USA > Oklahoma > Tulsa County > Tulsa > The history of Tulsa, Oklahoma > Part 4
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
CALVIN OTIS SMITH.
Nature has been most bountiful in her gifts to Oklahoma. Her hillsides have contained rich mineral deposits, her rolling prairie land responds readily to the labors of the agriculturist, her forests have constituted a fruitful field for the work of the lumberman, and with her rich oil deposits there has evolved the tremendous oil industry in this state, represented by many men whose foresight and ability have enabled them to utilize the opportunities offered and contribute to the operation of oil lands that have constituted a splendid source of the state's prosperity. Well known in this connection is Calvin Otis Smith, who has been identified with a number of the leading companies operating in the oil fields of the southwest. He is yet a young man and what he has already accomplished indicates that his future career will be well worth watching. He was born in Linneus, Missouri, October 10, 1890. His father, R. R. Smith, a native of Findlay, Ohio, removed to Missouri in his boyhood days and afterward engaged in merchandising, in banking and in the insurance business. He also became one of the board of managers of the Modern Woodmen of America and is now living in Kansas City, Missouri. He married Sally E. Phillips of Linneus, Mis- souri, and to them were born four children, all of whom are living.
While spending his youthful days under the parental roof Calvin O. Smith was graduated from the high school of Brookfield, Missouri, and afterward con- tinued his education in the University of Chicago, which he attended from 1907 until 1911, winning the Bachelor of Philosophy degree upon his graduation. Ile later became a law student at Harvard, where he studied in 1911 and 1912. Thus splendidly qualified by liberal educational training for life's practical and responsible duties Mr. Smith became identified with the municipal bond business in Chicago in 1913 and was connected with the Cooke-Holtz Company for a year. Ile afterward traveled through the territory adjacent to New York, Philadelphia and Boston in the advertising business and subsequently he spent a brief time in the surety business in New York, connected with the National Surety Company. On leaving that position he went to Kansas City, Missouri, where he engaged in the municipal bond business, and he became an investor in the oil fields of Oklahoma in 1915. Ilis carly connection with the oil industry was that of secre- tary and treasurer of the Benland Oil Company and of the Heinic .Oil & Gas Company. Ile is president of the Smith Oil Corporation, which was organized in December, 1919, and is operating in the Okmulgee fields and is also develop-
Quin O. Smith
1132568
441
HISTORY OF TULSA
ing properties in the Creek county and Osage districts. In his business affairs Mr. Smith is associated with other members of his father's family, his brother, Maurice R. Smith, a Yale graduate, being also well known as an oil man. He was a captain in the balloon service in the World war. Calvin O. Smith is in- terested in aviation and has made many flying trips in connection with his business and personal affairs. He is a prominent figure in club circles, belonging to the Country and Petroleum Clubs of Tulsa, the Kansas City Club, the Hillcrest Country Club of Kansas City, the Kansas City Athletic Club, the Hamilton Club of Chicago, the Harvard Club of New York city and also to the Phi Delta Theta fraternity. He was much interested in football and other athletics at college and is at present interested in golf and other outdoor sports. His political 'allegiance is given to the republican party, but the honors and emoluments of office have had no attraction for him. He resides in a beautiful California type bungalow in the Maple Ridge section of Tulsa and his unusual home in its furnishings and construction indicates that he is a lover of the beautiful and substantial in various forms of art.
RALSA F. MORLEY.
A fine sense of stewardship and a deep appreciation of the dignity and re- sponsibility of his chosen vocation have significantly characterized the profes- sional career of Ralsa F. Morley, a representative member of the Tulsa bar, his practice being confined largely to civil cases and the handling of probate work, as he has had no desire to enter the field of criminal law. One familiar with the career of Mr. Morley attributes his success primarily to his industry, energy and sound business judgment, as coupled with an accurate knowledge of the law and marked facility in the application of that knowledge. From the same source is drawn the following estimate: "Mr. Morley is a man of exceptional oratorical ability, is a ready speaker and is always ready to use his talent in the behalf of any good cause. As a public speaker his style is fervent and magnetic on occasion. He is active politically and is an advocate of clean politics and a high standard of government."
Mr. Morley was born on a farm near Baraboo, Wisconsin, December 12, 1874, and is a son of Ralsa A. and Rose M. (Clark) Morley, the former born near Mentor, Lake county, Ohio, and the latter at Walworth, Wisconsin, in which latter state their marriage was solemnized. The father served with the famous "Squirrel Hunters Brigade" during the Civil war and after the close of that conflict established his residence in Wisconsin, where he became a prosper- ous farmer of Sauk county and also developed a prosperons enterprise in the raising and shipping of high-grade shorthorn cattle. He was active and influ- ential in county and state politics and was chairman of the board of county com- missioners at the time when the courthouse, the county insane hospital and all buildings of the county farm were erected in Sank county. He was a stanch republican, was affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, and was an earnest mem- ber of the Presbyterian church, as is also his widow, who now maintains her home at Baraboo, Wisconsin, his death having occurred in 1898. Mr. Morley was a man of marked business ability but he met with severe financial reverses through his operations on the Chicago Board of Trade.
Ralsa F. Morley profited by the advantages of the public schools of Bara- boo, Wisconsin, and pursued higher academic studies at the University of Wis- Vol. III-3
442
HISTORY OF TULSA
consin and Lake Forest University, at Lake Forest, Illinois. From the latter institution he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and thereafter completed a three years' course in the law department of the University of Chicago. He was admitted to the bar of Illinois but during the period of his residence in the city of Chicago he gave virtually no attention to the work of his profession, but there became actively identified with the real estate business. In February, 1906, Mr. Morley came to old Indian Territory and engaged in the real estate business at Tulsa, the development of this future metropolis having then been in its incipient stages. He became a pioneer in the building of houses and the developing of residence properties at Tulsa, as a member of the firm of Morley & Wells. He was admitted to the Oklahoma bar and has been successfully engaged in the practice of his profession at Tulsa since 1908, his law business. being entirely in the civil department. Mr. Morley has taken a vital and con- structive interest in the development of his home city and state, along both civic and material lines, and he is the owner of the fine Meadow Lawn dairy farm, which is one of the attractive places of Tulsa county, the property being situ- ated six miles distant from the city of Tulsa, comprising five hundred and ninety acres and having modern improvements that mark it as a model farm property. On this farm he has a large herd of Holstein cattle, including repre- sentatives of some of the finest strains of this type to be found in the United States. The physical improvements at Meadow Lawn are of the most approved order, comprising modern buildings, the best of sanitary provisions for the handling of the dairy cattle and the inost improved machinery and accessories.
Mr. Morley is a stanch and effective advocate of the principles of the dem- ocratic party, and he and his wife are zealous and influential members of the Presbyterian church in their home city. Mr. Morley holds membership in the American Bar Association, the Oklahoma State Bar Association and the Tulsa County Bar Association. He continues his loyal service in exploiting the many advantages and attractions of his home city and state, and his faith in the further progress of the city of Tulsa has been recently shown by his initiating the erection of a modern office building, at the corner of Fourth and Cincin- nati streets. The self reliance of Mr. Morley was significantly shown by his depending upon his own resources in completing his higher academic, as well as his professional, education, his father's losses on the Chicago Board of Trade having made it impossible for the latter to extend to his son the financial aid which he would most gladly have given.
At Mattoon, Illinois, in the year 1905, was recorded the marriage of Mr. Morley to Miss Augusta M. Moore, a daughter of William l'. Moore, a promi- nent lumber merchant of that city. Mr. and Mrs. Morley have one daughter. Lucille Elizabeth.
FRANK HILTON GREER.
Frank Ililton Greer is a native of Kansas, born at Leavenworth on July 21, 1862. He has lived all his life in the west. The parents of Mr. Greer were pioneers in Kansas and the boy at twelve years of age began making his own living. Ile is a son of Samnel Wylie and Clotilda ( Hilton) Greer. The father was born in West Moreland county, Pennsylvania, in 1824. Ile was educated in the Pennsylvania schools and graduated from Oberlin College, Ohio, as a Presbyterian preacher. He came to Kansas in 1854, in the turbulent days pre-
443
HISTORY OF TULSA
ceding the war, and took an active part in all the anti-slavery campaigns, of which Kansas was the center. He was one of the first state superintendents of public instruction in Kansas and did much in laying the foundation for the splendid public school system of that state. Just prior to Lincoln's inauguration he went with seventy-four other sturdy westerners to Washington City as a per- sonal guard for the president. These organized as the "Frontier Guards," the first organization growing out of the Civil war. These men were the first to enlist in that war. The duty of guarding the president having been discharged Mr. Greer returned with the other Kansans and organized Company I, Fifteenth Volunteer Kansas Cavalry, of which company he was elected captain and served with it throughout the war. The mother was born in Xenia, Ohio, and became a school teacher, and it was at her knee that he received most of his education, as his opportunity for other schooling was scant, and then only in the common schools. The printing office has been called the best of universities, and it proved so in this case. Here it was that Mr. Greer got his broad and practical educa- tion. The father died in' 1882 at the age of fifty-eight years, and the mother in 1897 at the age of sixty-four. There were eight children in the family, of whom six are living, Frank Hilton being the fourth in order of birth.
Early in life Frank Hilton Greer went into a newspaper office as a printer's devil and graduated in all the departments of the business, continuing the news- paper profession until nine years ago when he moved to Tulsa. He is now president of the Greer Investment Company, with offices in the Simmons building.
Mr. Greer is a member of all branches of Masonry-the Scottish Rite and York Rite, and the Shrine-and is a K. C. C. H. of the Supreme Council of the Scottish Rite. He belongs to the Knights of Pythias, A. O. U. W., Elks and Odd Fellows. He is a member of the Episcopal church. He has held but one public office, that of Member of the Oklahoma legislature in 1893.
In 1911 Mr. Greer was married to Laura Leigh Hanson, a woman of fine literary and social attainments, and they reside at 1501 South Baltimore, Tulsa.
Mr. Greer has taken prominent part in all the public affairs of Oklahoma, having located in Guthrie in 1889 on the day of the opening of old Oklahoma to settlement. He is a republican in politics, unswerving in his beliefs, not only in politics but in everything else, and although not seeking public office has been active in what he believed would forward the political welfare of Oklahoma. He has taken a prominent part in the state's material progress.
Mr. Greer is one of the directors of the Tulsa Chamber of Commerce and exerts his public spirit constantly for the growth of Tulsa.
He is a fluent and popular public speaker. His diversion from business is literature and his home contains probably the largest and best selected private library in Oklahoma.
CARTER SMITH.
A lawyer of ability and admirable adherence to the best ethics of his profes- sion Mr. Smith has been engaged in the general practice of law in the city of Tulsa since the year 1912. He was born at Winchester. Franklin county, Ten- nessee, and is a son of Preston and Luella (Carter) Smith, both representatives of fine old southern families.
Carter Smith passed the period of his childhood and early youth on the home
444
HISTORY OF TULSA
farm, and in the meanwhile made good use of the advantages offered by the public schools of the locality. A valuable discipline was that which he initiated when sixteen years of age, for it was then that he entered the employ of the Brandon Printing and Publishing Company, at Nashville, the largest concern of its kind in the south. While thus engaged Mr. Smith showed his ambition and good judgment by continuing his studies in Bowen Academy, at Nashville, his own efforts having provided the funds that enabled him to complete an academic and a law course in Cumberland University, Lebanon, Tennessee, from which excellent institution he received the degree of Bachelor of Laws. Upon coming to Oklahoma he first engaged in practice at Thomas, Custer county, where he reniained until 1912, when he numbered himself among the members of the Tulsa bar. In 1914-15 he served as assistant United States district attorney for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, and in 1917-18 he was assistant county at- torney of Tulsa county. Aside from these positions he has been continuously engaged in the general practice of his profession and he now controls a substan- tial and important law business of representative order, his practice extending to all state courts of Oklahoma, as well as the Federal court. In politics he gives his allegiance to the democratic party, is an active member of the Tulsa County Bar Association, and is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, the Knights of Pythias, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is a member of the City Club and Automobile Club of Tulsa, and his religious faith is that of the Christian church.
As a member of the Oklahoma National Guard Mr. Smith gained the rank of second lieutenant and when the nation became involved in the great World war he entered the officers' training camp at Waco, Texas, and was at Camp McArthur, Texas, at the time of the signing of the armistice. Mr. Smith's name is still enrolled upon the roster of eligible bachelors in Tulsa.
HORACE HENRY HAGAN.
Horace Henry Hagan, one of the prominent young attorneys of Tulsa, was born at St. Marys, Kansas, October 13, 1891. His father, Horace Hagan, was a native of Kentucky, whence he removed to Kansas and afterward became a resident of Oklahoma. He devoted his life to cattle raising and was also prominent in early days in political circles as a supporter of the democratic party. He died in 1903. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Eulalie Droege, was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and became the mother of four children, all of whom are living.
Horace H. Hagan of this review obtained his education in public and pa- rochial schools of Guthrie, Oklahoma, and afterward attended St. Mary's Col- lege, from which he was graduated with the Bachelor of Arts degree in the class of 1910. He next entered Georgetown University and won his LL. B. degree in 1913. In December of the same year he was admitted to the bar in Oklahoma, standing in first place on the examination of the class with which he was admitted. He then began practice in Oklahoma City and has made steady progress in his profession, his success as a lawyer being attributable to his thorough preparedness and his eloquence. He was appointed to the office of assistant attorney general under Attorney General Charles West and served in that important position from 1913 to 1915 inclusive. Ile then became a
HORACE H. HAGAN
447
HISTORY OF TULSA
member of the firm of West & Hagan at Oklahoma City. In January, 1917, he accepted a position as attorney for the Texas Company and in that capacity removed to Tulsa. Later he practiced in a partnership relation under the firm style of Conner & Hagan. This was formed in 1919 and is still in existence. Tulsa classes him with her representative lawyers. He has won notable success, for added to his comprehensive knowledge of the law and ability accurately to apply its principles is a most persuasive eloquence that makes him very strong in the trial of a case before the court. He has also had extensive experi- ence and success in the branches of law peculiarly applicable to the great oil and gas industries for which his home city of Tulsa is noted. He belongs to the Oklahoma State and American Bar Associations and enjoys the high respect and confidence of his professional colleagues and contemporaries wherever he is known.
During the World war Mr. Hagan saw service with the Twenty-fifth C. A. C. and was on duty at Fort Rosecrans, California. He is now a past state commander of the American Legion and a member of its national executive committee. He also has membership with the Sons of the American Revolu- tion, being eligible thereto by reason of ancestors in the paternal line who fought for the cause of independence. He belongs to the Kiwanis Club and to the Advertisers Club, the City Club, the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and the Knights of Columbus. The last named indicates his connection with the Catholic church and he is now a communicant in the Holy Family parish. His political allegiance is given to the democratic party, of which he is an ardent supporter, and outside of his law practice he devotes much of his time to civic and political matters. He has filled a number of important offices, though never seeking political preferment. By reason of his natural and cultivated gift of oratory he is many times called upon for public addresses and his discussion of any subject shows that he has thoroughly studied it, for preparedness is one of his marked characteristics.
WALTER EARL BROWN.
Walter Earl Brown, whose name is a familiar one in banking circles through- out Oklahoma, is now chairman of the executive committee of the First National Bank, an institution which is the outcome of the recent merging of the old First National and the Union National Bank of this city. Mr. Brown having come to this place while president of the Union National. There are few men more familiar with banking problems and conditions than he and his progressive spirit has been an element in the growth of the institution with which he is associated. It would be difficult to determine the full measure of his influence and efforts upon the financial history of the state but all acknowledge his promi- nence in developing the banking interests of Oklahoma.
Mr. Brown was born in Grenola, Elk county, Kansas, August 6, 1880. His father, P. I. Brown, has also been connected with banking interests for many years but is now living retired in Tulsa, enjoying in well earned rest the fruits of his former toil. He wedded Hannah E. Jackson, a native of Missouri, and they have become parents of two children who are yet living, the brother, J. Ray, being identified with the Bank of Commerce at Okmulgee, Oklahoma. The parents are consistent members of the Christian church and Mr. Brown belongs to the Masonic fraternity, loyally exemplifying in his life the beneficent
448
HISTORY OF TULSA
spirit of the craft. In the maternal line the ancestry is traced back directly to General "Stonewall" Jackson who commanded the Confederate troops in the Civil war and was the brave and intrepid leader that was killed by a mistaken volley from his own troops. Mrs. P. I. Brown was a member of the Jackson family.
W. Earl Brown pursued his early education in the public schools of his native state and afterwards attended the Henry Kendall College of Tulsa. Before finishing his course in business college, however, he became interested in the cattle business in Oklahoma and was thus engaged from 1895 until 1901. He is still interested to some extent in the live stock industry, although other business pursuits have in later years claimed the greater part of his time and attention. On attaining his majority he entered the field of banking and in 1900 organized the First National Bank of Beggs, Oklahoma, of which he was cashier from 1901 until 1903. He was also for six years identified with the American National Bank of Sapulpa, Oklahoma, as cashier. In 1903 he became cashier of the First National Bank of Mounds, Oklahoma, in which capacity he continued to serve for five years. It was after this time that he became associated with the American National Bank of Sapulpa, and on sever- ing that connection he came to Tulsa, where he organized the Union National Bank, of which he became the president. This bank began business on the 2d of October, 1916, with a capital of three hundred thousand dollars and a surplus of thirty thousand dollars. At the close of business at the end of the first day on which the bank operated it had on deposit one million eighty six thousand seven hundred and sixty-nine dollars and twenty-seven cents. Its steady growth well reflected the Tulsa spirit of progress. The continuous growth of the bank made it necessary to secure a larger space from time to time until it was occupy- ing what was formerly five distinct rooms. On the 23d of September, 1919, the capital of the bank was increased to five hundred thousand dollars and by the last day of the year the surplus had grown to one hundred and twenty five thousand dollars-figures which indicate very clearly the solid and healthy condition of the institution. The record indicates clearly also the service ren- dered to the public and the confidence merited through actual performance in business affairs, for the growth of a bank depends upon the confidence of its patrons and depositors. Mr. Brown brought his strong and thorough experi- ence to bear in the conduct of the institution and as its chief executive officer made it one of the strongest financial concerns of the state. On the Ist of January, 1921, the Union National was merged with the First National Bank of Tulsa under the latter name and Mr. Brown became chairman of the exe- cutive committee. Aside from this connection he is vice president of the First National Bank of Chandler, Oklahoma. His business interests are most exten- sive and of an important character, contributing in large measure to the growth and prosperity of the state. Mr. Brown is also connected with the 'Clearing House Association, of which he was formerly president.
In August, 1902, Mr. Brown was married to Miss Cora Pendleton, a daugh- ter of Thomas A. Pendleton, a native of Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. Brown have become parents of three children, Naomi, sixteen years of age; W. Earl Junior, a lad of eleven ; and Carol Maxine, six years of age.
Mr. Brown is identified with various fraternal organizations. He has mem- bership with the Masons, the Elks, Woodmen of the World, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is likewise a member of the City Club of Kansas City, Missouri, and has member- ship at Tulsa, in the City Club, Country Club and Chamber of Commerce.
449
HISTORY OF TULSA
Politically he is a democrat, giving stanch support to the party, and his religious faith is that of the Presbyterian church, of which he is a loyal follower. He is interested in outdoor sports, to which he turns for recreation, but allows noth- ing to interfere with the faithful performance of his duties in connection with his business affairs. He has ever believed that the banker is most worthy of support that most thoroughly safeguards the interests of the depositors and it has been along that line that he has conducted his affairs. His resourcefulness and ability in all things are bringing him to the front as one of the leading bank- ers and financiers of the state.
, EDWIN R. PERRY.
There is much of almost spectacular interest in the life record of Edwin R. Perry, and yet his activities have been of the most practical character, his plans well defined, his actions definite and urgent. Utilizing every opportunity that has come to him and utilizing it to the fullest extent, he has reached a com- manding position in legal circles and in connection with the development of the oil interests of Oklahoma, being now particularly active as vice president of Cosden & Company and also vice president of the Cosden Oil & Gas Company He is a Harvard man and his university course was pursued at the cost of earn- est self-denying effort, for he had no financial resources at his command in early life. He was born in Granton, Ontario, March 4, 1875, a son of William and Barbara (Legge) Perry, the former a native of the north of Ireland, while the latter was of Scotch descent. The father devoted his life to the occupation of farming and thus provided for his family of ten children, eight of whom are living. The mother is deceased.
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.