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 98
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99
1286
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
a new impetus from this end-of-the-century im- provement.
In Kansas occurred the marriage of Judge Smith and Miss Brosseau. Two daughters, Emma and Pauline, bless their home, and every advantage is being given them.
R EUBEN R. FRY, a resident of Yukon, was born in Schoharie county, N. Y., August 15, 1828. His father, William H. Fry, a native of Germany, served an apprenticeship of seven years to the blacksmith's trade in Albany, N. Y. When his son, Reuben, was four years old the father took his wife, a Scotch lady, and their children to Canada, where he lived for five years, thence moving to Michigan in 1837. When Reuben was twelve years old he attempted to run away from home, but was brought back by his father. Three months later he made another attempt, but was again taken back by his father. However, he did not give up. A year later his father went to the village one day for groceries and he availed himself of this opportunity to run away again. Starting at four, by ten o'clock he had walked twenty miles. At Grass Lake, Mich., he boarded a train and rode to Detroit, and in that city, while walking from the depot to the river, he passed a hardware store. With the only dollar he possessed he bought a pair of skates in the store and proceeded to the river, down which he skated eighteen miles that day, which made one hundred and eighteen miles traveled in one day. Looking for a place to remain over night, he saw à large white house on the shore, and went up to it, inquiring of the woman there if he could remain all night. She answered that her husband would be in soon. A few minutes later a man came into the house, and the woman said, "John, here is a boy who wants to stay all night." At once the man began to interrogate the boy, who frankly told him he was running away from home. "And who is your father?" said the man. "William Henry Fry," was the reply. "Are you Henry's boy?" ejaculated the man, who proceeded immediately to give the boy a good shaking. It seems that, by a strange coincidence, the runaway had chanced upon the home of his uncle. He remained there two weeks, but, being told by his cousins that his uncle was going to take him back home, he ran away again, traveling two hundred miles through Canada. Going to another uncle's home, he worked for him all summer. In the fall he asked for a suit of clothes. For an answer, his uncle took a "blacksnake" and administered a severe whipping. The next day (Sunday) the boy went to a neighbor's one-half mile away to play with two boys. When dinner was ready they wanted
him to accompany them to the house, but he refused, insisting he was too ragged. They went home and told their father, who came out and asked, "Why does not your uncle give you some clothes?" The boy answered that he had asked for a suit, but his uncle instead had given him a "striped suit" with a horsewhip. The man took the boy to the house, passed through the dining room to a bedroom, where he had the lad take off his clothes, thus showing the back bruised and inflamed from the whipping. After a good dinner had been given him, he was told to return home, which he did. The next day the neighbor reached the place by daylight and in- quired of his uncle why he did not get him some clothes. He answered that he had given him a suit which would last some time. "Well," said the man, "if you do not get him some clothes I will choke you to death," at the same time taking him by the throat and shaking him until he was black in the face. "Now," he continued, "you get him a suit of clothes, or I will put you in jail." The clothes were bought forthwith. The kind neighbor took the boy home with him and he remained there until spring, when he secured employment driving horses on the Welland canal. Later, going to Buffalo, he secured work driving horses on the Erie canal during the re- mainder of that season.
When the canal closed, Mr. Fry went to New York and from there to Nantucket. Three weeks later he went on board a whaler for a three years cruise at sea. After they had been out for three weeks, they found a school of whales and low- ered the boats, going out after them. The second mate harpooned one, but the whale came up under the boat, killing the second mate, crip- pling another mate for life, and destroying the boat. The other three men were saved by great effort, and then the vessel sailed for other places. They rounded Cape Horn and for two weeks cruised, with a man at the masthead all of the time. This man, one day at ten o'clock. called up the captain, who in ten minutes gave the order "Clear away." The boats were lowered and struck out for the whales. In one hour a whale was struck, but the animal gave them a lively chase of three hours, towing them about one hundred miles. About four o'clock they run him down and killed him. It was midnight before the ship reached them, and they then towed the whale until morning, when they cut him in pieces, this task taking two days. After the whale had been stowed in the hold they tried out the oil and also stowed it in the hold. Next they went into port at Chili, where they secured wood and fresh water, and gave each watch of men a vacation of three days. Mr. Fry's last day was Sunday. On that evening he went to a Spanish dance. About four o'clock Monday
1287
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
morning he bought some bread and cheese, and went up into a mountain, where he remained five and one-half days, until the ship was well out at sea. Going to Concepcion, he was there arrested as a runaway from a ship. However, acting on the advice of an American, he went about a mile into the country, where he remained with a farmer for one month. Next he went to a smail town on the coast, where he worked in a grist mill for three months, receiving ȘIo per month, and paying $9 of this for his board each month. His next employment was the making of bags at five cents each, of which he usually made from ten to twelve or fifteen a day. Finally an English ship came into the harbor. He helped to get a cargo on board, then shipped as steward at $30 a month, going around Cape Horn in a fearful storm, and thence to Montevideo. It was their intention to proceed to Buenos Ayres, but this was impossible owing to the two nations being at war. The shipload of flour was sold there for $30 per hundred pounds, and the ship was loaded with dry hides for England. After the vessel landed in England Mr. Fry took a ship for New York, where he remained for two weeks.
The next voyage of this youthful adventurer was on the ship "Rambler," from New York to Liverpool. In the latter city he remained for three months. On the return trip smallpox broke out among the passengers. Ship fever added to the horrors of the situation. There were twenty- nine deaths at sea. The bodies of the unfortu- nate dead were sewed in blankets and thrown overboard. After a voyage of thirty-five days the ship arrived in New York, but was forced to remain in quarantine for two weeks. Each day health officers came on board and removed the sick to hospitals in New York. On the third day Mr. Fry was sent to a hospital on Staten Island, where he remained for three days, and was then sent to New York. From there he went up the Hudson to Troy, thence to Canada, where he worked for. two months. In 1845 he returned to his old Michigan home. Long before the family had given him up as dead. Their surprise can- not be described. At first they failed to recog- nize him, as he had matured and changed greatly in appearance. He remained in Michigan until the winter of 1851. Finally, owing to being con- cerned in a fight at a dance, he was obliged to run away from Jackson county. Going to Mar- shall, he worked in a blacksmith's shop for two weeks. He was then told that the sheriff of Jackson county was in the town, looking for him. At once he left the town. His next move was to go to Toledo, thence to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he took passage on a boat and went down the Ohio and up the Mississippi river to St. Louis, thence to Hannibal, Mo. For three years he remained in Missouri.
Deciding to go to California, Mr. Fry went to New York via Sandstone, Mich. (where he worked for two months at $2.50 per day), and set sail on a ship for Aspinwall. Thence he went twenty miles on the railroad, where he hired out at $3 a day, being placed as overseer of thirty- five Chinese coolies. After three months at that work he was taken sick with fever and forced to leave. He then went to Panama, and took pas- sage on a steamer that was bound for California. After five days, fearing an infection of fever, the officers of the ship put him off at Callio, Peru, laying him down, as they thought, to die. A Por- tuguese found him 'on a bale of goods, put him in a cart and took him home, taking care of him ten days, until he was able to walk, meantime having a Spanish doctor every day. At the end of fourteen days the Portuguese took him to the American consul, who had him placed in a hos- pital, and there he remained for nine months. During the last part of his stay in the hospital he was able to work a little, and was given charge of a sick man, for the care of whom he was paid fifty cents a day for thirty-six days. Then going to Callio, he paid the Portuguese who had saved his life the sum of $14, which was all he wouldi accept. Next he was given work in mowing eighteen acres of grass, for which he was paid $70. Two months later came his first opportu- nity to leave the town. A ship dropped anchor in the harbor. She was bound for Liverpool. Taking passage on the vessel, he reached Liver- pool after four and one-half months. He was to have been paid $30 a month, but the captain paid all the crew excepting him, giving as an excuse that Mr. Fry had been sick all during the voyage and had earned little or nothing. Thus he was alone in a foreign country, without money, with no place to eat and no money with which to buy food. A policeman took him to the office of the American consul, who thereupon brought the captain to the office and forced him to pay the young man every cent that was due him. Two weeks later he shipped in the "Orient," five hundred passengers, from Liverpool for New York. After twenty-five days he landed in New York. This terminated his seafaring adventures.
Proceeding up the Hudson, Mr. Fry went to Troy, thence into the country to look for work. For three days he had nothing to eat, and finally fell into the hands of a good "Samaritan," a kind lady, who, learning of his condition, gave him every attention for three days, and would not allow him to work. When he was able, she put him to work, and he remained there for six months. Next, in Illinois, he worked a few months. In the spring of 1856 he went back to New York and worked for a milk dealer. In the fall he ran a threshing machine for the same employer, receiving $20 per month. Two months
1
I288
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
later he was given employment in the care of cows. In the spring he began to work for a Mr. Wilson. One evening a son of Mr. Wilson in- vited him to call with him upon a young lady to whom he was paying attention. He went, was introduced, and at once he and the young lady were attracted to each other. She then refused further attentions from her former sweetheart. This so angered the farmer's family that they discharged the young man, thinking he would leave the country. Instead, he remained in the vicinity, and May 28 he and the young lady, who was Miss Mary Smith, went to Williamstown and were married. Afterward he took her home and hired out to her father to work during that summer for $16 per month, his wife working for nothing. When fall came, the farmer refused to pay him anything, but turned him out of the house. Somewhat discouraged, he went to a hotel in a neighboring town. Into that hotel came an old lawyer, who seeing him lying on a bench, inquired if he were drunk. The reply was that he was not drunk, but had left his place, and had not been paid for his work. The lawyer at once called upon the farmer, who came to town and paid his son-in-law all he owed him.
Securing work with a man twenty miles away, Mr. Fry worked forty-five days, after which he engaged in threshing with a flail, making $9 a week. In the spring his father-in-law invited him to return to the farm, and he finally agreed to do so, but after two months he and his wife hired out to a Mr. Harrison, for $40 a month, remaining there for eight months. In the sum- mer of 1859 he returned and bought one-half of his father-in-law's personal property and stock, taking possession the last of November and re- maining until February 20, when they paid him $800 for his share in the place. With one-half of this money, he bought a blacksmith's shop. In August, 1862, he enlisted in the One Hundred and Twenty-fifth New York Infantry, and went with his regiment to Martinsburg, Va., thence a month later was placed on detached service, go- ing up the railroad toward Cumberland. On the day they left the Confederates drove the Federals from Martinsburg and they retreated to Har- per's Ferry, thence to Maryland Heights, and were taken prisoners there, but later paroled. Meantime Mr. Fry went to Sir John's Run, and a month later was ordered to Annapolis, Md., and after another month was placed with the Sixty-seventh Pennsylvania Regiment on guard duty. Later, ordered by Lincoln to Chicago, he was kept there until an exchange was effected, when he returned to the front. His first large battle was Gettysburg, Pa., later he was at the battle of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania and Cold Harbor. After crossing the James river, he took part 'in daily skirmishes until Lee's surrender.
He drove a team of six mules from Appomattox to Alexandria, where he was discharged.
From 1865 until 1871 Mr. Fry engaged in farming in New York. He then made Kansas his home for nineteen years, after which he re- moved to the Indian Territory. He is now the owner of a good farm and a hotel in Yukon, Okla., and is also in receipt of a pension of $12 a month from the government; and, after all his years of roving, now has enough to provide the comforts of life for his remaining days.
B AYARD T. HAINER, lawyer, author, jur- ist, is a man of broad and conservative "views, strict integrity, and fidelity in the discharge of every official trust confided to him. He was born in Columbia, Mo., May 31, 1860. His father was at that time professor of modern languages in the State University of Missouri. Soon after the commencement of the Civil war the University was closed and his parents re- moved to southern Iowa, where the Judge spent his boyhood days working on a farm and attend- ing the common schools. Before he reached his majority he commenced to teach school an' earned enough money to pay his way throug !. college. In 1884 he graduated from the Iowa State College, and in 1887 graduated from the law department of Michigan University. The same year he was admitted to the bar of the supreme court of Michigan, and in July, 1887, he located at Larned, Kans., where he entered upon the practice of his profession, and remained there until the opening of Oklahoma to settle- ment on the memorable 22nd day of April, 1889, when he went to Guthrie, the present capital of the territory. He resided there until he was appointed associate justice of the supreme court of Oklahoma by President William McKinley.
He at once took and retained high rank as a lawyer in the territory, and has always been a stanch and active Republican. He was elected for three successive terms city counselor of Guthrie and served in that capacity for five years, when he resigned to assume the duties of asso- ciate justice of the supreme court. While he served as city counselor he successfully con- ducted many important cases of the city through the various courts of the Territory and the Su- preme Court of the United States, and also wrote a treatise entitled. "The Modern Law of Municipal Securities," published in 1898, by the Bowen-Merrill Company of Indianapolis, Ind. This legal work has a very large sale and is rec- ognized by the Bench and Bar as a clear and comprehensive treatise upon one of the most important branches of corporation law.
In February, 1898, he was appointed by the President of the United States associate justice
1280
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
of the supreme court of the territory of Okla- homa. His appointment was well received by the bar and the people throughout the territory, and he is making a splendid record upon the bench. He is regarded as an able, honest and upright judge who commands the esteem and confidence of the bar as well as the people he so ably and fearlessly represents in his judicial capacity. The people of this territory are well contented with the appointment of Judge Hainer, who stanchly upholds their rights. He earnestly champions whatever he believes to be just and right, using all his undoubted talent in the de- fense of the weak and defenseless and tempering justice and mercy whenever the cause warrants him in so doing.
In October, 1891, Judge Hainer married Miss Florence Weatherby, of Des Moines, Iowa. She is a lady of education and social attainments, and presides over her attractive home with rare dig- nity and grace. One of the handsomest resi- dences in Guthrie was built and is still owned by the Judge and his wife, who, naturally, were loath to leave it when their new duties called them to Perry, but here, also, they have surrounded themselves with the attributes of cultured tastes, and are constantly adding to their list of friends. They are the parents of a fine little boy, Bayard T., Jr. The Judge and his family are Episco- palians. He is a member of the Delta tau Delta fraternity and a prominent Mason, being a Mas- ter Mason, Knight Templar, and member of the Oklahoma Consistory.
M RS. JULIA S. COLMAN DOUGLAS came to Oklahoma in July, 1891, and found Oklahoma City a young and grow- ing town upon the plains, possessing the vigor and energy of youth, and attracting to it people of enterprise from all parts of the country. Her education had been received in the east and was thorough in every respect. A graduate of Vas- sar, one of the finest institutions of learning in the entire world, she had maintained a high rank among the students of that college, and later she had been a student in the Michigan State Normal Training School. Entering the educational world, she taught in Michigan and Kansas high schools and acted as superintendent of the city schools at Paola, Kans.
Wielding a fluent pen, she has given consid- erable attention to literary work and has con- tributed articles to various periodicals of note in the United States. During the World's Fair she read before the Congress of Women in Chi- cago an address entitled "The Ishmaelite of Oklahoma," which was copied widely in papers and magazines, and gave the able writer con- siderable prominence in literary circles of the
nation. Perhaps the crowning achievement of her life was her connection with the securing tor Oklahoma City of the Carnegie public library in 1899, which may be attributed to her untiring efforts.
Another work of vast importance with which her name is closely associated is that connected with women's work. She was the organizer of the Federation of Oklahoma and Indian Terri- tories' Women's Clubs, the object of which is to improve club work in the two territories, thereby promoting the welfare of the people and advanc- ing important movements. Since the organiza- tion of this federation, in 1898, she has acted as its president.
H ON. A. W. FISHER. In the last half cen- tury the lawyer has been a pre-eminent factor in all affairs of private concern and national importance. He has been depended upon to conserve the best and most permanent interests of the whole people and is a recog- nized power in all the avenues of life. He stands as the protector of the rights and liberties of his fellow men and is the representative of a pro- fession whose followers, if they would gain hon- or, fame and success, must be men of merit and ability. Such a man is A. W. Fisher, who is to-day a leading attorney of Norman.
He was born near Painesville, Ohio, April 10, 1853, and is the youngest child of William and Waty (Holbrook) Fisher, natives of Massachu- setts and Ohio, respectively, and the latter a daughter of Guy Holbrook of the Buckeye State. On the paternal side our subject is of English and Scotch descent. His grandfather, Loring Fisher, was a soldier of the war of 1812, and a pioneer of Ohio. There the father followed farming until 1857, when he removed to Pella, Marion county, Iowa, and was cashier of the First National Bank at that place until 1882. He then joined our subject in the banking business at Washington, Kans., conducting what was known as Fisher's Bank until January, 1891. when he came to Norman, Okla. Here he died in January, 1892. His wife had departed this life at Washington, Kans. Of their seven children all reached years of maturity, and five, three sons and two daughters, are still living.
A. W. Fisher was only four years old on the removal of the family to Pella, Iowa, and in the public schools of that city he acquired his early education. Later he was a student at the Iowa Central University, but three months before he would have graduated he was taken ill and forced to return home. On his recovery he studied law under the direction of Mr. Custis of Atlantic. Iowa, and after his admission to the bar in 1878 was engaged in practice with that gentleman for
1290
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
a time and served as city attorney. Returning to Pella, in 1879, he was engaged in practice there and also served as city attorney until 1881, when he removed to Washington, Kans. In connec- tion with the prosecution of his profession at that place he engaged in the banking business, as pre- viously stated, until January, 1891, when he came to Norman and has since successfully engaged in practice at this place. He is also interested in the bakery and confectionery business as a mem- ber of the firm of A. W. Fisher & Co.
In Mahaska county, Iowa, Mr. Fisher mar- ried Miss Ella Hawk, a native of that state and a daughter of Isaac Hawk, who was engaged in farming there. They have one child, Clare, who is manager for A. W. Fisher & Co. Mr. Fisher built the first brick residence in Norman, and has been prominently identified with its growth and upbuilding. He was elected the first mayor of the city in 1892, and has served as city attorney two terms. In 1896 he was the Democratic can- didate for member of the territorial council from the fifth senatorial district, and being elected he most ably represented his constituents in the fourth general assembly. He took an active part in its work and was instrumental in getting sev- eral bills passed. He was chairman of the com- mittees on elections and public lands, and was also a member of the judiciary, county and coun- ty affairs, educational, railroads and federal rela- tions committees. He is a prominent and influ- ential representative of his party, and has been a member of the territorial Democratic central committee. He belongs to the Territorial Bar Association, and is quite popular both in pro- fessional and social as well as political circles. For four years he has served as master of the Masonic Lodge No. 5, of Norman, having been made a Mason at Washington, Kans. He helped to organize the Grand Lodge of Okla- homa, has never missed any of its sessions ; was elected grand junior warden on its organization ; and has since filled all its offices, being elected grand master in 1897. He also belongs to the chapter, No. 24, R. A. M., of Norman.
G EORGE W. COLLETT. one of the sub- stantial farmers of Oklahoma county, owns a valuable homestead in the southwestern ' portion of section 11, township 13, range 4 west. his postoffice being Lockhart. He is a native of
Marion county, Mo., his birth having occurred December 28, 1862. His parents, John and Mar- garet (Chadwick) Collett, were of English ex- traction. The father, whose early home was in Wisconsin, removed to Missouri about 1858, and there devoted his time and attention to the man- agement of his farm.
George W. Collett received thorough training in the practical duties of a farm, under his father's instruction, and in his boyhood obtained a fair education. He remained in Missouri until Oklahoma was opened, and though he raced into the territory with multitudes on that spring day in 1889 he did not secure a claim to his liking. Therefore he bought out the man who had taken possession of the property he has since developed, and at once he began making improvements here. His zeal and well directed efforts have greatly increased the value of the place, which now is considered one of the best in this locality. He leases additional land and pays special attention to the raising of wheat, frequently garnering about two thousand bushels in a season. In recent years he has devoted much attention to the raising of fine cattle, especially of the Short Horn class, and is steadily increasing his fine herd, now including some choice high-bred animals. 1 Collett is thoroughly posted on the breeding c fine stock and is making this a specialty with marked success. He planted a large orchard, and from time to time added other improvements to the place, success usually crowning his under- takings.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.