USA > Oklahoma > Tulsa County > Tulsa > The history of Tulsa, Oklahoma > Part 3
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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
JOSEPH W. SIMPSON
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war, enlisting on the 22d of May, 1917, at Chattanooga, as a private. He was in the quartermaster's department for a year and for three months was ser- geant. He was afterward transferred to the Engineer Corps at Fort Ogle- thorpe, Georgia, and was made regiment sergeant major. He sailed for France on the 17th of September, 1918, with the Six Hundred and Fifth Engineers, and was at Chaumont, attached to general headquarters. He was transferred to general headquarters of the Eighth Corps at Montigny-sur-Aube and was mus- tered out on the 3d of August, 1919.
Since his admission to the bar Mr. Simpson has devoted his attention to gen- eral law practice. He belongs to the Tulsa and to the State Bar Associations and is also a member of the Junior Chamber of Commerce. In politics he is quite active as a supporter of democratic principles. Alert and enterprising, the future undoubtedly holds for him success, for he is not afraid of that hard labor and thorough preparation which constitute the basic elements in progress at the bar.
A. E. LANDSITTEL.
A. E. Landsittel, secretary of the Export Oil Corporation of Tulsa, was born in Lowell, Washington county, Ohio, February 5, 1890, his parents being John W. and Elizabeth ( Rothley) Landsittel, who were likewise natives of the Buckeye state. The father was an oil well contractor, devoting his life to that business. He belonged to the Lutheran church and passed away in that faith. In the family were four children, two of whom have departed this life.
A. E. Landsittel became a pupil in the public schools of Lowell at the usual age and mastered the various branches of learning until he had completed the high school course. Starting out in life on his own account he became identified with the oil business as a pipe lineman, living in Illinois, where he remained for eight years, being identified through that period with the Indiana Refining Com- pany in various capacities. In January, 1916, he left the middle west and came to Tulsa, where he is now secretary of the Export Oil Corporation and manager of the western division. He is familiar with many phases of the oil industry and his activity has been a source of gratifying profit.
In 1911 Mr. Landsittel was married to Miss Ola Day, of Lawrenceville, Illinois, a daughter of Charles Day, and they have become parents of one daughter, Josephine. Mr. and Mrs. Landsittel hold membership in the Christian church and he belongs to Delta Lodge, No. 425, A. F. & A. M., and to the Royal Arch chapter. He is a member of the Rotary Club, is a baseball fan and is fond of reading. There have been no esoteric phases in his career and his well defined characteristics have ever been such as to gain for him the respect and con- fidence of his fellowmen, while his qualities have insured him success in business.
HERBERT LESLIE STANDEVEN.
Herbert Leslie Standeven, vice president of the Exchange Trust Company of Tulsa, was born in Boone, Iowa, November 20, 1878. His father, Joseph H. Standeven, was a native of Paterson, New Jersey, and was a youth of eleven years when he took up his abode at Boone, Iowa. He served as a bugler in a Missouri regiment during the Civil war and at all times gave his political sup-
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port to the democratic party, while fraternally he was a Mason. He married Susan Norton and they became the parents of seven children who are yet living. The mother is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. The father has passed away.
Herbert L. Standeven largely acquired his education in the public and high schools of Omaha, Nebraska, and in the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and afterward taking up the study of law, was admitted to the bar in 1900. For a year thereafter he practiced his profession in Omaha and then came to Oklahoma, settling in Hobart, Kiowa county, in 1901. There he continued to engage in law practice and served as county attorney of Kiowa county, fol- lowing the admission of the state into the Union. He removed to Tulsa in January, 1914, and continued in law practice until 1916, when he was appointed county judge of Tulsa county and remained upon the bench until January, 1918, when he resigned and became one of the organizers of the Exchange Trust Company. Elected to the vice presidency, he has since served in this position and has done much to direct the policy and shape the destiny of the institution, which is today one of the strong financial concerns of the city.
In 1902 Mr. Standeven was married to Miss Iva Norton of Omaha, a daugh- ter of James Norton, a pioneer settler of Omaha. Four children have been born to them: Norton, a youth of seventeen; Ruth, who is fifteen years of age; and Ora Gertrude and Flora Ione, twins, eleven years of age. Mr. Standeven belongs to the Masonic lodge of Hobart, Oklahoma, also to the chapter and commandery and to Akdar Temple of the Mystic Shrine. His religious faith is that of the Christian Science church, in the work of which he is very active. His beliefs and his policies connect him with the activities which are of greatest value in the upbuilding and promotion of city and state and those who know aught of his career recognize the worth of his work.
WILLIAM T. DALTON.
For the past six years William T. Dalton has engaged in real estate and building in Sand Springs. He was born in Macoupin county, Illinois, on the 7th of November, 1857, a son of Jesse and Christiana (Williams) Dalton. Both parents were natives of Illinois and there the father engaged in the operation of a sawmill for sixteen years, or until the spring of 1872, when he left Macoupin county and went to Nebraska. He homesteaded land in Clay county in 1872, and although he suffered severe loss during the grasshopper ravages, remained there until 1895, when he removed to western Kansas. For the remainder of his life he lived with a son and passed away in that state in November, 1903. Mrs. Dalton passed away on the old Nebraska homestead in September, 1881.
William T. Dalton was reared and received his education in the schools of his native county and Clay county, whence he removed with his parents, and he lived with them until becoming of age. He then worked as a farm hand until he was twenty-six years of age, when he returned to Illinois for a time. subsequently going back to Nebraska and locating at Edgar. There he was engaged in the operation of rented land for eight years, at the termination of which time he came to Oklahoma and located in Stillwater in the spring of 1802. There he engaged in the grocery, flour and feed business, achieving a substantial amount of success in that connection, and after ten years residence in that place, in 1903 came to Tulsa county and the new town of Broken Arrow.
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Mr. Dalton in association with others organized the Coweta State Bank of Coweta, Oklahoma, and was vice president for three years and for fifteen years operated the Coweta Gin, Coal and Mill Company's business at Broken Arrow. In 1915 he disposed of the cotton gin, in the erection of which he had been a dominant factor. For the past six years he has devoted his time and attention to buying, selling, and improving residence and business properties of Tulsa county and four of the finest business houses in Sand Springs were erected by him and his brothers, J. C. and C. L. He built his own home in Broken Arrow and purchased a modern business structure. He has initiative and keen business ability and those factors, together with his determined effort, have won for him the success he now enjoys.
On the Ioth of January, 1884, Mr. Dalton was united in marriage to Miss Minnie B. Rohrer and to them seven children have been born: Clarence G., who is the editor of the Tri-County News at Mounds, Oklahoma, and also the Poul- try Journal; Lelah M., wife of S. E. Bailey and a resident of Tulsa ; Bertha, who married Quay V. Johnson, cashier of the bank at Jenks; Carl W., residing at home; Ralph R., a resident of Jenks ; Charles J., at home ; and James J., the third in order of birth in this family, who passed away in October, 1890, at the age of ten months.
The political allegiance of Mr. Dalton is given the democratic party and he was a member of the constitutional convention of Oklahoma in 1906-07. He is fraternally identified with the Odd Fellows and his religious faith is that of the Seventh Day Adventists. His wife is affiliated with the Methodist Episco- pal church. Thoroughness is one of the marked characteristics of Mr. Dalton and he has mastered every detail of his business. He has a very wide acquaint- ance and occupies a position of prominence by reason of his business ability and standing, his social qualities and his public spirit.
RANDOLPH SHIRK.
Randolph Shirk of the law firm of Randolph, Haver & Shirk of Tulsa, is regarded as an expert on all matters of law pertaining to oil and gas, also on the law having to do with titles in Oklahoma, especially those affecting Indian lands. Thoroughly qualified in every way for the successful practice of his pro- fession he has won an enviable name and place as an attorney of Tulsa. He was born in Erie, Pennsylvania, March 31, 1871, a son of Charles C. and Louise (Wilson) Shirk, both of whom were natives of the Keystone state. The father, also born in Erie county, devoted his life to the manufacture of stoves, but at the time of the Civil war made business and other interests subservient to his duty to his country and joined the Federal army in defense of the Union. He was a lifelong member of the Presbyterian church, devoted to its teachings, and the sterling worth of his character was recognized by all with whom he came into contact. To him and his wife were born five children, all of whom are living.
Randolph Shirk was a pupil in the schools of Erie, Pennsylvania, and after his general education had been acquired he concentrated his efforts and atten- tion upon the study of law, being admitted to the bar in Erie in 1896. He there opened a law office, continuing in practice at that place for four years. He had started in business with the Devonian Oil Company and after entering upon the practice of law, naturally turned to that branch of the profession which has to do with oil and gas. In 1903 he came to Tulsa and for a time practiced alone
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as a representative of oil companies. Later he entered into his present partner- ship relation as a member of the firm of Randolph, Haver & Shirk. They have a large and important practice, representing a number of the leading oil cor- porations, and they occupy a large suite of rooms in the Cosden building, where they have an extensive law library. Not only is Mr. Shirk thoroughly informed concerning the principles of jurisprudence having to do with oil and gas, but is regarded equally an expert on Indian land titles and has taken care of much important legal business in that connection.
In 1894 Mr. Shirk was married to Miss Netta Flint, a native of the state of New York. They are well known in Tulsa, where their circle of friends is constantly increasing as the circle of their acquaintance broadens. Mr. Shirk is a member of Tulsa Lodge, No. 71, A. F. & A. M., and has attained the thirty- second degree of the Scottish Rite in the consistory. He belongs to the Presby- terian church and is active in its work. A man of modest demeanor, he is free from ostentation and display and those who know him speak of him in terms of high regard.
I. G. LONG.
I. G. Long, president of the American Engraving Company of Tulsa, and one of the substantial and valued residents of the city, was born in Montgomery, Texas, December 15, 1889. He was one of a family of twelve children, ten of whom are living. The parents are J. D. and Mattie (Weatherford) Long, the former a native of Florida, while the latter was born in Texas, and is a daughter of Colonel Weatherford, prominent in the south. Mr. Long is a ranchman liv- ing at Montgomery, Texas, and at the present time has retired from active business, his success in former years enabling him to put aside the more ardu- ous duties which formerly claimed his attention. He served as a Confederate soldier during the Civil war. He belongs to the Baptist church, as does his wife, and they are highly esteemed in the community where they make their home.
1. G. Long, at the usual age, became a pupil in the public schools of Texas, passing through consecutive grades to the high school. Later he was a student in a business college at Fort Worth, from which in due course of time he was graduated. He then entered an engraving house at Fort Worth as a stenographer, serving eight years in that establishment, during which time he gained compre- hensive knowledge of the business. In the spring of 1918 he came to Tulsa and soon after entered the army, being attached to the Seventy-second Replace- ment Unit of the Medical Corps. After his return from military duty he estab- lished his present business under the name of the American Engraving Company, of which he is the president. In this connection he is building up a busi- ness of gratifying and substantial proportions. He is also the vice president of the Triangle Printing Company.
On the 28th of November, 1917, Mr. Long was married to Miss Eleanor Baker of Fort Worth, Texas, a daughter of A. T. Baker, a real estate dealer there. Mr. Long is widely known through various connections that have to do with improvement of business conditions and with the advancement of social, intellectual and moral progress. Ile is now the president of the Advertisers Club, is a charter member of the Kiwanis Club, and is serving on the board of directors of the Retail Merchants Association. He is likewise one of the
I. G. LONG
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directors of the Better Business Bureau, and was a member of the County Advis- ory Board of the Salvation Army. His religious belief is indicated in the fact that he is a member of the First Baptist church and is serving on its board. His political allegiance is given to the republican party and he keeps well informed on the vital questions and issues of the day. He studies systematically and thoroughly many problems which come up for settlement that have to do with public welfare and his influence is always on the side of right, progress, reform and improvements.
HON. STEPHEN R. LEWIS.
Stephen R. Lewis, attorney at law and an untiring worker in everything that he attempts, is numbered among the pioneer residents of Tulsa and in many ways has contributed to its progress and upbuilding, interested at all times in its material and intellectual progress and upholding ever its legal and moral status. He was born on a farm in Hill county, Texas, December 27, 1873. His father, Alexander S. Lewis, was born in Blountsville, Alabama, became a farmer and cattle man and eventually a Texas ranger. He was also a soldier on the Mexi- can border where he represented the United States government in that connec- tion for some time, but is now living on the old homestead near Dawson, Okla- homa. He was active in early territorial affairs, his position being one of lead- ership. He gives his political support to the democratic party, and has long been a faithful member of the Presbyterian church. He married Elizabeth P. Daw- son, daughter of Samuel R. Dawson, and they have become parents of eight children, six of whom are living. The mother is a native of Texas.
Stephen R. Lewis has a strain of Indian blood, perhaps about one thirty- second Cherokee, and his father was born in the Cherokee country of Alabama. Removing to Oklahoma in pioneer times when a lad, Stephen R. Lewis was edu- cated in a mission school near Skiatook, Oklahoma, this being a Quaker mission Indian school. He came to Tulsa in 1887 when there were not more than forty people living in the town. Attracted by the profession of law he began reading in Tulsa and was admitted to the bar in 1902 before the supreme court of Oklahoma in 1910, being licensed to practice in the courts of Oklahoma and in the United States district courts, and was admitted to the supreme court of United States in 1916. His practice has largely related to Indian lands and he is a most prominent attorney as representative of Indian interests. One who has known him long and well speaks of him as "the most untiring worker in all his endeavors I ever met." He enjoys a well merited reputation by reason of his loyalty to the interest of his clients, his hard work, fair dealing and sound judgment. He prepares his law cases with great thoroughness and care and his efficient application has been one of the strong forces of his success. He belongs to the Tulsa County Bar Association, the Oklahoma State Bar Associa- tion, and the American Bar Association, and enjoys in large measure the respect and confidence of his colleagues and contemporaries in the profession. Aside from his law practice he has become largely interested in the development of coal lands in Oklahoma, near Dawson, and the company of which he is a rep- resentative is operating the largest steam shovel in the state.
On the 12th of June, 1907, Mr. Lewis was married to Miss Elizabeth Schrimsher of the Cherokee nation, who was born near Claremore, Oklahoma.
Mr. Lewis is a prominent figure in democratic circles. He belongs to the
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democratic county central committee as representative of Tulsa county and is an active worker in promoting party successes, yet has never been an office seeker. He has served as lieutenant colonel on Governor Williams' staff, and he did very effective work as a member of the State Council of Defense during the World war. He belongs to the Chamber of Commerce, which indicates his interest in everything pertaining to community welfare and he was for- merly a commissioner of the Tax Payers League of the state. He also belongs to the Automobile Club. His religious belief is that of the Methodist church, and fraternally he is a Mason, being one of the charter members of Tulsa Lodge, No. 71, A. F. & A. M. He has also taken the degrees of the Scottish Rite and is a life member of Akdar Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He finds his recreation in big game hunting and has secured many interesting trophies of the chase. The major part of his time and attention, however, is given to his law practice and he is particularly active in conducting the litigation of Indian land titles. Loyalty to his clients is one of his marked characteristics and his ability places him as one of the leading members of the Tulsa bar.
ARTHUR F. SWEENEY.
In his mercantile and real estate activities Arthur Francis Sweeney has con- tributed definitely to the material development and civic advancement of the city and county of Tulsa, but aside from this he is known as a broad-gauged, progressive and public-spirited citizen of positive views and positive action. In ·the conduct of his general real estate business he maintains his offices in the Robinson building, and he takes vital interest in all that concerns the welfare of his home city and state.
Mr. Sweeney was born at Louisburgh, County Mayo, Ireland, on the 12th of July, 1871, and is a son of John and Catherine McEvilly Sweeney, the father having been a representative teacher and influential citizen of County Mayo, and one of the organizers of the Irish Land League, in the early 'zos. In this con- nection it is interesting to record that the nationalism of the father has passed as a heritage to the son, whose intense interest and sympathy for his native land is coupled with the utmost loyalty to the land of his adoption. He has spoken and written with characteristic vigor and earnestness in support of the national independence of the Emerald isle, with the noble history and gallant struggles of which he is informed most thoroughly and is a member of the state directorate of the American Association for the Recognition of the Irish Republic.
Arthur F. Sweeney was afforded the educational advantages possible in the schools of his native land until he was twenty years of age, when, in 1891, he severed home ties and came to the United States. He found employment in a mercantile establishment in the city of New York and remained in the national metropolis until 1894, when he came west to Chicago, where he lived until the beginning of the Spanish-American war, when he promptly showed his deep loyalty to his adopted country and its institutions by enlisting in 1898, as a member of Company F, Seventh Illinois Infantry, the famed Irish regiment that long held high rank in the city of Chicago. Ile accompanied his command to Camp Alger, Virginia, and later to Camp Meade, Pennsylvania, but the regi- ment was not called into active service on the stage of conflict. Mr. Sweeney received his honorable discharge in October, 1898, and shortly after returning to
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Illinois he established his residence at Clinton, where he became actively iden- tified with the newspaper business, as a member of the staff and later editor and publisher of the Clinton Daily Times. In 1903 he moved to Mattoon, Illinois, and later became news editor of the Kankakee Republican, in the city of Kan- kakee, Illinois, and there he continued his residence until 1907, when he visited the land of his birth. On his return he came to Tulsa, Oklahoma, in company with Martin H. Bassett, their purpose having been here to establish a daily newspaper, to be known as the Tulsa News. The death of Mr. Bassett, how- ever, caused this project to be abandoned, and Mr. Sweeney entered the mercan- tile field. After a brief experience in dry goods he bought a small grocery at 418 West Third street, and within a few years passed from this through succes- sive stages until he became president of the Overton Grocery Company and manager of its store, said to be the finest place of its kind in the southwest. This establishment was closed out in 1918 and the building leased to the Wool- worth Company. Since that time Mr. Sweeney has been in the real estate business. A man of broad views and well fortified convictions, Mr. Sweeney never fears to express his opinions when occasion warrants and he has made close study of economic and governmental questions. Although a democrat in politics he voiced his opposition to the League of Nations, in 1920, and aligned himself with the republican forces of the state during the election of that year. Mr. Sweeney is a fourth degree member of the Knights of Columbus, and as a communicant of the Catholic church he and his wife hold membership in the parish of the Church of the Sacred Heart.
At Clinton, Illinois, in the year 1901, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Sweeney to Miss Mayme Sharkey, daughter of James and Hannah Sharkey. Mr. and Mrs. Sweeney have one child, Arthur Francis, Jr., who was born on the 8th of July, 1908.
Mr. Sweeney makes occasional contributions to the newspaper press, and so well is his outlook shown and exemplified in an article which he wrote rela- tive to the discussion of the need of more governmental departments, that this review offers the following extracts: "The federal government is the only agency in these United States which seems to exercise authority, and is not local government more or less of a failure anyhow? We ought to have departments to regulate everything. Instead of the dear departed daylight-savings law we ought to have a get-up-early department, which would see to it that every man and woman in the United States is out of bed before six o'clock and that the hour for retiring is also set. Then there should be a domestic science depart -. ment which would oversee the efforts of the newlyweds in the matter of pre- paring the morning toast without burning it, and this department should have also the supervision and control of the number of rooms to be occupied by each family, the number of dogs, cats and birds each should be permitted to keep in 'Cities of the first class.' Then there should be a department of proper attire, to decide when to put 'em on and take 'em off as well as to regulate the distance between the tops of the shoes and the bottoms of the dresses. A depart- ment of beverages could fix the buttermilk season and warn the public at what temperature it was safe to indulge in more than one 'coke,' and this could be provided for in connection with the enforcement of the Volsted act. Of course we ought to have a department of cemeteries and public parks, and a depart- ment of public buildings, which would fix the number of stories in city sky- scrapers, and a department of fireworks and skyrockets, to attend the proper celebration of the Fourth of July. A department of ancestors is an absolute necessity if we are going to put any limit to the number of people who claim
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to be descended from the passengers on the Mayflower. Other departments might be suggested, for what is government intended for anyhow, if not to gov- ern, and you can't have too much of a good thing. Besides, look at all the cabinet possibilities we have. What are you going to do with them if there are only a few cabinet positions? And look at the large number of our fellow citizens who have no desire to regulate other people and who are now putting in their time minding their own business. What are we going to do to make all these people respond to the 'uplift' and to join the 'forces that make for good?' Let us have all the federal departments necessary, so there will be no initiative, no personality, no private ambition, no personal responsibility, nothing to think about except to keep the departments properly employed in thinking for us. Life will thus be made one long siesta, and we can all join the chorus, 'let the rest of the world go by,' or words to that effect."
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