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 93
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Stanchly Republican in politics, Mr. Jones was a member of the first legislature of Okla- homa Territory, being elected on the regular party ticket in the fall of 1800. He served during the first session, in 1801, and was elected speaker of the house, also chairman of the committee on ways and means. He championed the bill for the location of the capital at Oklahoma City,
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and was active in securing the adoption of the present laws. At the expiration of his term, he did not become a candidate for re-election. Un- der President Harrison he was appointed chair- man of town site board No. 2, and filled the position for two years.
In December, 1894, Mr. Jones was interested in the organization of the St. Louis and Okla- homa City Railroad Company, for building a railroad from Sapulpa to this place, a distance of one hundred and three miles. He was elected president and continued as such until the com- pletion of the road, when it was merged into the "Frisco" line. Twice he has been president of the town council and one term served as ·mayor of the city. In 1898 he was elected to the legislature, where he served as chairman of the committees on ways and means and the railroad committee, and as a member of the judiciary committee. Largely as a result of his efforts the Commercial Club was organized, and he was honored by its members with election as the first president. Fraternally he is a Royal Arch Mason, and is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
In Cumberland county, Ill., Mr. Jones mar- ried Miss Tena Stafford, whose parents removed from the Carolinas to Illinois prior to her birth. They have an only son, Luther Jones.
B. C. PAYNE has the distinction of being the first settler on the town site of Braman, Kay county, where he established himself in 1898, and where he was the first man to em- bark in business. He supplied the railroad con- struction hands with groceries and provisions, also with horse-feed for their teams, until the completion of the track into Blackwell. He con- tinued the grocery business until September 19. of the same year, when he associated himself with Quincy T .. Brown, and the two bought a stock of boots and shoes, and glassware and queensware. In the spring of 1899 they added a complete line of farming implements. Soon the business grew to such an extent that additional room was needed, and they added to their 24x75 foot building by the erection of another room, 26x70. Since the opening of the strip, Mr. Payne has acted as agent for the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company, and it is said that he has sold more of their machines than any agent, but one, in the entire county of Kay, his sales being principally those of harvesters, bind- ers and corn harvesters. In 1899 Mr. Payne sold out to his partifer, Mr. Brown, but he still handles machinery and makes many important sales. ITe also handles cattle, keeping on his place as many as two hundred head of good grades.
At Versailles, Woodford county, Ky., Mr. Payne was born in April, 1850. He is a cousin of the well-known Captain Payne, with whom he worked during the laying out of the village of Rock Falls (known as Payne colony) during the spring of 1884. For ten years he was a dry- goods salesman in a Louisville (Ky.) house. In 1880 he came into the Cherokee strip, where he bought and sold cattle in connection with W. B. Hellun & Bros., for a year. He continued in the country until 1886, handling cattle and sheep for himself during part of the time. He kept forty-five hundred head of sheep and five hun- dred head of cattle on Bitter creek. His ranch on the creek was well watered and comprised twenty-three thousand acres, which was ad- mirably adapted for the stock business.
Upon the opening of the Cherokee strip, Mr. Payne made the race from South Haven, Kans .. and secured a claim in township 28, range 2 west, Kay county. In 1894 he established a store on the town site of Rock Falls, where he re- mained for four years, and then removed his stock and building to Braman, where he has since resided. Politically he is a Democrat. He served as the first mayor of Braman and during his residence in Rock Falls, was for four years school trustee of his township. He has served as delegate to all the county conventions of his party, and in 1900 served as a delegate to the Free Homes convention in El Reno. During his residence in South Haven, Kans .. he was identi- fied with the Masons and the Modern Woodmen of America, in which latter he was councillor. It was in South Haven, also, that he was mar- ried, in 1887, his wife being Alice Geeslin, by whom he had six children, namely: Lonnie, Bert C., Fannie, Jennie H., John N. and Alice.
Certainly the name of B. C. Payne deserves mention among the pioneers of the strip. His connection with the history of Braman has been intimate. He was active in securing the railroad, was the first to suggest the present site to the officials of the construction company, was the first to select his lots for business, and built the first business house in the village; hence he deservedly ranks high in the citizenship of Braman.
R OBERT A. RISING is a fitting example of pluck and fortitude, and of what a man of spirit and enterprise may accomplish, even though fortune does not smile upon him in the formative years of youth, and by the hardest effort he is obliged to hew his own way in the world. His paternal grandfather was one of the pioneers of Indiana, and was a native of Ohio, and his maternal grandparents were of German birth. His parents, Henry and Sarah
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(Wise) Rising, died when he was young, the mother, a native of Germany, dying in Bates county, Mo., in 1868, and the father surviving her about four years. He was born in Ohio, and at an early period settled in the Hoosier state. In 1865 he removed with his family to Bond county, Ill., and some three years later located upon a farm in Bates county, Mo. He was killed by gases while digging a well on his homestead, in June, 1872.
Robert A. Rising, born on a farm in Adams county, Ind., in 1857, was eight years of age when he was taken to Illinois, and was but fifteen when he was deprived of his remaining parent. The brothers and sisters were scattered. and the youth, with three of the children, returned to Illinois. For two years he lived with an uncle, and then started out to make his own livelihood. For ten years he was employed by farmers in the Prairie state, and it was not until February, 1883, that he embarked in business for himself, upon a farm. For six and a half years he was success- fully engaged in that enterprise, but when Okla- homa was opened he concluded to try his for- tunes here. In September, 1889, he came to Payne county, and bought a relinquishment to a claim on the southwest quarter of section 19, township 19, range 3 east. Here he erected a comfortable house and farm buildings, put up fences and planted an orchard. The place is now considered one of the best in the community, and, owing to his well applied energy, he raises excellent crops each season.
In the spring of 1888 Mr. Rising married Laura, daughter of Daniel and Jennie Moffet. They have three little girls, all born in this county, namely: Grace May, Cora E., and Mary. Mr. and Mrs. Rising are members of the Con- gregational Church, and were influential in or- ganizing the one in this locality. In his political faith Mr. Rising has always been an adherent of the Republican policy until during the past few years, when he has found his opinions bet- ter set forth by the Populists.
W. B. JOHNSTON. Enid is to be espe- cially congratulated for her high class of business men, men who are con- tinually bringing her into greater prominence in the world of commerce and are extending her credit far and wide. Unknown but a short time ago, her fame now reaches to many a distant city, and, as the center of one of Oklahoma's best counties, her future is wonderfully full of promise.
William, paternal grandfather of W. B. John- ston, was born in Crawford county, Pa .. and devoted his life to agriculture. Joseph L. and Sarah J. Johnston, parents of our subject, were
natives of Mercer county, Pa., and commenced their domestic life upon a farm in that portion of the state. The father continued to dwell in Pennsylvania until 1884, when he removed to Kingman county, Kans., where he carried on a farm and paid considerable attention to the rais- ing of live stock. At the end of ten years he came to Oklahoma, and located a claim, from which he recently retired to make his home in Enid. He has been a patriotic citizen through- out his career, and during the Civil war served for four years in the One Hundredth Pennsyl- vania Infantry. His wife, who was of Scotch- Irish descent, departed this life seventeen years ago, in the Keystone state.
W. B. Johnston is one of eight brothers and sisters, one of whom has passed away. His eldest brother, E. W., is carrying on a farm in Grant county ; Walter B. is a farmer of Kingman, Kans., and Joseph is engaged in business with our subject. May M. resides in Enid, and Frances and Rilla are residents of Missouri. The birth of W. B. Johnston occurred near Mercer, Mercer county, Pa., December 18, 1867. He was reared as a farmer's boy, and after completing his education in the little "red school-house attended the Grove City Academy for a period. In 1884 he went to Kingman county, Kans., and for five years thereafter taught schools in that locality, meeting with success.
Seven years ago Mr. Johnston came to Okla- homa and when the Cheyenne and Arapahoe lands were opened, secured a claim in the north- eastern part of section II, township 16, range 10, Blaine county. He commenced making im- provements upon the place, and then accepted a position as a stenographer at Kingfisher. Sep- tember 16, 1893, he came to Enid and was simi- larly employed during the ensuing winter. in April becoming a clerk in the United States land office, serving under R. W. Patterson until Janu- ary 1, 1896, when he resigned in order to take a position as deputy district clerk at Kingfisher, his superior being J. C. McClelland. This office he continued to fill until July, 1897, when he re- signed and returned to Enid, and since that date has been actively engaged in the grain business. also dealing in live stock and coal. He owns an interest in the Big Four Elevator on the Chi- cago, Rock Island & Pacific railroad, and makes large shipments of wheat and corn to distant points, chiefly to Galveston, Tex. In 1899 he established branches of his grain and live stock business at Cropper, Garber and Billings, and gradually is building up an extensive trade. He is connected with the Territorial Grain Dealers' Association and with the Commercial Club of Enid, thus lending his influence to the upbuild- ing of the city and territory. As a member of the firm of Johnston & Hanna, he conducts his
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business in live stock, feeding and shipping cattle and hogs extensively, and shipping to the city markets.
In the fraternities Mr. Johnston is identified with the Knights of Pythias and with the Ma- sonic order. He belongs to Enid Lodge No. 19, A. F. & A. M., and has taken the Royal Arch degree. In national affairs he is a Democrat.
The marriage of Mr. Johnston and Miss Olive Newcomb was solemnized in this city. She is a native of New York state, received an excellent education, and is a favorite in local society. Re- ligiously she is a Presbyterian. The son of our subject and wife bears the name of Glenn Willis.
E DWARD L. PECKHAM is a potent and dominant factor in all the lines of activity to which he has been called by virtue of ability, character and aptitude. And it is doubt- ful if any in the territory have more unerringly selected an outlet for their special ambition in life, or have invested its consummation to a greater degree with the dignity of conscien- tious and brilliant research. Much also is ascribed to his unbounded faith in the possibili- ties of his practically undeveloped locality, and to the splendid opportunities offered to the far- seeing advantage seeker. It is much to accom- plish that in which others have failed, and in this regard Mr. Peckham has been pre-eminent. For his untiring and unflagging zeal in the carrying out of his projects for the public good, he is especially appreciated by his fellow townsmen. Negotiations for the building of the St. Louis and San Francisco railroad into Blackwell would have been futile, had it not been for a final exer- tion on the part of Mr. Peckham, and a trip to New York at his own expense, during which he succeeded in interesting eastern capital which made the building of the Kansas, Oklahoma & Gulf railroad possible. During his management of the construction of the road from Cole to Blackwell, he so manipulated the sum of $75,000 entrusted to his discretion, as to be highly, satis- factory to all parties concerned. He is now president of and general attorney for the Kansas, Oklahoma & Gulf railroad: director and secre- tary of the Northern Oklahoma Telephone Com- pany, and a member of the Blackwell Board of Trade, of which latter organization he was one of the first directors.
Born in Chicago, Ill., in 1862, Mr. Peckham is a son of C. J. and M. J. (Gray) Peckham. The former. Colonel Peckham, of Blackwell, is a native of Rhode Island, and was born in 1835: his wife died in Blackwell in 1807. Their son spent the first twelve years of his life in Chicago. going thence with his parents to Kansas, and later to California and Oregon, The greater part
of his education was acquired in the far west, and in Oregon he began the study of law for which he has since evinced such striking quali- fications. Upon returning to Kansas in 1887, he continued his legal researches, and, in 1882, was admitted to practice in Winfield, where he en- gaged in practice until he came to Blackwell in 1893. For a number of years he was a member of the firm of Peckham & Henderson, of Black- well.
In 1883 occurred the marriage of Mr. Peck- ham and Lelia White, who died in 1887. Of this union there has been one child, Edward E., who is attending college in Winfield. A second mar- riage was contracted by Mr. Peckham in 1800. his wife being Willie Wallace. They are the parents of three children, Mary, Robert and Miles.
In his capacity as a lawyer, Mr. Peckham be- came interested in the future of Blackwell. and his career here is founded upon the most in- fantile of its projects. The land upon which the town is located was purchased by a Winfield company from the Indians, who had three eighty-acre allotments. As attorney for this company, Mr. Peckham arrived upon the scene of activity, and as a preliminary, had the town sur- veyed and platted before the opening. Colonel Blackwell, for whom the town is named, was the husband of the Indian woman who owned the site. While conducting the affairs of the newly opened locality, Mr. Peckham started an office in the town, and has ever since been identi- fied with the foremost enterprises for its upbuild- ing and growth. Coming from a long line of ancestors who were conspicuous for intellectual attainments, and especially for their prominence as exponents of the unchanging science of law, Mr. Peckham has proved himself a worthy de- scendant. His reputation for keen perception and sound judgment has given him a more than local reputation, and his advice is sought in legal complications that require particular attention. His practice is a general one in the territorial and federal courts, and his judgment remains un- questioned by all who appreciate his profound and able reading of the law.
In the accumulation of this world's goods Mr. Peckham has been singularly fortunate, and he is an extensive owner of town and city property. Of his three farms, the Chikaskia is perhaps the most to be desired, and is considered a model stock farm. The buildings, improvements, and all-around modern and up-to-date aspect. are worthy the approval of the owner, and a credit to the locality in which the farm is located. From the cares incident to the arduous duties of his profession, Mr. Peckham here finds abun- dant relaxation, and he is the breeder of some of the finest horse flesh in the territory. He owns
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also a well improved farm of one hundred and sixty acres two and a half miles south of Black- well, and sixty acres six miles north of the town. His handsome and artistic residence is now ap- proaching completion, and is a source of pride to surrounding property owners. The Peckham cottages are without a superior of their kind in the city, and are occupied by some of the leading families. It is needless to say that Mr. Peckham has lavishly expended time and money upon the improvement of his locality, and that few have shown so deep and abiding an interest in her future prosperity and standing among the cities of the territory.
In politics Mr. Peckham is a Republican, al- though he holds exceedingly broad and liberal views regarding the politics of the administra- tion. Fraternally he is associated with the Odd Fellows, and is a charter member of the lodge at Blackwell. Mr. and Mrs. Peckham are active members of the Episcopalian Church, and con- tribute generously toward its charities and sup- port.
E ARL BEEBE, county clerk and agricul- turist of Canadian county, whose claim is located on the northeast quarter of section 17, township 12, range 9 west, is one of his county's most enterprising and progressive citi- zens, and a promulgator of many of the means for developing her resources, and placing her possibilities before the world.
Born October 25, 1869, in Jackson county, Iowa, he is a son of S. B. and Adelaide Beebe, natives respectively of the vicinity of Buffalo, N. Y., and Ashtabula county, Ohio. Adelaide Beebe was a daughter of John W. Woodard, a native of Pennsylvania or Ohio, and for years a resident of Ohio, where he died .. He was of English descent, and three of his brothers and also his sons were in the Civil war. One of his sons, Lorenzo J., is probate judge at Alma, Wau- bansec county, Kans. S. B. Beebe learned the wagonmaker's trade in Cleveland, Ohio, and later removed to Maquoketa, Iowa, where he continued to work at his trade. In 1879, in the hope of bettering his condition, he changed his place of residence to McPherson county, Kans., and in 1888 sold his farm to the McPherson Sash Door Manufacturing Company. In 1892 he re- moved to Oklahoma, and located a claim, where he resides, meantime conducting a wagon and carriage shop in El Reno.
Earl Beebe was reared on his father's farm in Towa until his tenth year, when he removed with the rest of the family to Kansas. He received an excellent home training, and had ample op- portunities for acquiring a good education, supplementing his study in the district schools
by a course in the high school at Galva. When nineteen years of age he turned his education to good account, and taught school for one year. Then, having learned wood working in boy- hood, he began to perfect himself at pattern making, manufacturing water tanks, and inside carpentering materials, in his father's shop in McPherson. In 1800 he made a sojourn of a year in Colorado, returning to Kansas in 1891. and in 1892 located on his claim in Oklahoma in the Cherokee and Arapahoe country, on the northeast quarter of section 17. township 12. range 9 west. The claim is under a high state of cultivation, and largely devoted to an ex- tensive and lucrative stock-raising business.
In political belief Mr. Beebe affiliates with the Populist party, and is actively engaged in all of. its undertakings. In the fall of 1898 he was nominated on the fusion ticket for county clerk. and he was elected by a majority of two hundred and seventy-three. In January of 1899 he took the oath of office, to serve for two years. Hc was a delegate to the territorial convention that nominated Callahan, and Keaton, and was also secretary of the county central committee. Fra- ternally Mr. Beebe is associated with El Reno Lodge No. 7, A. F. & A. M., and with the Red Men. Red Cloud Tribe No. 3. He is also a mem- ber of the El Reno Club.
L. P. BARKER. From a comparatively small beginning Mr. Barker has succeeded in establishing his right to be numbered among the most prosperous and intelligent man- agers of farms in Cleveland county. Previous to the opening in 1889 he had been a large land owner and successful farmer, but unfortunately lost much by handling sheep. After locating on the southwest quarter of section 12, township 9. range 3 west, his horses died with the exception of one, and his cattle also succumbed to the change of climate. Although possessing his claim he had practically nothing to improve it with, and in order to get a start, and lay up some money, he was forced to work out by the day for the surrounding farmers. Upon his claim was erected a box house 14x16 feet in dimensions, and in these circumscribed quarters he lived for three years. In striking contrast to these forlorn first conditions is the prevailing substantial success of the present, and the addi- tion to the original land of eighty acres, making altogether two hundred and forty acres, all under a high state of cultivation.
The boyhood days of Mr. Barker were spent in Logan county, Ky., where he was born June 27, 1854, a son of H. C. and Frances (Ruther- ford) Barker. When two years of age he was taken by his parents to Bates county, Mo., where
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they bought land, but they removed to Polk county, Mo., when he was eleven years of age. The father was a soldier during the Civil war under Price, and although previously a success- ful farmer, and a prominent man in his locality, the vicissitudes of war almost wrecked him financially. After peace was restored he was obliged to start life anew with nothing but his devastated land and a yoke of oxen. The latter years of his activity were spent in Polk county, although his death occurred just across the line in Dade county, at the age of forty years. His son, L. P. Barker, was at this time about eighteen years of age, and had in the meantime acquired a fair education at the public schools. He continued to live with his mother until he became of age, and was married February 12, 1876, to Elizabeth Amos, a native of Dade county. She was a daughter of William W. and Mary A. (Sears) Amos, and lost her mother. at the time of her birth. Her father is still living. She received a good common school education, and has been of great assistance to her husband in his labors. They have five children, Lewis, Allen, Edith, Walter and Homer. Mr. Barker bought a farm of one hundred and twenty acres, and was successful in general farming and stock- raising, but owing to an epidemic among his sheep, lost a great deal of money.
Since coming to the territory Mr. Barker has shown commendable interest in all that pertains to the development of his locality, and represents the most progressive element in the county. Men of like character have ever been the back- bone of farming communities. In 1876 Mr. Barker cast his first presidential vote in favor of the Greenback party. He served as justice of the peace while living in Missouri. In 1894 he was nominated by the Populist party for county commissioner, and upon being elected, served in that capacity for four years. In 1900 he was nominated for sheriff. Fraternally he is asso- ciated with the Ancient Order of United Work- men, and the Woodmen of the World. He is a member of the Christian Church at. Pleasant Valley, and was one of the organizers of same.
E RNEST M. ABERNATHY. The general verdict of those who are competent judges is that Mr. Abernathy is one of the most enterprising business men of Cleveland county, and that Lexington is deeply indebted to him, in scores of ways, for the prosperity it now en- joys. The family has been prominent in this vicinity since the opening. J. M. Abernathy was one of the three original founders of Lex- ington, the others being Judge Green and P. R. Smith. . He made the race here from Purcell. J. T., and remained until the fall of the same
year, 1889, when he went to Oklahoma City, and there was associated in the real-estate busi- ness with E. J. Keller. In the spring of 1890, however, he returned to this place, where he died two years later.
Ernest M. Abernathy is a native of Pulaski. Tenn., and there spent his early manhood. In partnership with J. B., he has been a member of the firm of Abernathy Brothers, and throughout his commercial career, he has been associated with one or more of his brothers in different lines of business. In the fall of 1890 they came to Lexington and opened a small store, 16x30 feet in dimensions, and kept a good stock of groceries .. Soon our subject became the sole proprietor, and in the fall of 1892 added a line of hardware, and gradually branched out into other departments. For a few years the original structure sufficed, but thirty feet of space was added on the east in the course of time, and in 1894 the whole building and stock of goods was destroyed by fire, the loss exceeding $3,500. With commendable spirit, a brick building, 50x140 feet, was immediately constructed on the site, one store being used for the drug depart- ment, and the rest being filled with general merchandise, a stock amounting to $15,000 in value always being carried. Here may be found dry-goods, groceries, drugs, clothing, hard- ware and general supplies. In fact, there prob- ably is not a superior establishment in any place of this size, or even larger ones, in the territory. this being the opinion of traveling salesmen and others, acquainted with the subject whereof they speak.
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