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 91
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On his father's farm Elihu H. Cox received his early training. In 1861 he enlisted in Company C, Twelfth Indiana Infantry. His time expired April 23, but he was not discharged until June 8, 1862. In the reorganization of the regiment he took an active part, and afterward served in the same for three years, his total service in the army covering four years. Finally he was hon- orably discharged, July 23, 1865, with an army record for bravery and fidelity of which he and his may well be proud. Among the battles in which he participated were some of the most im- portant of the war, including Richmond, Vicks- burg, Jackson, Black River, Miss., Missionary Ridge, Resaca, Dallas, New Hope, Kencsaw Mountain, Nickajack Creek, and the siege of Atlanta, which lasted from the 20th to the 31st of August. He was also at Jonesboro, Savan- nah, Columbia, S. C., Bentonville and Raleigh.
Out of the brave martial regiment that started
for the war the bodies of six hundred were strewn over the battlefields. Mr. Cox himself was not exempt from disaster, though he ex- perienced none of a serious nature. At At- lanta, during the week of the engagement at Peach Tree Creek, a shell struck his haversack, breaking and twisting his tin plates. July 22 a ball struck the butt of his gun, glanced through his shoulder and caused a slight abrasion. A large part of the sufferings of the soldiers was due to the intense, and at times intolerable, heat. which caused many sunstrokes. Mr. Cox was afflicted in this manner, and did not regain con- sciousness for six hours.
After the war Mr. Cox led a peaceful and un- eventful life as a farmer. In 1868 he moved to Jackson county, Kans. At the opening of Okla- homa, in 1889, he settled upon the land which is now his home. His claim is fitted with build- ings and appliances of the most modern nature.
In times of peace, as in war, Mr. Cox has al- ways done his duty as a citizen. As a county commissioner of Logan county, and in town- ship and school offices, he has ever been on the side of progress, and has given his influence for beneficial measures. In politics he is inde- pendent, not belonging to any party. Fra- ternally he is a member of Lodge No. 3. I. O. O. F. He is also connected with the Grand Army of the Republic at Crescent City. Among his ac- quaintances he is held in high esteem for the uprightness of his life and the perseverance which he has shown in the improvement and cul- tivation of his land.
July 29, 1865, Mr. Cox married Rhoda Clark. a daughter of L. and Lydia Clark, natives of Ohio. Of this union there were nine children. six of whom are now living, namely: Lyman J., of Woodland township: Elmer, of Cedar town- ship; Ida, wife of C. W. Overstreet, of Sumner county, Kans .; Arminta, who married Isaac Reed, a farmer of Barton county, Mo .; Delsie, who married Elmer Baker, a school teacher in Logan county, and Mary, who is studying in the normal school at Guthrie, and is fitting herself for work as a school teacher. There are a num- ber of grandchildren, viz .: the eight children of Lyman J., the three children of Mrs. Overstreet. the two children of Mrs. Reed and the child of Mrs. Baker.
- ISAAC KING BERRY is one of the important factors in the business circle of Pawnee, who has practically been identified with the com- mercial and agricultural interests of Oklahoma since 1875, and has witnessed almost its entire development and upbuilding. He was born near Williamsburg. Whitley county, Ky., which was also the birthplace of his father, Thomas
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N. Berry. His paternal great-grandfather was one of the first settlers of that state, to which he removed from Virginia at a very early day, and he reared his family near Lexington, Fay- ette county. There the grandfather, John Berry was born, and became a great hunter and ex- tensive farmer. He also fought for American independence in the Revolutionary war.
Thomas N. Berry was a farmer and mail con- tractor, and lived to the age of sixty years, while his wife, who bore the maiden name of Julia King, and was also a native of the Blue Grass State, died in Kansas at the age of about fifty-six years. Her father, Isaac King, was born in West Virginia, and was a pioneer of Kentucky, and a farmer by occupation. He died at the ripe old age of about eighty years. Our subject is the third in order of birth in a family of nine children, seven of whom are still living, namely: W. E., who served in the Union army as a member of the Sixteenth Kentucky Vol- unteer Infantry, and is now vice-president of the Stillwater Bank at Stillwater, Okla .; G. M., a resident of Pawnee; R. C., a stockman of Nor- man; Andrew A., also a resident of Norman; Mrs. Susan Arthur of Guthrie, and Mrs. N. J. Laughlin, of Payne county, Okla.
Isaac K. Berry was born January 27, 1850, on the home farm in Kentucky, where he was reared. He pursued his studies in the district schools, but owing to an injury to his eyes he left school at the age of fourteen. Coming West in 1869 he first located near Sedalia, Mo., and the following year went to Waverly, that state, where he joined an engineer corps en- gaged in the construction of the railroad be- tween Brownsville and Cameron Junction. In 1871 he went to Wichita, Kans., and was in the employ of Mr. Slaughter, a cattle man, until 1874, on the trail between Texas, Wichita and Coffeyville. He then purchased a few head of cattle which he wintered on the Big Caney in Indian Territory. In 1875 he met the agent from Pawnee, who employed him to take charge of the government herd until 1878. Having become conversant with several Indian lan- guages, he secured a license to trade at the agency in 1878, and conducted a store for two years. In 1879 he started a ranch on Cimarron river at the mouth of Stillwater creek, which he named, as the stream seems perfectly still for two miles above its mouth. There he engaged in the cattle business until 1891, selling out when the Sac and Fox country was opened for settlement.
In the meantime, in 1884, Mr. Berry went to Clark county, Kans., and in company with twenty men purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land for $300 and laid down the town of Ashland, which became the county seat. He was
also instrumental in organizing the company that laid out Lipscomb, Lipscomb county, Tex., and Boston, Colo., but, owning too much land and town property, he failed during the contin- ucd dry seasons, and lost nearly one hundred thousand dollars. He then returned to ranch- ing, and in 1889 located a claim adjoining Guth- rie, but sold that place a year and a half later and removed to Cushing, which he helped lay out, and also suggested the name for the town. He secured a claim in Payne county, where he improved a farm and successfully engaged in stock raising and cattle dealing for some time. Leasing three hundred and twenty acres of land on Cimarron river, he engaged in buying and shipping cattle at that place until July, 1808, when he located at Pawnee, continuing in the same line of trade. In the fall of 1898 he pur- chased a meat market, which he conducted under the firm name of I. K. Berry & Co., until Sep- tember, 1900. He was one of the promoters of the Pawnee Mercantile Company, and is also a stockholder in the wholesale produce, fruit and grocery business. He is a man of strong force of character, purposeful and energetic, and his keen discrimination and sound judgment are shown in his capable management of business affairs.
In Arkansas City Mr. Berry was united in marriage with Miss Laura B. Nipp, a native of Cowley county, Kans., and a daughter of Capt. J. B. Nipp, an extensive horse dealer, who owned a large ranch on the Cimarron river, but now resides in Kansas City. He was captain of a company in a Kentucky regiment that fought for the Union during the Civil war and was wounded in the service. Mr. and Mrs. Berry have five children, namely: Viola, Blanche, Manvill G., Ruby and Miriam. Mr. Berry was made a Mason at Arkansas City, but now holds membership in the lodge at Pawnee, No. 17, A. F. & A. M., is also a member of Pawnee Commandery No. 7, K. T., and has taken all the York degrees and the thirty-sec- ond degree in the Scottish Rites. He is a mem- ber of the Commercial Club, being one of its board of directors. His political support is given the Democracy, and as a public-spirited and progressive citizen he gives his influence to every enterprise which he believes calculated to advance the social, moral or material welfare of his community. His wife is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Since the above was written, Mr. Berry has inaugurated a new and important financial en- terprise. He was instrumental in the establish- ment of the Pawnee County Bank, which was chartered December 17, 1900, and opened its doors for business February 18, 1901. The bank has a capital (paid-up) stock of $6,000, and is under the direct supervision of I. K. Berry, who
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is its president, while Joseph E. Pautler holds the office of cashier.
H. M. BALL. In his capacity as a suc- cessful druggist of Carney, Mr. Ball has been able to realize many of his ex- pectations in regard to life in this promising cor- ner of the world. He is entitled to credit for the rise which his efforts have brought about, and for the stability of purpose and close applica- tion to business which have been apparent from his childhood. Unlike the average youth he was, when three years of age, deprived of the care and affectionate interest of his parents, who were taken from him by death, and amid stran- gers he grew to years of discretion. The serious and responsible side of life was thus early mani- fest, and the necessity for self support a subject of vital and absorbing importance.
In his native township in Fulton county, Ind., Mr. Ball passed his earlier years. Going from Indiana to Canton, Ohio, he there spent three years in school. Later he spent six years in Macon, Ill., where he attended the public schools and received a good education. At the age of twenty he struck out for himself, and for sev- eral years engaged in railroading on the Mis- souri, Kansas & Texas, with headquarters in Texas. A later business venture was the man- agement of the Commercial Hotel at Commerce, Texas, which he successfully conducted for four years. He then engaged in the general mer- chandise business which developed into a re- munerative undertaking, and in which he en- gaged until 1890. At this time he again took up the drug business, after removing to Gaines- ville, Texas.
The introduction into the territory was made by Mr. Ball in 1891, when he located in Ed- mond, and lived there for a year. At the open- ing of the Iowa country he made the run with others of like mind and intent, and September 22, 1891, located on the claim on section 31, which is now at one corner of the town of Car- ney. To the cultivation of this claim Mr. Ball devoted his time and best energies, with the result that it is now one of the most highly improved farms in the township. A general farming and stock raising business has been con- ducted, and there is a fine orchard and vineyard, and all modern and up-to-date appliances.
In 1892 Mr. Ball returned to his former occu- pation as a druggist, and bought out the drug store in Carney, and laid in a full line of neces- sities in that direction, and now caters to a con- tinually increasing trade. He finds relaxation from business cares on his farm which is still his home, and which is conveniently located three-quarters of a mile from the store. Mr.
Ball diversifies his business and home responsi- bilities by a general interest in the welfare of his adopted town, in the promise of which he has abundant faith. In political affiliation he is with the Republican party, and is active in its work and issues. To the cause of education he gives much thought and application, and has served as a member and director of the school board. Fraternally he is associated with the Woodmen of the World and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
Mrs. Ball was formerly Alice E. Rash, and she is the mother of the following children: Mable E., Della Kate, John William, Edward M., Charles F., Alice Leona, and Henderson M.
M RS. M. M. EGBERT, proprietor and man- ager of the Egbert Hotel, at Chandler. is a pioneer of this place, and is held in high esteem by all. The first hotel started here -- the historic old Manvel House, on the corner of Manvel and Eleventh streets, was carried on by her, and, in fact, she it was who had the building constructed, the lumber, cost- ing $9 per thousand, being hauled forty-five miles, the distance from Guthrie. Her enter- prise and public spirit has redounded to the progress of Chandler, all worthy movements re- ceiving her ardent support.
Of English descent, Mrs. Egbert is a daughter of the Rev. Heman Canady, who was born near Dayton, Ohio, of which locality his father was a pioneer, though Pennsylvania was his native state. For a wife, Mr. Canady chose Miss Sabra Thrasher, likewise born in the vicinity of Day- ton, and a daughter of Isaac Thrasher, of Penn- sylvania, and an early settler of Montgomery county, Ohio. In 1846 the Canady family re- inoved to Illinois, and there the mother died when in her fiftieth year. The father, whose death occurred in 1879, when he was fifty-two, had been a faithful worker in the Methodist Episcopal denomination, establishing churches and Sunday-schools throughout his section of the state, and was greatly beloved by all who knew him.
Mrs. M. M. Egbert, whose birthplace was in Watseka, Ill., is one of six children, and her only sister, Mrs. Harriet Hamilton, is a resident of Crystal, Okla. Her eldest brother, Matthew, served in the Fifty-first Illinois throughout the Civil war, and was living in Ohio when last heard from. Isaac, the next brother, lives in Springfield, Ohio, and. Wake, the youngest, is in California. Milo died in the Indian territory in 1893. All of the children attended the prim- itive log cabin school-house of the place and period, yet managed to obtain a fair education. For some time after reaching maturity, Mrs.
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Egbert was engaged in the millinery business in her native county. In 1873 she became the wife of Adrian Egbert, a native of the vicinity of Adrian, Ohio. Four manly, promising sons and a daughter, born of this union, have been numbered among Chandler's most popular young people. Charles, the eldest, is engaged in building and contracting here; Harry is a grocer of this place and Adrian is employed in the transportation business here. James is a student in Westminster College, at Fulton, Mo., and Vernal is attending the Daughters' College in the same town.
Twenty-three years ago this popular "mine- host" entered the hotel business at Watseka. Ill., and for ten years was at the head of the well-known "Maple House." Having faith in the future of Oklahoma, she determined to cast in her lot here, and in 1888 located in Wichita, ready to enter "the promised land" at the first opportunity. April 25, 1889, witnessed her ar- rival in Guthrie, where, as soon as she could secure a place she commenced running a hotel -the Carleton House, on Harrison avenue. Continuing there until September 22, 1891, she then came to Chandler, and after living in a tent for a short time, while her frame Manvel House was in process of construction, she then moved into the new quarters. The two-story building, 25x70 feet in dimensions, was run as a hotel with success until March, 1897, when the cyclone razed it to the ground. Fortunately, no one was killed, though one man was severely injured, refuge being taken in a cave which the forethought of Mrs. Egbert had provided. Two days after this disastrous occurrence, she leased the Mitchell Hotel at the corner of Manvel and Twelfth, and opened it as the Egbert House. In 1898 she purchased the property and en- larged the building, which now stands, a sub- stantial brick structure, 50x100 feet, and two stories in height, the largest hotel in Chandler. Everything is closely looked after, and the com- fort of her guests is a matter of prime impor- tance to the proprietor, as they are made to feel.
Outside of her regular business enterprise, Mrs. Egbert has met with success, in spite of the cyclone. At that time she was having a good stone building erected at the corner of Ninth and Manvel, and when it was leveled to the foundations she again had the work proceed. The well built block. 25x80 feet, she afterwards sold, and in 1898 rebuilt on the old hotel site a two-story store building, 25x90 feet in dimen- sions. This she still owns, and from time to time has invested in other local property. Her finely-improved quarter-section of land, two miles northwest of Chandler, is a valuable place. Good buildings and twenty acres of orchard and small fruits in abundance, together with other
improvements, render the homestead a desirable place of residence. It is needless to sing her praises as a business woman, for her merits are well known, suffice it to say that few have a bet- ter record for pluck, perseverance and energy, and few of her sex are more capable and re- sourceful.
L OYD McNEMEE. the well-known and popular proprietor of the Hotel de Hoss livery stable on South Main street, Pawnee, was born at Lake Contrary, Buchanan county, Mo., January 29, 1847., His father, John Mc- Nemee, was a native of Licking county, Ohio, and was a young 'man when he removed to Buchanan county, Mo., where he married Amanda Estman, who was born in Alabama, and with her parents removed to Missouri in early life. John McNemee followed farming and the wheelwright's trade in Buchanan county until March, 1851, when he removed to Kansas, locating on a quarter section of land where the city of Atchison now stands, but he did not keep that place as he soon went to the present site of Doniphan, Doniphan county, Kans. Later he made his home at Rock Creek, where he built a shop and improved a farm. This place is known as Brenner Station on the Burlington & Missouri Railroad. Upon that place he still resides at the ripe old age of eighty-nine years, but his wife died in 1894. To them were born fourteen children, and twelve survive the mother, Loyd being the third in order of birth and the only one living in Oklahoma.
Loyd McNemee passed the days of his boy- hood and youth amid pioneer scenes on the Kansas frontier, and was mainly educated in the public schools of Doniphan county. In early life he learned both the wheelwright's and stonemason's trades, and followed the latter for seven years. He also followed locomotive engi- neering for three years. In 1872 he removed to La Crosse, Rush county, Kans., where as a stonemason and in engineering he was em- ployed until 1879, and was then interested in the wholesale and retail produce, grain and coal business until 1893, traveling quite extensively . throughout the country in the interest of his business.
In May, 1893, he traded some property for a livery stable at Stillwater, Okla., and on the 7th of that month came to Edmond, Okla., to sell a carload of horses. The following Novem- ber he brought his livery stable outfit to Paw- nee, and built a barn on Main street, which he opened for business on Christmas day. In March, 1808, he sold the rolling stock and spent two years in travel in Colorado, New Mexico. Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky,
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Tennessee, Arkansas, Texas and Chickasaw Nation, after which he returned to Pawnee and with an entirely new outfit of horses, buggies, etc., again embarked in the livery business March 1, 1900, at his present lo- cation, where he has a commodious two- story barn, 60x73 feet, and well equipped with everything found in a first-class establish- ment of the kind. He has his own water works operated by a windmill, and a tank with a capac- ity of sixty barrels. His place is conducted as a livery, feed and sale stable, and in its management he is meeting with well deserved success, having by fair and honorable dealing secured a liberal share of the public patronage. He is a progressive business.man, energetic and. reliable, and has made hosts of friends during his residence in Pawnee. In his political views he is independent.
In Doniphan county, Kans., Mr. McNemee was united in marriage with Miss Mandania. McDonald, a native of Ohio, and to them were born two children: Elmer, deceased, and Eddie, who operates the home place in Rush county, Kans. He married Miss Osborne and has three children.
September 20, 1893, in St. Joseph, Mo., Mr. McNemee was married the second time, his wife being Mary Dugan.
J. P. TRYON. By strict attention to the foundation principles of a successful com- mercial career, J. P. Tryon, of Chandler, has built up an enviable reputation and at the same time has made a competence. A brief re- view of his life doubtless will be of interest to the numerous friends he has made within the period of his comparatively short residence here. . Born in Jones county, Iowa, J. P. Tryon is a son of W. H. and Sarah (Hoover) Tryon. He is the youngest of three surviving brothers and sisters. Besides these there are three children by the father's present wife. Born in December, 1863, J. P. Tryon was bereft of his mother when he was ten months old. His father was born near Terre Haute, Ind., and comes of an old family of that state. However, he was reared in Iowa from his seventh year and in his early manhood carried on a farm in Jones county. In 1867 he removed with his family to Cherokee county, Kans., and for several years conducted a furniture business in Lowell. Of late years he has been a resident of Galena, same state, and as a member of the firm of Tate & Tryon is carrying on a wholesole grocery business.
In his boyhood J. P. Tryon received a public school education in the towns of Galena and Lowell, Kans. Entering the business world on his own account in 1887 he conducted a grocery
in Galena for five years, his father becoming a partner in the meantime. After coming to Ok- lahoma, September 22, 1891, the young man located a claim in Cimarron township, and in 1893 laid out the town of Tryon, Lincoln county, for which he succeeded in obtaining a postoffice later. Building a store, he put in a good stock of groceries and for some time carried on a thriving trade as a member of the firm of Tryon & Ledington. Subsequently, and until the death of his brother, Fred Tryon, in June, 1897, the firm was known as the Tryon Broth- ers. After being alone about seventeen months, J. P. Tryon divided his stock, and removing a part to Chandler, started a general merchan- dise establishment. Afterwards, he sold out his Tryon interests to Mr. Ledington, who ulti- mately followed his example, coming to Chand- ler, and now is, as formerly, associated in busi- ness with out subject, under the old style of Tryon & Ledington. While this enterprise has prospered under the able management of Mr. Tryon, he by no means limits his attention to the same. When a resident of the town of his name he operated a cotton-gin for two seasons with good financial returns, and in 1899 ran one in this place, buying and dealing extensively in cotton. In the following year he erected a plant at Ripley, in which locality he buys largely of cotton for his gin, besides carrying on other enterprises.
In his political creed, Mr. Tryon is. a Dem- ocrat, with a strong Populistic tendency. Re- ligiously he is a Congregationalist, and an active supporter of the Chandler church, with which his membership is held, and in the fra- ternities he is a Modern Woodman of America. His marriage in Galena, Kans., to Miss Medella Ledington, a native of Missouri, took place in 1886, and is blessed with five children, namely: Agnes, Blanche, Mabel, George and Bessie.
H ON. DALE LYTTON. To the untiring and wisely directed efforts of Mr. Lytton are due many of the most ambitious un- dertakings for the development of the town of Stillwater. He has seemed to grasp the neces- sities of a growing and. promising community, and to foresee the results, disastrous and other- wise, which would accrue from certain contem- plated moves. If it had not been for the resist- ance of Mr. Lytton and others similarly inclined. it is doubtful if the Agricultural and Mechanical College would still be a monument of utility and progress in this city, for its removal was at one time seriously threatened. As a member of the house of representatives, to which he was elected on the People's party ticket during 1806, he rendered signal and lasting service. The elec-
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tion returns were an index of the estimation in which he is held by the community at large, for he was elected by two hundred majority over both of the other candidates. For the carrying out of his ideas of improvement, Mr. Lytton was admirably placed in touch with the demands of situations by being chairman of the commit- tee on appropriations and a member of the com- mittee on public lands and buildings. Aside from his work for the retention of the college, he prevented the division of Payne county, which it was the intention of some to divide.
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