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 86
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At the time of his arrival here, Mr. Chasteen entered a claim, eight miles southwest of Paw- nee, in Camp Creek valley, and still owns that quarter-section. He is a Knight of Pythias and belongs to the Ancient Order of United Work- men. One of the charter members of the Paw- nee Commercial Club, he acted as its vice-presi- dent for a period, and always has sought to ad- vance the local prosperity in every legitimate way. Politically he is associated with the Dem- ocratic party. In the Methodist Episcopal Church he is a valued member, serving on the board of trustees.
In Fayetteville, Ark., Mr. Chasteen made the acquaintance of a young lady, who, like him- self, was a student in the University of Arkan- . sas. Miss E. May Middleton, for that was the name she bore, won high honors and was made valedictorian of her class, also taking the degree of Bachelor of Arts. A little son and daughter bless the home of this worthy couple, their names being, respectively, Evelyn and Carl.
H. W. WILLIAMS. Within a remarkably short period Mr. Williams, of Pawnee. has come to the front, but, like many of the men who have risen to prominence in this republic, he was reared upon a farm and did not "despise the day of small things"-in other words, he faithfully and industriously performed each of life's duties as they came to him, and thus earned the high regard of all who knew him. Intrinsic worth, when united with good mental endowments and keen perceptions, rarely fail of being recognized, sooner or later, and thus it has been in the case of the subject of this arti- cle, whose future is bright with promise.
H. W. Williams, who was formerly junior member of the firm of Lemert & Williams, and is now United States commissioner of Pawnee county, comes from a prominent New England family. His paternal grandfather, a native of Connecticut, went to Kentucky and owned and managed a plantation there until his death. which occurred early in his career. Davis E. Williams, with his brothers and a sister, went to - Indiana, and became a farmer of LaPorte county, whence he removed to Miami county. Kans .. in 1866. On the day that witnessed the opening of this territory, he reached Guthrie.
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and the following July located a claim seven miles southeast of Stillwater, where he has since been engaged in farming. When the Civil war was being waged, he enlisted, serving in the Twenty-ninth Indiana Infantry, and was first lieutenant, also served in the Twelfth Indiana Cavalry. He long has been an honored mem- ber of the Grand Army of the Republic, and is one of the old justices of the peace in Payne county. His wife, who was summoned to her reward March 3, 1808, was Mary, daughter of Joseph Dolman, of England. She was six years old when she accompanied her family to the United States, and was reared in Indiana. Her father lived in Iowa for a period, but returned to the Hoosier state, and died at his home in Michigan City, where he had followed his trade as a miller. His wife, whose maiden surname was Sharpe, is still living, hale and well.
The birth of H. W. Williams occurred Sep- tember 12, 1872, on a farm located ten miles to the northeast of Paola, Miami county, Kans., and with his brother. Albert, and three sisters, he passed his youth quietly, occupied in rural pursuits. His eldest sister, Mrs. Lulu Mitchell, now lives near Stillwater: the second sister. Mrs. Ora Wittich, is a resident of Kansas City, Kans .; and Mrs. Grace Overholt, the youngest of the family. is on the old home place in Payne county, Okla., as also is the younger brother, Albert.
When he was ten years old, H. W. Williams, with the rest of the parental family, removed to the vicinity of Iola, Kans .. and a year later set- tled in the town, in order to have better school advantages. In 1885 he earned his first wages by working for farmers, and for two or three years after his relatives came to Oklahoma he contributed a large share of his earnings to them, assisting in their labors of making homes. It was not until January 3, 1891, that he came to this territory to live, and that winter he took up the study of law under King & Miller, of Still- water. On September 16. 1893, he crossed the Payne county line into Pawnee county, and lo- cated a claim just half a mile from the boundary. For over two years he devoted his time and ef- forts to the development of the place, and then sold the property. He had improved his leisure hours in the meantime by continuing his legal studies, and in the spring of 1896 worked under the supervision of B. S. McGuire. In the spring of the following year he was admitted to the bar at Stillwater, and practiced his profession in Cleveland, Pawnee county, until February 1. 1000, when he came to the county seat, and en- tered into partnership with Judge E. L. Lemert. On the 12th of the same month he received his appointment to the office of United States Com- missioner, at the hands of Judge B. T. Hainer,
of Perry, Okla. He belongs to the Pawnee County Bar Association. In politics he is an active Republican, and has been a member of the county central committee. Fraternally lie was initiated into Masonry in Pawnee Lodge No. 17, A. F. & A. M .; is connected with the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and is also a member of Tyrian Chapter No. 20, R. A. M., and Pawnee Commandery, K. T.
J JUDGE W. L. EAGLETON. Foremost among the members of the Pawnee County Bar Association is Judge Eagleton, a worthy representative of a fine old southern family. Many of his relatives and ancestors rose to distinction, occupying positions of importance in the several professions. Both of his grandfathers were ministers of some note, Rev. William Eagleton serving as pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Murfreesboro, Tenn .. for thirty-seven years, or until his death, and Rev. Lemuel H. Bethel, the maternal grandfather, being actively engaged in pastoral labors in the central part of the same state, and being one of the trustees of the Bap- tist University at Murfreesboro for a long pe -- riod. The Eagletons are of Scotch-Irish extrac- tion, and the wife of Rev. William Eagleton was a Miss Ewing in her girlhood.
The parents of the judge were John A. and Mary (Bethel) Eagleton, both natives .of Ten- nessee. The mother was a daughter of Rev. L. H. and Elizabeth (Buchanan) Bethel, the lat- ter coming from the celebrated Buchanan fan- ily, of southern note, one of her nephews being the late governor of Tennessee, John P. Bu- chanan. For many years after arriving at ma- turity, John A. Eagleton and a brother were in business together in Murfreesboro, and in 1875 the former settled at Cornersville, Tenn., where he was a merchant for several years. For about five years prior to his death he lived upon his farm in Smith county, Tenn. During the Civil war he served in the Forty-fifth Tennessee, in Cheatham's brigade. His wife is also deceased. Of their eleven children, only the subject of this article and three of his sisters survive.
The birth of Judge Eagleton took place in Woodbury, Cannon county, Tenn., November 7. 1860, and most of his youth was spent in Mur- freesboro, where he attended the public schools. Later he pursued his studies in the Southern Normal at Glasgow, Ky., where he was gradu- ated in 1884, with the degree of Bachelor of Sciences, and subsequently for three years en- gaged in teaching. In the meantime he pur- sued law studies, and in the spring of 1888 was admitted to the bar at his birthplace, Wood- burv.
Embarking on his professional career, Judge .
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Eagleton located in Cisco, Tex., in the fall of 1888, and was city attorney there until the spring of 1893, when he went to Muscogee, I. T. Believing that Pawnee, in a territory which soon will find admittance to the Union as a state, is a better field of enterprise, he came here in No- vember, 1893, after due consideration, and has been actively engaged in practice here ever since.
In July, 1898, when Judge Neal resigned his position, Mr. Eagleton was appointed to fill the vacancy in the probate court, and in the follow- ing autumn was nominated on the Democratic ticket for the office, being endorsed by the Pop- tilists, as well. He received a flattering vote, leading his ticket by over two hundred, and being elected by a majority of nearly five hun- dred votes. He was re-elected to the same office in the fall of 1900. An active member of the ex- ecutive committee of the Territorial Central Democratic organization, and, in general, a stal- wart champion of the party, he was nominated to the territorial legislature in 1894, but, of course, was defeated, owing to being in the mi- nority party in this region.
In the spring of 1888 Judge Eagleton was initiated into Masonry in the lodge of Wood- bury, Tenn., for two years was the master of the lodge at Cisco, Tex., and was a charter mem- ber and the first master of Pawnee Lodge No. 17, A. F. & A. M. He was exalted to the Royal Arch degree while in Cisco, and is a charter member and was the first high priest of Tyrian Chapter No. 20, R. A. M., of Pawnee. At pres- ent he is deputy grand high priest of the grand chapter of Indian and Oklahoma territories, and from 1899 to 1900 was grand master of the grand lodge of Oklahoma. In this capacity he was the representative of this territory to the centennial ceremonies of the death of that re- nowned Mason, George Washington, at Mount Vernon, Va. He is a presiding officer of Paw- nee Council of Royal and Select Masters, and Generalissimo of Pawnee Commandery, both of which were instituted in the winter of 1000-01. In 1897, Esther Chapter No. 35, O. E. S .. was organized here, the judge being one of the charter members and the first worthy patron. and in 1898 and 1899 was the grand patron of the Grand Chapter of Indian and Oklahoma Territories. In his religious faith he adheres to the Congregational tenets, being a valued worker in the church.
The marriage of Judge Eagleton and Miss Mattie Saunders, a native of Tennessee, took place in McNairy county, Tenn., in 1888. Her father. Sanford Saunders, who is numbered among the agriculturists of the county men- tioned, was a descendant of a prominent Ten- nessee family, and his father held several promi-
nent offices within the gift of the people of that state. Four children comprise the family of Judge and Mrs. Eagleton, namely: Mary Eloise, Olive, Elvie and William L., Jr.
O SCAR M. LANCASTER, ex-treasurer of Pawnee county, made an excellent record in that responsible position, which he held four years. He was the first one elected here to that office, and, upon the expiration of his first term, in 1896, he was re-elected over a fusion- ticket candidate, and thus continued as treas- urer of this county until New Year's day, 1899. Previously he had been the city treasurer of Pawnee, the first chosen for the office, and this he resigned when he was elected to the higher post. He is active in the ranks of the Repub- lican party, and is a charter member and a di- rector in the Pawnee Commercial Club.
Of German, English and Scotch extraction, Mr. Lancaster represents many of the best qual- ities of those three differing peoples, and is a fine type of the patriotic American. His parents, John and Sarah (Johnson) Lancaster, were na- tives, respectively, of Kentucky and Indiana. From his boyhood, the father lived in' the Hoosier state, and early was identified among the farmers of Switzerland county, where he won his bride. In the Centennial year he re- moved to Cass county, Mo., and carried on a farm near Austin, also engaging in a mercantile business at that place. He was born in 1817. and died in Austin, in 1895, and the wife and mother also has passed to the silent land.
Oscar M. Lancaster, with six brothers and sisters, of the original nine children, survives, and thus far he is the only one of the number who has come to Oklahoma. His eldest brother, William, was in an Indiana regiment during the Civil war, and now is a resident of Hodgman county, Kans. Our subject was born on a farin near Vevay, Ind., October 9, 1858, and received a liberal public-school education. In 1875 he came to the West, and in the following year took charge of a farm, which he managed for five years. Then, locating in East Lynn, Mo., he carried on a livery and dealt in agricultural im- plements for four years, after which he bought 'a farm in Lincoln county, Kans., and embarked in agricultural pursuits, also giving considerable attention to stock-raising. In 1800 he returned to Cass county, Mo., and until September 16, 1803, operated a farm there.
On that date, Mr. Lancaster made the race into the western part of Noble county, but, as he did not like the country, he came to Pawnee and opened one of the first groceries in the place, its situation being on the north side of the square, and there he was a merchant until
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he was elected county treasurer. Since the ter- mination of his public service in that capacity he has conducted a real-estate. loan and insur- ance business, and now owns desirable city and farm property. His own homestead, which he leases, is located two and a half miles northeast of Pawnee. In January, 1899, he became finan- cially connected with the Bank of Pawnee, and was placed on the board of directors. In Oc- tober, 1899, it was converted into the First Na- tional Bank of Pawnee, and he continues as one of the directors of the new organization. In the Odd Fellows society he is past noble grand. He is also associated with Pawnee Lodge No. 17, A. F. & A. M., and is its present master and senior warden; and, besides, he is a member of Tyrian Chapter No. 20, R. A. M., also a member of the Scottish Rite, thirty-second and York de- grees. The local lodge of the Ancient Order of United Workmen numbers him among its members, and he likewise is connected with the Knights of Pythias.
In Austin, Mo., Mr. Lancaster married Miss May Burt, who was born in Wisconsin, and to them a little son and daughter were born. Blanche is living, but Roy died at the age of eighteen months. Mrs. Lancaster is a daughter of B. Burt, a Missouri farmer. She is a lady of pleasing social attainments, and in the Method- ist Episcopal Church she is an earnest worker.
C ASSIUS W. RAMBO is a sterling repre- sentative of one of the old families of the . colonial period of the United States. Orig- inally from Switzerland, the Rambos were iden- tified with the history of Pennsylvania at an early day, and our subject's grandfather, Aaron Rambo, a native of Beaver county, Pa., was a soldier in the war of 1812. His maternal grand- father, Jacob Slaybaugh, also was born in the Keystone state, and also patriotically fought for his beloved land in our second war with the mother country. Both were pioneers of Rich- land county, Ohio. Aaron Rambo built and owned the first grist-mill (run by horse-power) operated in that county. it being situated about a mile from Shelby. He died in that locality, at the ripe age of seventy-four years. Jacob Slay- baugh was a farmer by occupation, and lived to his seventy-third year.
The parents of our subject. Moses and Sarah Rambo, were natives of Shelby, Ohio, and Adams county, Pa., respectively. The former, born in 1822, continued to manage his father's old homestead until 1857, when he removed to Sumner, Kans., and there engaged in the manu- facturing of brick until the outbreak of the Civil war, when he took his family back to Ohio. Enlisting in Company H, Sixty-fourth Ohio In-
fantry, he served throughout the war, and in the battle of Rocky Face Ridge was seriously wounded in the thigh. After the close of the war he carried on farms in Ohio and Illinois, and now lives at his old home near Shelby, Ohio. He is a prominent Grand Army man, and is a stalwart Republican. The wife and mother de- parted this life in 1807, when making a visit in Kansas. Four of their children lived to ma- turity: C. W .; Curtis R., a farmer near Elk Falls, Kans .; Mrs. Sarah R. Collins, of Shelby, Ohio; and Byron O., of the same town.
Cassius W. Rambo was born in Shelby, Ohio, April 20, 1847; from 1857 to 1861 lived in Kan- sas, and during the early part of the Civil war attended the public schools of his native state. As soon as he could prevail upon the enrolling officers to allow him to enlist, the young man was ready for whatever the fortunes of war might bring to him. In the spring of 1864, when he was barely seventeen, he was taken as a recruit in Company H, Thirty-ninth Ohio, and joined the regiment in Georgia, just before the Atlanta campaign. With the spirit of a veteran. he bravely participated in the numerous battles and long marches of that famous march to the sea, and, after taking Atlanta, went to Savan- nah, northward through the Carolinas, and thence to' Washington, where he was a hero of the Grand Review. Sent to Louisville, Ky., he was mustered out of the army July 19, 1865.
Returning home, Mr. Rambo attended the normal school in Shelby for about a year, and then engaged in teaching in that county until 1869. In the fall of that year he entered a claim near Independence, Kans., and commenced making improvements upon it, in the meantime teaching school in the vicinity. Since 1872 he has been actively occupied in mercantile pur- suits, save for the four years between 1884 and 1888, when he served the people of Elk county, Kans., as their county treasurer. His partner, T. P. Fletcher, is the father of his wife, and the firm name is Fletcher & Rambo. For a few months the partners conducted a general mer- chandise store at Princeton, Franklin county. Kans., and in the fall of 1873 embarked in the same line of business at Elk Falls, Howard county. Fletcher & Rambo own a fine farm of five hundred and sixty acres, situated in Elk county, Kans., and it was not until the spring of 1895 that Mr. Rambo left Elk Falls. At that time he came to Pawnee and started a gen- eral store in a substantial building, 25x150 feet. which he had specially erected. He is very en- terprising in his methods, and from the first commanded the respect of the public. He was a charter member of the Commercial Club, and was one of its vice-presidents for a period. He also served as a member of the city council, and .
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acted as president of the board. Initiated into Masonry in Ottawa, Kans., he is past master of the Elk Falls lodge, and now belongs to Paw- nee Lodge No. 17, A. F. & A. M .; took the Royal Arch degree in Independence, and is one of the charter members of Tyrian Chapter No. 20, R. A. M., and Pawnee Commandery No. 7. K. T. In the Grand Army of the Republic he is justly popular, and now is identified with Henry Slocum Post, of Pawnee. His franchise always is used on behalf of the platform of the Repub- lican party.
In Franklin county, Kans., Mr. Rambo wedded Miss Alice J. Fletcher, who is a native of Maine. They are. the parents of two manly sons. Clate C. and Hal F. The elder, C. C., is in business with his father, and was educated in the Kansas State Agricultural College and in Baker's University.
H ENRY S. TOMS is the oldest merchant in years of continued business now residing in Pawnee, and is a man of superior exec- utive ability and sound judgment, who occupies an enviable position in the mercantile world. He was born in Rutherfordton, N. C., September II, 1852, and is a son of Hon. Edward and Jane (Kerr) Toms, also natives of Rutherford county, and the latter of Scotch-Irish descent. The pa- ternal grandfather was a native of England and in early life was a sea captain, but on his emigra- tion to America he located in North Carolina and devoted the remainder of his life to the man- agement of his plantation. Our subject's father was also a planter of that state, and was one of the most popular and influential citizens of his community. He served as county clerk several terms and also represented his district in the state legislature. He died at the age of sixty-five years, and his wife at the age of about sixty-two years. Of their family, two children are still living, the younger and only son being our sub- ject.
The boyhood and youth of Henry S. Toms were spent upon a plantation in his native state, and after attending the public schools he be- came a student at Rutherford College. He began his business career in 1878 as a general mer- chant at Rutherfordton, where he remained until 1801, and then went to Chicago, Ill. Subse- quently he spent a short time in Georgia, Mis- sissippi and Arkansas, and in 1892 went to the Cherokee Nation. He was engaged in mer- chandising at Foyil until September, 1893, when he made the run to the strip and located in Paw- nee county. Three days after his arrival here he purchased the lot in Pawnee City where he is now engaged in business. He opened his first stock of merchandise in a building 25x40 feet,
but soon afterward erected a part of his present store building, which was opened for business in May, 1894. It has since been enlarged and he now has a good two-story building, 25x80 feet. He carries a large and well-selected stock of general merchandise, and has by fair and hon- orable dealing built up an excellent trade. He is a man of broad capabilities, and his business interests have been so managed as to win him the confidence of the public and the prosperity which should always attend honorable effort.
At Rutherfordton, N. C., Mr. Toms led to the marriage altar Miss Fanny Dickerson, a native of that place and a daughter of Col. M. O. Dick- erson, a planter and politician, who was also born there. For many years her father served as clerk of the superior court and also as a mem- ber of the state senate. He took part in the early Indian wars, and during the Civil war was colonel of a North Carolina regiment in the Confederate army. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity and was quite a prominent man in his locality. His death occurred in his native state.
Mr. Toms is a charter member and director of the Commercial Club of Pawnee, and is also identified with the Knights of Pythias and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. By his ballot he supports the men and measures of the Democratic party, and gives his support to all worthy enterprises for the public good. . Reli- giously he and his estimable wife are members of the Presbyterian Church.
P ROF. FLORUS DAVID HARNDEN. In this age of intellectual activity, when suc- cess in the business world depends not upon mere physical prowess, but upon mental activity, the work of the educator has become of even greater importance than ever before. Oc- cupying a prominent rank among the educators of Oklahoma is Professor Harnden, who is now serving his second term as county superintend- ent of schools in Pawnee county.
He was born in Wheaton. Ill., March 25. 1863. a son of George W. and Frances (Meacham) Harnden, who were also natives of Wheaton. and representatives of good old New England families. His paternal great-grandfather was a native of England and an early settler of New Hampshire, in which state the grandfather. Jas- per Streeter Harnden, was born and reared. During his boyhood the latter became a sailor and was first mate on a whaling vessel for years. In 1835 he went to Illinois, and became one of the pioneers of Barrington, Cook county, where be improved a farm, making it his home until `called to his final rest at the advanced age of ninety-five years. Our subject's maternal grand-
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father was Lemuel Meacham, a native of Rut- land county, Vt., and a son of Colonel Meacham, who was an officer in the American navy in both the Revolutionary war and the war of 1812. The latter married Isabelle Standish, a lineal de- scendant of Miles Standish, of colonial fame. On the maternal side our subject is also de- scended from Jonathan Edwards, an eminent di- vine of the Congregational Church. The grand- father, Lemuel Meacham, was a highly educated man, and was especially proficient in music, teaching that art in connection with farming while a resident of the Green Mountain state. In 1835 he became a pioneer farmer of Du Page county, Ill., and was a musical instructor there for a time. Later he conducted a music school in Chicago, but his last days were spent in Min- nesota, where he died at the age of ninety-three years. The professor's father was reared on a farm in Cook county, Ill., and was graduated from the Chicago Medical College. He is now engaged in the practice of his profession at Sherburne, Minn., and is ex-mayor of that city. His wife died in that state and one of their three children is also deceased. Our subject is the oldest and only son of the family. His sister, Mrs. Elizabeth Perrine, is now a resident of Pawnee county, Okla.
Professor Harnden's primary education was obtained in the public schools of Wheaton, Ill. In 1878 he accompanied his parents on their removal to Sherburne, Minn., and in 1881 he entered Carlton College, at Northfield, that state, where he was a student for one year. He then learned the painter's trade, but devoted the greater part of his time to teaching school, fol- lowing that profession at Alton, Kans., from 1885 to 1889. In the latter year he entered Stock- ton Academy, where he pursued a classical course, and was graduated in 1893. He also conducted classes during the entire time he was a student there.
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