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 81
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Soon after Mr. Standley's return to his old home he married Charlotte Moon, the ceremony being performed February 11, 1866. She was born in Livingston county, Ohio, and was but two years old when her parents took her to Car- roll county, Ind. On the Ist of March, 1866, Mr. Standley removed to Jefferson county, Kans.,
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with his wife and household goods, and for a period rented a tract of land. In 1870. he bought eighty acres of wild land, which he improved, and, finally selling the place, embarked in the cattle business. In 1884 he went to Jackson county, and there bought three hundred and twenty acres, which he cultivated for three years. Then, disposing of that property, he was ready to make the race into Oklahoma, April 22, 1889, and located on his present homestead in the southwestern quarter of section 17, township 15, range 3 west. He had previously selected this land by reference to a map which had been printed in a Kansas City newspaper, but he found a contestant for the claim, and did not obtain a deed to the place for five years, and in the meantime had been obliged to spend about $900 in litigation.
Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Standley, namely : Mrs. Miranda Vesper, of this county; Allen, also of this county; Mrs. Ida Kesinger, of Colorado; Bert C., Laura. Oscar and Della, who are at home. Mrs. Vesper has seven children and Allen has two children. All of the children of our subject were born in Kansas.
The father of Mr. Standley was a Whig, and he has been a Republican since the time when he cast his first ballot in 1868 for General Grant. He had taken an active part in the campaign which led up to the election of Lincoln, but was not old enough to cast a vote. He has been a delegate to conventions of his party, and was chairman of the township central committee in Harper county, Kans. He helped to organize William Watts Post, G. A. R., at Seward, and is a charter member and surgeon of the same. He was also a charter member of the Protective and Detective Association.
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W ARREN K. SNYDER, one of the leading barristers of Oklahoma, is a member of the well-known firm of Lewis & Snyder, of Oklahoma City, which by many is said to be the strongest legal combination in the territory. The firm have been identified with many of the most prominent criminal suits of the south- west, but more recently have devoted their ef- forts exclusively to civil suits and corporation law, and are now attorneys in the territory for the St. Louis & San Francisco Railroad, and numerous other large concerns.
Mr. Snyder was born in Alexandria. Va., and is a son of Dr. Samuel and Mary F. (Houchens) Snyder. His great-grandfather Snyder was born in Germany, but came to this country and set- tled in North Carolina. The grandfather was born in North Carolina, and, being a Federalist, moved north during the Civil war. Samuel Sny-
der was born in North Carolina and entered the medical profession, receiving the degree of M. D. He was a surgeon in Stonewall Jackson's brigade throughout the war, and died soon after its close, in Alexandria, Va. He married Mary F. Houchens, who was born at Culpeper, Va., and whose father, Josiah B. Houchens, a native of Virginia, was a farmer and planter by voca- tion. The Houchens family was prominent in the early days of Virginia. Mrs. Snyder now re- sides in Washington, D. C. She has three chil- dren, as follows: Minnie Rosa, of Washington, D. C., private secretary to the paymaster-general of the navy; Harold, who was a lieutenant in the United States navy, and is now aide to Hon. John D. Long, secretary of the navy, and War- ren K., the subject of this biographical record.
Warren K. Snyder was born February 8, 1868, and was reared in Alexandria until twelve years old, afterward in Washington, D. C., until his fifteenth year. Hoping a change of climate would benefit his health, which was poor, he went to Texas, and for the following five years spent much time in the saddle on a cattle ranch, mean- while fully recovering his health. The cattle business, in which he engaged, proved a losing venture to the extent of $6,000, and he returned to Washington, D. C., to prepare himself for the legal profession. He read law and attended Georgetown University until 1889, when, on April 22, he located in Oklahoma City. He took up a claim in Cleveland county, near Moore, but sold it about a year later.
Soon after the organic law was passed, in 1890, Mr. Snyder was admitted to the bar, and entered upon a successful practice. In 1892 he formed a partnership with D. C. Lewis, which has since existed. He has had wide experience in practice and has frequently argued cases be- fore the supreme court of the United States. With Mr. Lewis, he was prominently identified with the Clyde Mattox murder case, which they bitterly contested for four or five years, finally succeeding in having the sentence of their client commuted from hanging to life imprisonment. This is the most celebrated cast ever tried in the west or southwest, and two points of law were passed upon which had never before come up for decision. The firm of Lewis & Snyder are coun- selors' for the St. Louis & San Francisco Rail- road, the St. Louis & Oklahoma City Railroad, the Oklahoma City & Western Railroad, the Union Central Life Insurance Company, the Deming Investment Company of Kansas City, and the Oklahoma City Terminal Railroad. Mr. Snyder is a member of the Territorial Bar Association and the Oklahoma County Bar As- ciation. In political belief he is a Democrat.
In Washington, D. C., occurred the marriage of Mr. Snyder to Emily Arledge, who was born
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in Clark county, Va., and is a daughter of George H. Arledge, a Confederate, who served as lieu- tenant on the ironclad "Merrimac." After the war the latter engaged in the cotton business in Texas, Cuba and New England States, and died in Washington, D. C. Mrs. Snyder was edu- cated in Galveston, Tex., and is a member of the Baptist Church. Of her marriage there are two children: Harold H. and Edwin C.
J OHN N. CRUMPACKER. Mr. Crum- packer is an enlightened and progressive farmer, and his fertile and highly cultivated farm in El Reno township, Canadian county, is a delight to the eye, and an eloquent. testimony of what can be done in this part of Oklahoma. He came here from Seward county, Neb., in 1893, and applied himself vigorously to the task of converting a stretch of wilderness into a charming home property. How well he has suc- ceeded the splendor of the yellow harvest now bending before the harvester attests.
Mr. Crumpacker was born in Virginia, where his father, whose Christian name was Owen, also was born. The elder Crumpacker did not remain long in the south, but carly emigrated to Laporte county, Ind., where he lived and died. He was a prominent farmer, and was a soldier in the war of 1812. In his young life he was overseer on a plantation, but the position had little attraction for him, and he soon found a more congenial occupation. He was a Baptist and a prominent man in the councils of that church. He married Hannah Woodford, who became the mother of seven children, three of whom are living: John N .; Theophilus, now in Indiana; and Hannah Jane, who is Mrs. Tim- othy Weed. Both parents died in Indiana. where the family name is still represented. An Indiana Crumpacker, a nephew of the subject of this sketch, is in North Carolina, and another nephew, Jonathan Crumpacker, has been ap- pointed United States district judge for the ter- ritory of New Mexico. A grandfather of John N. was a Dunkard preacher in the early days of Virginia. An uncle, Adam Crumpacker, was an carly pioneer of Laporte county, Ind., where the family was associated largely with the Dunk- ards.
John N. Crumpacker grew up in the Indiana home until he reached the age of fourteen, when he was thrown upon his own resources. Having about five hundred acres of second-class land, he did well in its management, and was able to sell out at a good figure in 1872. The proceeds he invested in a section of land in Seward county, Neb., and at once began a system of diversified farming, making specialties of corn and hogs, and for many years was located on this one farm.
In '1893, feeling the need of a warmer climate, he accordingly sold his Nebraska property, and invested the amount realized in four hundred and eighty acres of choice land in El Reno town- ship, Canadian county, Okla., where he now lives. Later, he bought an equal-sized tract of land adjoining his farm, and now owns nine hun- dred and sixty acres. He has settled a son upon a quarter-section, and at the present time owns one-half of section 26, one-half of section 34, and one-half of section 22, and is one of the most extensive operating land-owners in the territory. He is a Republican, but is not an office-seeker.
He was married in Indiana to Elizabeth Em- mons, who is deceased. To this union were born six children: Thomas, a farmer in this county; Lucian, a prominent farmer; Mrs. Elsie Car- nahan; Catherine, Mrs. Harris; Nancy, Mrs. Howell; and one that died in infancy. The sec- ond wife of our subject was Miss Frances Evans, who became the mother of six children: Samuel, a farmer in Nebraska; Milan; Leonard; Edward; Mrs. Bates and Mrs. Harvey. The family had the smallpox in 1900, and Mrs. Crum- packer died of this dread disease, January 4 of that year.
W ILLIAM MOORE, a prosperous agricul- turist of Logan county, was born in Logan county, Ohio, February 20, 1834, and is a son of Tobias and Rachel (Miller) Moore, natives, respectively, of Virginia and Maryland. The paternal grandfather was a na- tive of Virginia, and the grandfather Miller served in the Revolutionary war. Aside from distinguishing himself as a soldier and hero, he carried with him the memories of his seven years association with the immortal Washington.
In 1840 William Moore moved with his par- ents to Steuben county, Indiana, where they were busily engaged in general farming and stock-raising, and where both father and mother terminated their enterprising and useful exist- ence. The father, who died in the fall of 1866. was interred in Mount Zion cemetery, and the mother, who died in 1885, was buried in Pleasant Lake cemetery. One brother, Wesley, a soldier of the Civil war, died in 1864, and is buried at Lebanon, Ky. A. J. has lived in Crescent town- ship, Logan county, since 1890, and is success- fully conducting a farm; a sister, Mrs. Maria Jane Vose, is living in Steuben county, Ind .: Elize Ann, who is married to Mr. George Miller. also lives in Steuben county; Lucinda is married to Noah Knisley, a farmer living in Payne county, Okla., and Sarah Frances, Mrs. John Ewings, lives in Shawnee county, Kans.
William Moore spent his childhood days on his father's farm, and industriously assisted his
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father in the performance of his duties. He also studied faithfully at the district schools, and in this way acquired a fair education. As occasion demanded, he evinced considerable business abil- ity. He was married in 1857 to Martha Miller, and of this union there are two children, Sylvina and Mary. The former now is Mrs. H. Fleming, and lives at Castle Rock, Wash., while the latter married Mr. Frank Lowe, a locomotive engineer, and conductor on the railroad at the time of his death, which event occurred in Iona, Mich. Mrs. Moore died in the spring of 1866, and was buried at Pleasant Lake cemetery. Mr. Moore was married in 1882 to Mary Huff. His son, Arthur A., by his second wife, Nancy Miller, is now living on the home farm and conducts the same. He worked in a farm implement fac- tory at Pleasant Lake and Ashley, Ind. In 1896 he came to Oklahoma and bought one hundred and sixty acres of land. In politics he is a Re- publican of the old reliable kind, as also is his son, Arthur.
Mr. Moore enlisted June 18, 1862, in Company H, Seventy-fourth Regiment, Indiana Volun- teers, and served three years and three months. He saw considerable service as a soldier, always faithfully discharging his duties. He served in the Third Division, Third Brigade, of the Four- teenth Army Corps, fighting last under General Sherman, and participating in the famous march to the sea. He fought at Perryville, Ky .; was engaged in battle against the forces of General Morgan at Roland Forks, Tenn .; also fought at Hoover's Gap, where he was wounded in the left side, and in the engagement of Chickamauga was shot through the right arm. After recovery he marched to the sea and was at Atlanta, Ga. He was also near the scene of the surrender of General Lee, and later participated in the grand review at Washington, D. C., and went home and resumed farm pursuits after being honorably discharged at Indianapolis.
G EORGE M. MYERS. One of the early settlers of Crutcho township is George M. Meyers, who from boyhood has dwelt on the plains, and who, long before Oklahoma was opened to the white race, hunted deer and antelopes, wolves and turkeys, all over this re- gion. Indeed, at that time, he became thoroughly convinced of the beauty and promise of this fer- tile section of the west, and determined that he would be among the first to enter such a land of Canaan when it became possible for him to do so as a permanent resident.
A native of Wayne county, Ill., our subject spent four years of his life there, and in 1871 accompanied his father, Peter Myers, to Kansas. The family located on the Arkansas bottom
land, near the Osage Indian reservation, and thus the boyhood of George M. was truly spent upon the frontier. He early became skilled in all of the things necessary to the plainsman, and from the time that he was twelve until he was nineteen he was in the saddle more than out of it. He herded cattle and drove mule-teams, was engaged in the transportation of freight and supplies from Arkansas City and Caldwell to different points in the Indian territory, and often as far south as Fort Sill. His father also was similarly occupied part of the time, and many a time George M. drove four or six mule teams or oxen. For one of his age he was often entrusted with great responsibilities, yet never did he fail in the discharge of his onerous duties, and the confidence which his employers placed in him was well deserved. He continued to make the parental home his headquarters until he was grown, and his father now is a citizen of Crutcho township also.
In the early part of 1889 G. M. Myers was in the Pottawatomie reservation, and was making preparations for planting a large crop of corn, when the news came to him of the proclamation which the president was to make in regard to the opening of Oklahoma. On that memora- ble April 22nd he started from a point near Choctaw City, proceeded along the Crutcho flats, swam the Canadian river, near Choctaw road, and prospected on the Deep Fork, but did not decide upon any location that day. Later he bought his present farm, in section Io, and filed his claim May 10, 1889. He at once began making improvements and put up substantial buildings, after which, in 1893, his claim was contested, but, at the end of a year's litigation, he won his suit. He has placed one hundred and fifteen acres under cultivation and has planted considerable fruit. In 1899 he harvested one thousand bushels of corn of so excellent a grade that he was awarded the prize, a one- hundred-dollar organ, at the Oklahoma terri- torial fair, held in Oklahoma City in the fall of that year. He is paying much attention to the raising of live stock, keeps from sixteen to twenty-five mules, large herds of high-grade Durham cattle, which he brought from Kansas, and Poland-China hogs. By well applied in- dustry and admirable foresight, he has become well-to-do and influential, and all who know him thoroughly respect him as a self-made man. Though not an office-seeker nor a politician, in the usual sense, he is actively interested in the success of the Democratic party.
In the domestic circle Mr. Myers is very hap- pily situated. He was married April 26, 1893. to Miss Lizzie Ireton, in Winfield, Kans. She is a native of Kentucky, but was reared in Kansas and is especially adapted to the life of a pioneer's
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wife, for she is resourceful, brave and industri- ous, willing to make the best of things, and happy in her home. She is the mother of a promising little son and daughter, named, re- spectively, Curtis and Ruth.
S EYMOUR S. PRICE, prominent in the workings of the Republican party in Okla- homa, is efficiently serving as register of the United States land office in Oklahoma City, the largest land district in the territory.
Mr. Price was born near Quincy, Ill., on the farm of one hundred and sixty acres which he now owns, and is a son of Andrew F. and Mary B. (Reagan) Price. His grandfather, who came of a prominent old Kentucky family, was born in that state, and lived at Lexington. Andrew Price, the father of our subject, was born in Lexington, Ky., and at an early day located at Jacksonville, Ill., where he became a prominent merchant. He was a warm college friend of the "War Governor" of Illinois, Richard Yates. He served as revenue assessor and collector dur- ing and after the Civil war. Later he purchased a farm near Quincy, and there he lived until his death, aged seventy-three years. He was a strong Abolitionist and a member of the Repub- lican party. In fraternal relations he was promi- nently connected with the Masons. He married Mary B. Reagan, who was born in Morgan county, Ill., and was also strong in her advocacy of the abolition of slavery. She died in 1895.
Seymour S. Price was born March 16, 1864, and attended school in his native county and Jacksonville, Il1. He remained a resident of Illi- nois until 1889, when he came to Oklahoma City and, in February, 1890, located here perma- nently. Soon after his arrival in Oklahoma City he, with his brother, C. W., who also came at the opening of the territory, built the electric light plant. They gradually enlarged the business, which was incorporated, with C. W. Price as president and general manager. The brother died in 1893, and Seymour succeeded him as president and general manager, filling that office with marked efficiency until the plant became the largest of its kind in the territory. September 18, 1897, he was appointed by President Mc- Kinley as register of the United States land of- fice for the Oklahoma City land district, and, October I, took charge of the office. The ap- pointment was subsequently confirmed by the senate, January 12, 1898, and he has served in a most capable manner to the present time.
Mr. Price was united in marriage in Oklahoma City with Miss Leta Josephine Johnson, of Pitts- field, Ill., a daughter of Col. J. W. Johnson, an attorney-at-law of recognized ability. The lat- ter was representative of his district in the Illi-
nois senate at the time of the Logan and Morri- son fight, and joined sides with the latter forces. He served with honor in the Civil war. He now resides in Oklahoma City. Mrs. Leta J. Price was born in Pittsfield, Ill., and graduated from the Pittsfield high school. In religion she is identified with the Christian Church. They have one daughter, Gladys Allison. Mr. Price is very prominent in various fraternal orders. He was made a Mason at Kingston, Ill., becoming a member of Kingston Lodge No. 266; and is a member of Quincy Chapter No. 5; Quincy Con- sistory, Valley of. Quincy; Oklahoma Com- mandery No. 2; India Temple, N. M. S., Valley of Oklahoma ; and the Benevolent and Patriotic Order of Elks. A Republican in politics, he served as a member of the territorial committee for four years, being chairman of the advisory board in 1896, and he has had charge of the ter- ritorial Republican headquarters in Oklahoma City since 1896.
P AYTON A. SMITH, a well-known citizen of Canadian county, resides on his farm in the southwest quarter of section 27, town- ship 13, range 6 west, his postoffice being at Frisco. Mr. Smith was born in Bartholomew county, Ind., December 12, 1844, and is a son of J. R. and Elizabeth (Anderson) Smith. In 1856 his parents moved to Marion county, Iowa, where they bought land and where they lived the rest of their lives, with the exception of a couple of years spent in Missouri.
Reared on the farm and educated in the com- mon schools, Mr. Smith remained at home until 1864, when he enlisted in Company A, Forty- seventh Iowa Infantry, going first to Memphis, Tenn., then to Helena, Ark. He was in the serv- ice about seven months, and participated in a number of skirmishes, after which he was mus- tered out at Davenport, where he had also been mustered into the service. Returning home, he carried on a farm he had previously pur- chased in Marion county. He was married in Marion county, April 15, 1865, to Miss Barbara Newman, who was born in Parke county, Ind., and is a daughter of Rev. George and Barbara (Hammond) Newman. Her parents went to Iowa in 1849, locating in Marion county, where her father was a minister of the United Brethren Church. He preached in Ohio, Indiana and Iowa, his ministerial career extending over a half century. He died at the age of eighty-eight years.
Selling out his possessions in Marion county in 1880. Mr. Smith moved to Pottawatomic county, Iowa, where he successfully followed his calling for five years. In 1885 he went to Cloud county, Kans., where he bought one hundred
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and sixty acres of land. At the opening of Okla- homa he went to Buffalo Springs, April 22, 1889, and made the run, securing a claim in Canadian county. He cut and hauled logs with which to build a house, then went back in July for his fam- ily, who arrived in August, and lived in a tent until the completion of the house. They raised corn, turnips and pumpkins, and on these they mainly subsisted during the ensuing year. He has put all of the improvements upon the farm, including an orchard of ten acres. The peach trees began to bear in four years, but it took longer for the apples.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith became parents of nine children: Charles Wesley, whose home is near that of his father; William M., who died Jan- uary 18, 1900, leaving two children; Julia, who married and had two children, but died August 28, 1892; Lulu B., wife of John I. Williams; Lucian died at the age of nineteen months; Ar- thur L., Myrtle, Roy and Maude, who are at home. All of the children were born in Marion count, Iowa, except Roy, who was born in Pot- tawatomie county, that state, and Maude. born in Kansas. Mr. Smith cast his first vote for president for Lincoln, in 1864, and voted for Greeley in 1872, but is now a Populist, and has been a delegate to various conventions. In 1892 he was elected the first justice of the peace in his township, and has served continuously since, being re-elected November 6, 1900. He has been successful in settling, by arbitration, all cases but a few, and in these his decision has stood. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church and have been act- ive workers in the same.
P1 ROF. EDWIN DEBARR, M. S., Ph. D. One of the leading educators of the west, Prof. Edwin DeBarr, connected with the faculty of the University of Oklahoma since it was opened to the public, has been an influential factor in the upbuilding of this noble institution of learning. Thoroughly devoted to his profes- sion, and himself a great student always, he pos- sesses, moreover, the special gifts of the success- ful teacher, and commands the respect of his associate members of the faculty. A review of his history elicits admiration, for he has risen to distinction by his own merits and indefatigable labor, and steadily presses forward to further heights of knowledge.
The paternal grandfather of our subject was born in Alsace, France, where his family spelled the surname "de Barr." Captain DeBarr, as he was known during the greater part of his long life, was a remarkable man in many re- spects. Coming to America in his youth, he lived in the colonies for some time prior to the
war for independence, and served in that conflict in the colonial army, furnishing his own equip- ments. When our second war with the mother country came on, he again came to the support of his adopted land, and, as before, furnished his own uniform and supplies, in order to spare the impoverished resources of the infant United States. Before the war of 1812 ended he was promoted to the rank of captain, and acquitted himself nobly. In spite of the almost unendura- ble hardships of those early wars, he was a mili- tary man by nature, and decades afterwards, when the Mexican war was entered upon, not- withstanding his extreme age, he volunteered his services, and took part in the campaign under the leadership of General Scott, being the cap- tain of a company. Only a few years later he was summoned to his reward, and at his deatlı had almost reached the century mark. His first location in this country was upon the site of the present beautiful large city of Rochester, N. Y., a portion of his farm now included within its boundaries. Later he removed to a farm near Oswego, N. Y., and finally cast in his lot with the sturdy pioneers of the then territory of Mich- igan. There he improved farms near Dexter, Washtenaw county, and in Ingham county. In religious faith he was a Baptist.
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