USA > Oklahoma > Tulsa County > Tulsa > The history of Tulsa, Oklahoma > Part 32
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EDGAR ALPHONSE DE MEULES.
Edgar Alphonse de Meules was born in Sauk Rapids, Minnesota, on the 18th day of August, 1880. His father, Alphonse James de Meules, was a member of one of the old French families of St. Paul. His mother, Catherine Linnemann, was of Holland and German lineage. His early youth was spent in the state of his birth. After attending both public and private schools of learning he entered the law department of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. On August 5, 1903, he was admitted to the bar of the Indian territory, and thereafter prac- ticed law in Muskogee until October, 1904, when he formed a law partnership with Mr. C. L. Thomas, now deceased, the firm style being Thomas and de Meules. In March, 1908, this partnership was dissolved upon the appointment of Mr. de Meules to the position of general attorney for the Midland Valley Rail- road Company, with headquarters at Muskogee .. He retained this position until
EDGAR A. de MEULES
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August, 1914, when he resigned to associate himself in the general practice of law in Muskogee with Mr. George S. Ramsey, under the firm name of Ramsey and de Meules. This firm succeeded the firm of Ramsey and Thomas, which was dissolved by the death of Mr. C. L. Thomas, Mr. de Meules' former partner, in July, 1914. Subsequently the firm became Ramsey, de Meules and Rosser. Mr. Malcolm E. Rosser entered the firm of Ramsey and de Meules in July, 1915, having previously served as district judge for the fifth judicial district for a number of years and also as a member of the supreme court commission. Later the firm was enlarged by the entrance of Mr. Villard Martin, the firm then being known as Ramsey, de Meules, Rosser & Martin.
Mr. de Meules at one time assumed an active interest in the politics of the state. He acted successively as chairman of the democratic central committee for the Seventy-sixth Constitutional Delegate District and as chairman of the first democratic county central committee for Muskogee county. In addition to the activities of his practice he has served as president of the Muskogee Bar Association for one term and as a member of the council of the State Bar Asso- ciation for one term. He organized the Muskogee Law Library Association and served as its president for three years. By appointment of the supreme court of the state he is now a member of the Bar Commission of the State of Okla- homa.
In June, 1911, Mr. de Meules was united in marriage to Miss Hazel Hamilton of Dubuque, Iowa. Three sons, Hamilton, Edgar Alphonse, Jr., and Ramsey, have been born of this union.
T. D. CLEAGE.
T. D. Cleage, a petroleum and construction engineer of the first class, who is conducting his professional interest as president of the firm of Cleage & Company of Tulsa, was born in Quincy, Illinois, April 3, 1885. His father, Thomas L. Cleage, a financier, was born in Tennessee and is now living retired in St. Louis, Missouri. He married Miss Anna Mary Deaderick who was born in Virginia, and they became the parents of five children, four of whom are living. The parents are members of the Presbyterian church.
T. D. Cleage pursued his education in the schools of Little Rock, Arkansas, of Quincy, Illinois, and of St. Louis, Missouri, and also attended the Christian Brothers College in the latter city, being graduated with the degree of Electrical Engineer as a member of the class of 1904. He dates his residence in Tulsa from 1916 and is now prominently known as a consulting engineer in the southwest, conducting his business as president of the firm of Cleage & Company. His pro- fessional rank is of the highest and he is widely known because of extraordinary inventive skill in casinghead plants and kindred lines. Following his removal to Tulsa, he was engineer for the Mid-Continent Gasoline Company, and a year later joined the employes of the Black Hawk Petroleum Company, also of Tulsa. It was in 1918 that he organized the present company with Carl C. Magee as vice president and F. R. Halliburton as secretary and treasurer. This company owns a number of gasoline plants in Oklahoma and conducts a general engineering business. Its output is sold under the name of Cleco brand of motor oils and includes the Cleco liberty aero for six, eight and twelve cylinder cars, the Cleco motor medium for four and six cylinder cars and the Cleco Ford special. The oil
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is of the highest possible grade and the steady growth of the business is proof of its value.
In 1907 Mr. Cleage was married to Miss Eva Marguerite Farmer of St. Louis. They are well known socially and are numbered among the valued mem- bers of the Presbyterian church. Mr. Cleage is a member of the Country Club and of the City Club, also of the Missouri Athletic Club of St. Louis, and fraternally is connected with Rose Hill Lodge of St. Louis, with the Scottish Rite bodies and with Moolah Temple of the Mystic Shrine Along professional lines he is connected with the American Association of Engineers. He is a very interesting conversationalist and equal to any social occasion, but is too busy to devote much time to society, clubs or politics. He is, however, a lover of music and is skilled as a violin player. An analyzation of his career as to the cause of his success brings to light the fact that he has ever been a tireless worker and never loses faith in anything he undertakes to do.
NATHAN O. COLBURN
Nathan O. Colburn, president of the First National Bank of Collinsville, be- longs to that class of men whose enterprise is at once felt in any community with which they become identified. His well formulated plans have been carried for- ward to successful completion and his energies have been a potent element in the development of the community in which he makes his home. A native of Henry county, Illinois, he was born June 15, 1863, of the marriage of Orlin and Levina J. (Lyon) Colburn, the former a native of the state of New York, while the mother was born in Ohio. The father went to Kansas from Illinois in 1869 and there took up land in Greenwood county, in the Osage strip. He cultivated and improved that property until 1875, when he removed to Eureka, Kansas, and there engaged in general merchandising, carrying on the business until 1903 or for a period of twenty-eight years. He then retired from active life but continued to make his home in Eureka until called to his final rest in August, 1914, when he had reached the advanced age of seventy-eight years. His widow still occupies the old home in Eureka and has reached the age of eighty-three years.
Nathan O. Colburn was reared and educated in Eureka, being but six years of age when his parents removed to Kansas. In 1884 he accepted the joint agency of the Wells Fargo and the Adams Express companies at Eureka and at the same time worked for his father in the store, being thus engaged until 1891, when he resigned his position there and came to Oklahoma in the month of September. He located first on a claim five miles north of Chandler and opened a store in the town in April, 1892. There he remained in active business until 1902, and while he conducted his business along successful lines, he nevertheless had to face disas- ter when on the 30th of March, 1897, a cyclone swept away his store and his home, causing the destruction of goods to the amount of ten thousand dollars. Through the kindness of his creditors, however, who had come to know that his word was good and that he was to be relied upon under all conditions, he was able to open another store in the fall of that year, in which he put a stock worth twenty thou- sand dollars. He did an enormous business, building up his trade to mammoth proportions, and continued to conduct the store until the winter of 1901, when he sold the property at Chandler and came to Collinsville. In the meantime, or in 1898, he had disposed of his claim in that locality.
After removing to Collinsville, Mr. Colburn entered into partnership with
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William S. Edwards and Frank F. Johnson in the purchase of the Cherokee Bank, reorganizing it into the First National Bank, which they have since con- ducted, Mr. Edwards becoming the first president. He was succeeded by Dr. E. Place, while James M. Colburn became the third president and at his death was succeeded by Nathan O. Colburn of this review. The last named had become the first cashier of the bank and acting vice president. The bank is cap- italized for twenty-five thousand dollars, has surplus and undivided profits of an equal amount and deposits of three hundred and sixty thousand dollars. In 1909 a modern two-story bank building was erected, so that the business is well housed, and as the result of the capable management of the officers the institution has done an excellent business and is regarded as one of the strong financial con- cerns of the county. Mr. Colburn has also been one of the stockholders and the treasurer of the Collinsville Gas Company since 1905. Moreover, he has farming interests and also some oil interests and his investments have at all times been judiciously made.
In December, 1885, Mr. Colburn was married to Miss Minnie M. Sutton, daughter of John W. and Roxana E. (Hammond) Sutton, who were natives of Michigan and came to Oklahoma from Eureka, Kansas, in 1889. Her father was a farmer and stockman and afterward established his home in Collinsville, being among the first settlers of that town. His wife there opened the New York Store, a dry goods establishment, which she conducted for about fourteen years. She passed away in Kansas City, at the home of a daughter, in January, 1915, but the father is still living and yet makes his home in Collinsville. To Mr. and Mrs. Colburn have been born four children: Hazel, the wife of H. Clyde Bollman, the active vice president of the First National Bank; James O., who is cashier of the bank; Theresa, an actress of marked ability who is now with Robert B. Man- tel in Shakespearean repertoire; and Franqui, at home.
Mr. Colburn is a member of the Masonic fraternity, in which he has taken the consistory degrees at Guthrie, and has become identified with Akdar Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Tulsa. He also belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America, the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Politically he is a republican and keeps well informed on the questions and issues of the day but never seeks nor desires office as a reward for party fealty, preferring that his public duty shall be done as a private citizen. His wife is a member of the Episcopal church. They are both widely and favorably known in Collinsville, where they have long resided, their many friends entertaining for them the highest regard, while in social circles they occupy an enviable position.
NORRIS T. GILBERT.
Since 1916 Norris T. Gilbert has been prominent in the financial circles of Tulsa as active vice president of the Producers State Bank. He has been in the banking business since 1901 and has closely applied himself to the mastery of all duties which have devolved upon him and thus his efficiency has been constantly promoted. He is a native of Kansas, his birth having occurred at Brookville, that state, on the 6th of December, 1879. His parents, J. M. and Martha Jane (Mayes) Gilbert are both deceased, the father having passed away on the 8th of July, 1908, at the age of seventy-five years and the mother on the 15th of Sep- tember, 1915, at the age of seventy-six years. The father, J. M. Gilbert, was a
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native of New York state and the mother of Pennsylvania, but at the close of the Civil war they removed to Kansas, where they secured a homestead, which the father operated until 1889. In that year he came to Oklahoma and engaged in farming near Stillwater for the remainder of his life. He was recognized as a representative agriculturist and his death came as a severe blow to the commun- ity. He was a veteran of the Civil war, having served with a New York regi- ment from 1861 until the close of the conflict.
Norris T. Gilbert received his education in public schools of Stillwater, to which place he had removed with his parents in 1889, and in due time entered the Agricultural and Mechanical College, and was graduated in 1898. Three years later, or in 1901, he entered banking circles and has followed that line of business ever since. In 1916 he became associated with the Producers State Bank at Tulsa as active vice president, which position he is still holding to the complete satis- faction of the patrons and other officers of the bank. In addition to his finan- cial undertakings Mr. Gilbert is interested in oil production and is a director of several oil and refining companies throughout the state.
In 1901 occurred the marriage of Mr. Gilbert to Miss Bennie Townsend of Stillwater and to them two children have been born: Yukola, a daughter eighteen years of age; and Harold, sixteen years of age.
Fraternally Mr. Gilbert is identified with the Masons, having attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite. He is also a member of the Mystic Shrine. In the line of his business Mr. Gilbert is a member of the Oklahoma Bankers Association, of which he was elected president in 1907. Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert reside at 1517 South Elwood, and they are readily conceded representative and progressive citizens.
HENRY BARTON MARTIN.
Henry Barton Martin, who has attained eminence as a representative of the Tulsa bar through the successful handling of some of the most important oil cases that have been heard in the state, was born in Lexington, Fayette county, Ken- tucky, February 8, 1872. His father, Henry S. Martin, was also a native of Fayette county, and is now living in Atchison, Kansas. He, too, became a lawyer and practiced for many years, but is living retired. He served as a private in the Confederate army and has always given his political allegiance to the democratic party, while his religious faith is that of the Christian church. He married Jane Miller, who was born in Kentucky, but has now passed away. Their family numbered four children, three of whom survive.
Henry B. Martin attended the University of Kansas, after completing his pre- liminary public school education, and was graduated from that institution with the Bachelor of Arts degree as a member of the class of 1887. He afterward took up the study of law in New York and was admitted to the bar. He entered upon active practice at Perry, Oklahoma, in 1893, and there remained for fifteen years, or until 1908, when he came to Tulsa, where he has since resided. Here he has handled many notable oil cases, representing some of the most important interests of this section. He is a recognized leader of the bar, possessing comprehensive knowledge of corporation law and particularly of the law applicable to oil and gas interests. He is preeminently a trial lawyer, often being employed by other lawyers to try their cases. He received one fee of fifty thousand dollars for trying a case and he excels in the presentation of his cases before a jury. He has tried cases in
HENRY B. MARTIN
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all the state and federal courts and he is a valued member of the state and American Bar Associations.
In 1902 Mr. Martin was married to Miss Elizabeth Kirkpatrick, a native of Iowa, and a daughter of A. E. Kirkpatrick. They have one son, Charles Ferrell, who was born April 11, 1905, and is now a high school pupil in Tulsa. He is a fine boy and an expert horseman, having inherited his father's love of horses, for Mr. Martin is the owner of some of the prize winning horses of Oklahoma, and is well known as a breeder of high class saddle horses. In this connection he owns a farm southeast of Tulsa, on which can be found some of the finest specimens of the noble steed in the country. He manifests a just pride in his farm and turns to it for recreation, but gives the major part of his attention to his law practice, which has constantly grown in volume and importance.
CHARLES EDWARD BUCHNER.
Charles Edward Buchner, general secretary of the Young Men's Christian Association at Tulsa, has been identified with this great field of work since 1901 and has made steady progress in connection therewith. Born in Leavenworth, Kansas, he is a son of Charles A. and Emma M. ( Wuerth) Buchner. The father was engaged in the milling business in Leavenworth, Kansas, at the time of his death in 1886, while the mother passed away in 1895.
At the usual age Charles Edward Buchner became a pupil in the graded schools, afterward attended high school and subsequently a business college at Leavenworth. He next entered the Northwestern College at Naperville, Illinois, and afterward became a student in Park College at Parkville, Missouri. He then attended the Young Men's Christian Association College in Chicago but in the meantime had made his initial step in the business world, being first employed in a bakery, while later he did law and court reporting. After quali- fying for his present line he entered Association work in Leavenworth, Kansas, in 1901 as physical director and two years later became general secretary of ins native city. In 1906 he was made physical director and assistant at Bisbee, Arizona, and afterward was promoted to general secretary. On the 6th of December, 1909, he came to Tulsa in charge of the Community Boys' Work, in the position of secretary, and in 1915 was advanced to the position of general secretary of the Association in this city. He is a member of the Five Year Com- mission of the Board of the Young Men's Christian Association College in Chi- cago, Illinois, and is a member of the board of trustees of the University of Tulsa.
On the 5th of June, 1907, in Leavenworth, Kansas, Mr. Buchner was mar- ried to Miss Irene Jennette Hughes, a daughter of Mrs. A. L. Barnett of that city. Their children are: Charles E., born July 10, 1910; and Robert Earl, born March 14, 1915. Mr. and Mrs. Buchner are members of the Presbyterian church, in which he is filling the office of elder and is also teacher of the young business men's class. He belongs to the City Club and was one of the four or- ganizers of the Tulsa Rotary Club, of which he served as president in 1919-20. He belongs to Tulsa Lodge, No. 71, A. F. & A. M .; Guthrie Consistory, A. A. S. R .; and Akdar Temple of the Mystic Shrine of Tulsa. During the period of the World war he served as campaign director, both local and state, for the Red Cross, was also on active duty at all issues of the Liberty Loan and on commit- tees for War Savings Stamps and various relief funds. He was likewise a di- rector of the United War Work for the state of Arizona, with the best record
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in the nation of two hundred and forty-eight per cent of the quota and the best record in the nation on achieving the quota first. He was likewise a Four-Min- ute speaker and took part in every activity for the support of the government. He is active in all law enforcement and his labors and his influence have been a potent power for good.
FRED A. GLASS, M. D.
Dr. Fred A. Glass, a Tulsa surgeon connected with Home Hospital, was born in Booneville, Kentucky, March 11, 1871, his parents being Dr. A. M. and Lucy (Herd) Glass, both of whom were also natives of Kentucky, while the grandfather in the paternal line was a Civil war veteran from Virginia, and was a surgeon in the Union army. The father was educated in the Uni- versity of Louisville and in the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Baltimore, Maryland. For thirty-two years he practiced at Booneville, Kentucky, being one of the ablest members of the profession in that part of the state. The recognition of his ability led to the retention of his services in many of the leading households of Booneville and he was widely known there as "a loved family physician." He was also much interested in the general welfare and civic activity and was a most public-spirited citizen. His religious faith was that of the Presbyterian church and he died at Booneville in 1917.
Dr. Glass, whose name introduces this review, attended the schools of Booneville and afterward continued his education in a preparatory school at Richmond, Kentucky. He next entered Center College at Danville, Kentucky, and won his Bachelor of Arts degree upon graduation with the class of 1908. During his student days there he became a member of the Zeta Zeta Chapter of the Sigma Chi fraternity. On completing his more specifically literary course he took up the study of medicine, matriculating in the Johns Hopkins University at Baltimore, Maryland, in 1908 and winning his diploma and degree upon graduation with the class of 1912. He then spent three and a half years as interne, assistant resident surgeon and resident gynecologist in the Lakeside Hospital at Cleveland, Ohio, and gained that broad and valuable knowledge and experience which never comes as quickly in any other way as through hospital work.
Dr. Glass arrived in Tulsa in 1915 and through the intervening period has devoted his attention exclusively to surgery, for which branch of the profes- sion he is splendidly qualified. He is a fellow of the American Medical Asso- ciation, a member of the Tulsa County Medical Society and of the Oklahoma State Medical Association and has read many valuable papers on surgical subjects before all these medical societies. He is now chief surgeon for the Home Hospital at Sand Springs, which has one hundred and fifty beds for patients and in connection with which there is maintained a training school for nurses. During the World war he could not be accepted in the army because of physical disability, but he gave most of his time to surgical work on drafted men, making the soldiers fit for active duty at the front. Aside from his pro- fessional interests he has extensive farm holdings and raises Jersey cattle and thoroughbred Shorthorns, Duroc hogs and Rhode Island red chickens, all of the finest breed, and the chickens are used at the hospitals, furnishing many an appetizing meal for the patients.
At Sandusky, Ohio, in 1916, Dr. Glass was married to Miss Ruth Sontar,
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a daughter of Charles Sontar, a contractor and builder of that city. Dr. and Mrs. Glass have one child, a daughter, Mary. The parents are members of the Methodist church and Dr. Glass belongs to Delta Lodge, No. 425, A. F. & A. M., being numbered among the exemplary followers of the teachings of the craft. He greatly enjoys outdoor life, to which he turns for rest and recreation when professional duties permit.
CLAUDE S. TOMPKINS.
Claude S. Tompkins, secretary of the Mutual Oil & Gas Company of Tulsa, is among those farsighted and energetic business men who are concentrating their efforts and attention upon the oil development of the southwest and who by reason of their thoroughness, discrimination and undaunted energy are gaining a substantial measure of success. Mr. Tompkins was born in Millbrook, New York, May 10, 1876, and was one of a family of two children, the other one being deceased. The parents were John and Matilda (Traver) Tompkins, the former a native of Millbrook, New York, and a commission merchant, devoting his active life to that line of business. He belonged to the Masonic fraternity and that he attained high rank in the order is indicated in the fact that he became a member of the Mystic Shrine. His death occurred in 1916. His widow, also a native of the Empire state, is living in Tulsa.
Claude S. Tompkins after attending the private schools in New York, attended the School of Commerce of the University of New York and won the degree of Bachelor of Commercial Science at his graduation with the class of 1899. He then started upon his professional career as a certified public accountant and continued active in that field of business until about four years ago, when he became associated with the Mutual Oil & Gas Company as its secretary. His attention and energies have since been concentrated upon the duties of the position and having familiarized himself with every phase of the business he has so directed his energies that his labors are a direct element in the attainment of the success which has come to the corporation.
In 1898 Mr. Tompkins was married to Miss Katherine Cunnane, a native of Ireland, and they have become the parents of a son, John Reginald, fourteen years of age, who is now in school. The parents are members of the Holy Family Parish of the Roman Catholic church and Mr. Tompkins is a fourth degree member of the Knights of Columbus. He also has membership with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He manifests a keen interest in every- thing of public concern in the community and his cooperation can at all times be counted upon to further plans and measures for the general good.
ROBERT R. LOCKWOOD.
Robert R. Lockwood, president of the Sabine Oil & Marketing Company of Oklahoma, with offices in the Drew building of Tulsa, is one of the progressive young business men of the state. With most liberal educational opportunities. he qualified for the duties and responsibilities of life and since making his ini- tial step in the business world his course has been characterized by steady ad- vancement. He was born in Richmond, Pennsylvania, September 19. 1884. and
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