams county, Ind., and later to Lincoln county, Kans., where he homesteaded a claim. In 1890 he bought the claim in Oklahoma, which is still his home. It is located on the northeast quarter of section 14, township 17, range 4 west, Logan county. His farm is well improved and fitted with the most recent devices. There is a fine orchard, and most of the land is in a high state of cultivation. His farm now comprises two hundred and seventy-two acres.
January 7, 1864, Mr. Rhoads married La- vina Hendry, a daughter of James H. Hendry, a farmer who came originally from New York. To Mr. and Mrs. Rhoads have been born twelve children: Sarah E. married H. L. Buttermore, has seven children and lives in Lincoln county, Kans .; Mary E. is now Mrs. Workman, and lives in Kansas; Martha W. is the wife of Mr. Cassell and has seven children: Lillie married C. C. Parks, has five children, and lives in Oklahoma; Rosie married Mr. Disney, has two children, and
lives in Garfield county, Okla .; Ella is now Mrs. House, of Lincoln county, Kans., and has three children; John W. married Celia Jennings, of Crescent City ; Lawrence married Blanche Wells, and has one child; the other children are Elmer, Perley, Myrtle and Sherley. Of these, Myrtle married George Wells, of Crescent City, Okla.
Mr. Rhoads is an Abraham Lincoln Repub- lican, but now votes with the People's party.
A LBERT DAVIS LESTER. The grand old state of Illinois has furnished Oklahoma with numerous energetic citizens, who are actuated by patriotic, public-spirited motives, and of these none is more highly esteemed than Albert Davis Lester, whose home is in Guthrie.
Born in Adams county, Ill., March 30, 1856, he is a son of William Davis and Eveline (Good- ing) Lester, who were natives of Ohio, but in childhood became residents of the prairie state and were engaged in agricultural pursuits sub- sequent to their marriage. They reared their son Albert in a practical manner, instilling into his mind at an early age those high principles which are foundation-stones in his character and career. When he was twenty years old he mar- ried the daughter of a neighbor, and for the en- suing thirteen years he was employed as a clerk in the store of his wife's father. The young couple were industrious and economical and gradually amassed a comfortable little fortune, which they afterward invested in Kansas lands. For three years they leased a farm in Sumner county, that state, but, owing to hot winds and dry weather, they lost their crops, and finally they returned to Illinois, where, as formerly, Mr. Lester was connected with mercantile enter- prises. In ISor he removed with his family to his present farm of one hundred and sixty acres on section 25, township 16, range 3 west, Logan county, buying out the squatter's improvements and proceeding to cultivate the place. Well- fenced pastures, a thriving orchard and neatly- kept buildings make the farm a model and de- sirable one, and, under the present owner's judi- cious expenditure of work and means, the place has been materially increased in value. In Au- gust, 1900, he moved to Guthrie, where he now resides.
For a wife Mr. Lester chose a schoolmate. Anna L. Harris, and their marriage took place November 8, 1876. She was born in Adams county, and is a daughter of Franklin and Emily (Shaw) Harris, the former for many years a prominent business man of Plainville, Ill. The eldest child of our subject and wife. Leta, be- came the wife of Frank Brooks, of Oklahoma. and their little son, Clifford, was born June 24. 1894. The wife and mother was summoned to
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the home above when she was in her twentieth vear. Ora Lee married Richard Simmons, and resides in the village of Lilly, Mo. Frank is en- gaged in farming in Clinton county, Mo., and Harvey H., who has been a student in the Guth- rie (Okla.) Business College, is living with his parents.
The first presidential ballot of our subject was cast for Garfield, and he has continued firm in his allegiance to the Republican party. Two years or less after his arrival in this locality he was elected to the office of township trustee, and served one term acceptably. Later he was hon- ored by election to the office of township clerk. and, besides being a member of the local central committee of his party, he has frequently been sent as a delegate to political conventions. When a citizen of Plainville, Ill., he was initiated into the Odd Fellows order, becoming a charter member of the local lodge, where he was well known. Since coming to Oklahoma he has joined Guthrie Lodge No. 3.
W. F. ESSEX, who is now carrying on a meat market in Norman, has throughout his business career been exceptionally successful, and is to-day the owner of seven hun- dred and twenty acres of very valuable land. He came to Oklahoma on the 22d of April, 1889, and has since been identified with the interests of Cleveland county. Mr. Essex was born near Westboro, Atchison county, Mo., June 1I, 1867, and is the youngest of a family of four children and the only son. His father, John Essex, was born near Toledo, Ohio, and at an early day re- moved to Atchison county, Mo., where he fol- lowed farming until coming to Oklahoma in 1889. He bought a claim near Norman, and, in connection with its operation, he conducted the Purcell Hotel, but is now living retired in this city. During the Civil war he enlisted at Nemaha, Neb., and was sent to the northwestern frontier against the Indians. He is now an honored member of the Grand Army post at Norman. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Louisa Grove, is also a native of the Buckeye state, and a daughter of Jephtha Grove, a farmer, who spent his last days in Clarinda, Page county, Iowa.
In the county of his nativity W. F. Essex was reared and educated, his life being spent upon the farm there until February, 1889, when he went to Purcell, I. T., to prepare for the opening of Oklahoma. While there he assisted his father in conducting the City Hotel. He made the run and secured one hundred and sixty acres of land one and a half miles west of Norman, on section 26, township 9, range 3 west. This place he im- proved, and is still successfully engaged in farm-
ing and stock-raising there, though he has made his home in Norman since September, 1899. In May of the following year he bought a meat market on Main street, which he is now success- fully carrying on. Besides the property already mentioned he owns eighty acres of land on Little river, six miles east of Norman, and has three quarter sections of land in Liberty township and one in Norman township, all improved. He raises principally wheat and corn, and harvested four thousand bushels of wheat in 1900. In con- nection with his other business he operated a corn-sheller for five years, and in all his under- takings has been remarkably successful. He is energetic, progressive and reliable, and is a man of more than ordinary business ability.
Mr. Essex was married near Norman to Miss Clara Foster, who was born in Kansas and reared in that state and Texas. Her father, J. WV. Foster, was born near Cornwall, Canada, and was a son of Lester Foster, a native of England and a farmer of Ontario, Canada. The latter was an Orangeman and took part in the Canadian rebellion under McKinzie. While residing in his native land Mrs. Essex's father followed lum- bering. In 1863 he removed to Indiana, but the following year went to Kansas and was engaged in farming in Leavenworth county from 1865 to 1879, when he went to Chautauqua county, Kans. In 1880 he became interested in the cattle busi- ness in Jack county, Tex., where he made his home until coming to Oklahoma at the opening of the territory, April 22, 1889. He owns a farm of three hundred and twenty acres in Cleveland county, but is now living retired in Norman. He married Sarah Young, a native of Chillicothe. Ohio, and a daughter of William Young, a cab- inetmaker by trade, who was born in Baltimore, Md., and in early life moved to Tennessee. La- ter he became a resident of Chillicothe, Ohio. and from there went to Indiana, where he died at the extreme old age of one hundred and two years. His father, William Young, was a soldier of the war of 1812. and his grandfather, Franklin Young, fought for American independence in the Revolutionary war. Mrs. Essex is the young- est of a family of three children, and by her mar- riage to our subiect has become the mother of three sons and two daughters, namely: John. Ruth, Eunice (deceased), Raymond, and Homer (deceased).
The Republican party finds in Mr. Essex a stanch supporter of its principles, and as a pub- lic-spirited and progressive citizen he takes an active interest in those enterprises calculated to prove of public benefit. He is a deacon and prominent member of the Christian Church, of Norman, and is connected with the Ancient Or- der of United Workmen and the Woodmen of the World.
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W ILLIAM S. BAKER. In his various ca- pacities as preacher, postmaster, farmer and stock-raiser, the influence of Mr. Baker has been extended, and has been carried on in various sections of the country. An inter- esting and useful existence has followed in the wake of great kindliness and good will and gen- eral enlightenment to those who have been able to profit by his ability as an educator and a teacher of broad, humanitarian principles.
A native of Monroe county, Tenn., Mr. Baker was born October 3, 1847, and is a son of David and Mary (Barnett) Baker. Up to his thirteenth year he received an excellent home training on the home farm. At that time began the interest- ing war experiences, which are so vividly remem- bered at the present time. At Gallipolis, Ohio, he enlisted in Company L, Forty-fifth Ohio In- fantry, and after two years was transferred to Company B, Second Tennessee Cavalry. As a private he saw service in the central west with Burnside and Thomas, and participated in the battles of Murfreesboro, the campaign of Chat- tanooga, Missionary Ridge and Chickamauga, the battle at the latter place lasting three days. At McMinnville, Tenn., he was shot in the face, which resulted in the breaking of his jaw and the loss of nine teeth. Thus disabled, he was obliged to spend six months in practical inac- tivity, in the field hospitals at McMinnville and Chattanooga. After convalescing, he took part in Hood's campaign, and at Athens, Ala., had two horses killed under him, and, upon seizing a mule, that also was killed within the half hour. In the meantime he had been made duty ser- geant, and was put on detached duty on Gen. A. P. Knight's staff, the Seventh Division Cav- alry Corps of the Military District of Mississippi, and in this capacity served until the close of the war. He had already agreed to accept a commis- sion in the United States army, but, when he found that his regiment had been mustered out, he demanded the same right as the others to re- lease from the service.
After the cessation of hostilities Mr. Baker re- turned to Tennessee, and was at the time not yet eighteen years of age. He was soon after ap- pointed deputy sheriff of Monroe county, and after a year of service went to St. Clair county, Ill., where he engaged in farming and worked for one man for three years. Realizing that his op- portunities for education had been rather lim- ited, owing to the inroads upon his time incident to war service, he returned to Tennessee and at- tended the public schools for eleven weeks. He then made practical application of the knowledge acquired and began to teach school, continuing the same after his removal to Morris county, Kans., in the spring of 1870. When twelve years of age, just before the war, he had been con-
verted to the Methodist Episcopal faith, and, after entering upon his educational work, was licensed to exhort. As an exhorter, teacher and farmer his influence penetrated to many homes and hearts, and his field of opportunity was in- deed a large one. In the schoolhouse a large re- vival was held, and many were turned from a lukewarm faith to an active interest in the better things of life.
The first marriage of Mr. Baker occurred in 1871, in Morris county, Kans., to Florence Shepard, a native of New York. In 1874 the family returned to Tennessee, where, for a year, Mr. Baker taught, farmed and preached. After returning to Kansas, he was unfortunate in los- ing his wife, in 1876, and soon after removed with his family to Fannin county, Tex., where his former occupations were engaged in. In 1877 he returned to his former residence in Illi- nois, and for a year again worked for the man in whose employ he had been for three years, and also was engaged in working the mines. In 1878 he removed to Crittenden county, Ark., and was there interested in a different occupation, which subsequently resulted in the loss of all that he had acquired during recent years. As a lumber- man, and hewer of logs to be floated down the river, he did not realize his expectations, and so returned to Kansas, and engaged with a rail- road as foreman of a grading outfit. In 1880 he returned to Tennessee, and was united in marriage with Mary I. Gay, a native of that state.
After his second marriage, Mr. Baker settled in northwestern Arkansas, and was successful as an educator, farmer and preacher, but subse- quently lost all that he had in the world. In 1881 he removed to Kansas, and in Labette and Cherokee counties farmed for a year, and later in Jasper county, Mo., worked in a lumber yard for S. A. Brown, of Chicago. In 1884 he was elected principal of city schools at Siloam Springs, and at the end of a year's service ac- cepted a government contract to drive the mail between Siloam Springs and Tahlequah, I. T. This was continued for several years.
Mr. Baker's association with Oklahoma began in 1892, at which time he located where he has since lived. The outlook for success was de- pendent upon his own exertions and ability to overcome difficulties, for he not only had noth- ing to depend on from a material point of view, but was in debt $400. He was materially as- sisted by the appointment as postmaster in Sep- tember of 1892, at Bellemont, which post was establishedby himself and named by him after his second wife, Isabel, and "mont." or "mount." re- ferring to its location on an elevated site. January 23. 1803. Mr. Baker laid in a small stock of goods. He also successfully engaged in gen-
WILLIAM C. KRUM AND FAMILY, Canadian County.
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
ok 673
eral farming on leased land, and in 1896 he pur- chased eighty acres of adjoining land, and in 1809 bought one hundred and sixty acres to the north and east.
Although an ardent advocate of Republican principles, Mr. Baker has continually refused local offices within the gift of the people, and although elected justice of the peace. absolutely refused to serve. He was an Abolitionist, and voted for Grant in 1868. Of the first union of Mr. Baker one child only is living, Mrs. Flor- ence Stevens, of Council Grove, Morris county, Kans. Of the second marriage there are five living children: Eula G., Dora May, Vida, Van, and J. Dewey. The first two were born in Ar- kansas and the last three in Oklahoma. Mr. Baker is a member of the Curtis Post No. 9, at Siloam Springs, Ark., and has filled all of the chairs. For one year he was representative at the Inter-State Encampment of Missouri, Kan- sas, Arkansas and Indian Territory.
W ILLIAM C. KRUM, whose fine home- stead is located on section 20, township 13, range 6 west, Canadian county, has experienced many of the "ups and downs" of life, yet has sturdily pressed forward toward the goal of success which he has ever had in view. To-day he ranks with the best citizens of Oklahoma, and that he is looked up to is shown by the fact that he was the choice of the people here for the responsible office of constable, and is still serving in that capacity.
The birth of Mr. Krum occurred near Oferatlı. Prussia, January 15, 1845, and his boyhood passed tineventfully upon the farm of his parents, William C. and Eve (Adolph) Krum. He was educated with a view of his entering the minis- try, but when he was eighteen years old he de- cided that he preferred another field of labor, and that he would try his fortunes in America. Hle embarked on a steamer which made the journey in eleven days, and soon after his arrival here he proceeded to Pennsylvania. Finding that his lack of knowledge of the English language debarred him from most occupations here, he began earning his livelihood at the humble work of picking out the slate from the coal at the. mines, and his wages were $1.50 a day. When about four months had elapsed he went to Chi- cago, and in the spring of 1864 entered a law office with the purpose of embarking in the legal profession. Handicapped as he was, both by lack of means and his slight acquaintance with the language, he nevertheless made good progress. and at the end of three years he opened an office for himself in LaSalle county, same state. He was admitted to the bar in 1867, and after a period he returned to Chicago, where he found
it so difficult to gain a foothold as a lawyer that he finally gave up the task.
Mr. Krum is not deficient in patience and perseverance, but in his early manhood his in- tensely practical nature could not well brook years of waiting for possible success, when abundant opportunities in other departments of enterprise presented themselves. He therefore turned his attention to the trade of stone cutting, and soon received $15 a week for his work. Within a year he was receiving $6 a day, and for a twelvemonth he was employed in Chicago. Later he went to San Francisco, where he soon began taking contracts, and, as the result of his labors there, between 1866 and 1872, he had $4,000 in the bank. Returning to Illinois, at Peru he bought two lots fronting on the river. He then built a dam in order to prevent the oc- casional overflow of the river, and with his prop- erty thus protected he proceeded to erect a sub- stantial stone building, three stories high, on the river side. When it was completed he formed a partnership with a citizen and embarked in the implement business, in which venture he met with marked success.
In 1875 he sold out his interest in the business for $10,000, and then, as events proved. he made his first serious financial blunder. Going to Chicago, he invested his capital in liquor. being trusted with $20,000 worth of barreled goods. He expected to deal in wholesale quan- tities only, but finally, when he found that the tide was directly against him, he disposed of his small resources, realizing only $2,000. He then went to Kankakee, Ill., where he engaged in cutting stone for the insane asy- lum, and in the fall of 1883 he located in Becker, Kans., where he opened a billiard hall. Two years later he moved to Fort Worth, Tex., and there was extensively occupied in building cul- verts and bridges on contract. At Bowie. Tex .. he erected the handsome opera-house, and after he had constructed the bridge over the Big Hickory river, in Texas, on the Santa Fe Rail- road, a town in the vicinity was named Krum in his honor. In 1888 he built the courthouse at Panhandle City, Carson county, Tex., and at the time of the opening of Oklahoma he was still living at that town. For a short period prior to its settlement he worked on contracts for the government in El Reno and locality. When the territory was opened for white settlers he came to his present farm, and during the years that have rolled away since he has instituted numer ous improvements. Substantial buildings, a well- kept orchard and everything about the farm be- speak his constant attention and good manage- ment.
In 1874 Mr. Krum married Mary Barrett, who died a few years later, leaving two sons, The
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elder, William is now a clerk in a wholesale establishment at Colorado Springs, Colo., and the younger, John, is head clerk of the Fort Worth & Denver Railroad Company, at Fort Worth. During the Spanish-American war he enlisted and served in the Second Regiment of Texas Volunteers. On the 18th of November, 1884, our subject married Mary J. Wasica, of Brown county, Kans. She is a native of Aus- tria, and in 1882 accompanied her parents to the county just mentioned.
In 1868 Mr. Krum cast his first presidential vote for General Grant, and ever since he has been a stanch Republican. He has taken eleven degrees in the Masonic order, and now is con- nected with Lodge No. 72, A. F. & A. M., of Chicago.
W TILLIAM C. WOOD. Doubly entitled to honor, William C. Wood is eminently deserving of representation in the rec- ords , of his county and country, as he has met every obligation as a citizen, proving himself devoted to his land, both in times of war and peril and in days of peace. Moreover, he has been dependent upon himself since he was quite young, and has made a competence and pro- vided advantages for his family, though he has had adverse circumstances to contend against throughout much of his career.
A son of Chauncey and Sarah (Collins) Wood, William Chauncey Wood was born in Stock- bridge, Windsor county, Vt., June 5, 1831. His mother died when he was nine years old, and, as the father was in very poor health, and there were several other young children that he was obliged to care for, William C. went to the home of his elder married sister, who resided in Massa- chusetts. In 1855 he went to Illinois, where he found employment with brick manufacturers, for he had previously learned the trade in the east, and had practically paid his own way for some time before his fourteenth birthday anniversary, in the meantime also spending a few hours now and then in the schools, for he early felt the need of a business education.
When thirty years old Mr. Wood volunteered his services to the Union, and, becoming a mem- ber of Company A, Forty-second Illinois Infan- try, was sent to St. Louis for drill, and later was stationed, with others, to guard a railroad in jeopardy. In the spring of 1862 his regiment took part in the battle of Island No. 10, and the first time he was under fire was at Farmington, Miss. Later he fought in the desperate engage- ments of Stone River, Chickamauga and Mission Ridge, after which he was sent to eastern Ten- nessee to the relief of General Burnside. Being camped in the vicinity of Knoxville, the gallant
Forty-second took possession of a mill and there ground all the grain needed for food, thus as- sisting the government, as they did not draw upon its resources very heavily on the score of rations. The regiment stayed there until Febru- ary, in the meantime re-enlisting, being mustered into the service again at Chattanooga. He after- ward participated in the battle of Buzzard's Roost, and under the leadership of General Sher- man went through the Georgia campaign, being under fire one hundred out of one hundred and thirteen days. Next he fought at Spring Hill, Tenn., under General Thomas, and there met his Waterloo. While with his comrades, a large share of the Federals in one section of the field, they were being pressed so hard by the enemy that a retreat was inevitable and he was in such a rain of bullets that several took effect. He sus- tained a gunshot wound in the right leg, below the knee, the bullet passing through the bone without causing a breakage, and, strange to say. he managed to get to a place of safety, enduring agony almost insupportable rather than to sur- render to the Confederates. While in the thick- est of the danger a bullet passed through his coat on the left side, another grazed his right side and a third hit the top of his boot. He was sent from one hospital to another until March, 1865, when he was allowed a furlough and finally was honor- ably discharged from the army June 5, 1865.
On the 3d of July, 1865, Mr. Wood married Martha A. Cook, of Henry county, Ill. She was born in Boston, Mass., a daughter of Robert and Martha (Wiggins) Cook, and was only two years old when the family removed to Kewanee, Iil. There her father followed his trade as a mer- chant tailor, and a few years later they settled upon a farm. Mrs. Wood received good educa- tional advantages, and prior to her marriage taught school several terms .. Of the six children born to Mr. and Mrs. Wood only three survive, namely: Martha Eloise, who wedded W. N. Votaw, and has two children and resides in Guthrie: Louise, wife of J. A. Holland, and mother of six children; Edwin W., who owns a quarter section of land on section 34, township 15. range 4. Logan county, Okla.
For fourteen years after leaving the army Mr. Wood was actively engaged in the manufacture of brick, and in 1879 he removed to Sumner county, Kans., where he also followed his usual calling. After being a resident of the town of Oxford for a period he removed to Oklahoma after it was opened to the public in November. 1880, and from that time to the present he has been occupied in the improvement and cultiva- tion of his farm in the southeastern quarter of section 34, township 15, range 4 west.
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