USA > Oklahoma > Tulsa County > Tulsa > The history of Tulsa, Oklahoma > Part 5
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Edwin R. Perry obtained his early education in the schools of Canada and afterwards attended the Northwestern Academy and the Northwestern Uni- versity, from which he graduated in 1900 with the Bachelor of Arts degree. During his student days he was one of the most popular men at Northwestern and again after he entered Harvard, he was the recognized leader in his college fraternity, the Beta Theta Pi, and took an active interest while at Northwestern in the Young Men's Christian Association work. He had no particular interest in the fiction writers, giving no time to the "best sellers," but was a most careful student of history and of the lives of men who made history. The trend of his interests at that time "foreshadowed his course in later life. After leaving Northwestern he entered Harvard University, where he pursued his law course and won his LL. B. degree as a graduate of the class of 1903. During his student days at Cambridge he became a member of the Phi Delta Phi. He was admitted to the bar of Illinois in 1903 and entered upon the practice of his chosen profession in Chicago. There he remained until 1907, when he removed to the southwest and for eight years followed his profession in Tulsa. During that period he gained a well merited reputation as a most able and successful lawyer, especially capable in handling large corporation interests and other civil cases. At length he entered the field of oil operations and is today prominently associated with the Cosden interests, being now the vice president of the firm of Cosden & Company, and also of the Cosden Oil & Gas Company. He read- ily recognizes the vital points of any business proposition.
In 1910 Mr. Perry was married to Miss Pauline Nelson of Bradford, Penn- sylvania, a daughter of C. W. Nelson, one of the oldtime operators in the oil
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fields of the southwest. To Mr. and Mrs. Perry have been born two children: Mary Pauline and William Edwin, aged, respectively, nine and four years. Mr. Perry belongs to the Country Club, and he and his wife are leaders in the social circles of Tulsa. He is a man of attractive personality as well as of splendid executive ability. His personality and good judgment were always among his big assets and in the statement of any business proposition or in the discussion of any civic problem he is logical, clear and emphatic. He has never claimed to have the oratorical ability of a Clay or a Webster, but has always been a con- vincing speaker and his position upon any vital question of a business or of a public nature, is never an equivocal one.
FONTAINE L. ALLEN.
Strong and resourceful as a trial lawyer, fortified by that comprehensive and accurate knowledge of law and precedent that makes the ideal counselor, endowed with deep appreciation of the dignity and responsibility of his chosen profession, Fontaine L. Allen holds secure vantage ground as one of the rep- resentative younger members of the bar of the state of Oklahoma, and is junior member of the well known Tulsa law firm of Denny & Allen.
Mr. Allen was born at St. Joseph, Arkansas, on the 8th of January, 1885, and is a son of John Thomas Allen and Mary Elizabeth Allen, the former born at Texas, Missouri, August 2, 1859, and the latter in Woodruff county, Arkan- sas, September 28, 1861. John T. Allen gained his early education in the schools of his native state and continued his studies in Arkansas, to which com- monwealth the family removed in 1865 when he was a mere boy. He became a successful teacher in the schools of Arkansas, acquired valuable farm prop- erty and became one of the prominent and influential citizens of Searcy county. He served as postmaster at St. Joseph, Arkansas, was a leader in community affairs and was affiliated with the Masonic fraternity. He continued his resi- dence at St. Joseph until his death, which occurred on the 26th of March, 1919, and his widow now resides at Cape Girardeau, Missouri.
After completing the curriculum of the public schools of his native town, Fontaine L. Allen continued his studies in the Arkansas State Normal School at Leslie, besides availing himself of the advantages of an excellent academy at Marshall that state. He became a popular teacher in the public schools of his native state and later completed a course in a business college at Springfield. Arkansas. At Eureka Springs he became secretary to the district attorney, under whose preceptorship he prosecuted the study of law, and at Berryville, Arkansas, he was admitted to the bar on the 23d of August, 1912. In the preceding April he had initiated the practice of law at Eureka Springs and in that same month he was there elected city clerk. In April of the following year he was elected city attorney, besides being appointed also to fill out an unexpired term as county attorney of Carroll county. At the close of this term he was elected county attorney and he made an excellent record as public prose- cutor. He continued in the active work of his profession at Eureka Springs until August, 1918, when he came to Oklahoma and accepted a position in the Central National Bank at Okmulgee. One month later he resigned this post and came to Tulsa, where he resumed the active practice of his profession. He formed a partnership with John A. Denny, under the firm name of Denny & Allen, and this effective professional alliance has continued, the firm having
FONTAINE L. ALLEN
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built up a substantial and representative law business and gained high standing at the bar of Tulsa county. Special attention is given to corporation law and to the handling of civil cases and probate matters. Mr. Allen holds member- ship not only in the Tulsa County Bar Association and the Oklahoma State Bar Association, but also in the Arkansas Bar Association. He has been an active and effective worker in the democratic party and in the period of the World war gave active and loyal service in furthering the various governmental agencies for upholding the prestige of American arms. At Eureka Springs, Arkansas, he did vigorous service as a Four-Minute speaker in behalf of the various drives in support of the government loans and other war activities, his services having been continued most loyally also after he removed to Okla- homa.
At Eureka Springs, Arkansas, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Allen to Miss Florence Ruby Pendergrass, daughter of Harvey T. and Anna (Swett) Pendergrass, the former a native of Lebanon, Missouri, and the latter of the state of Maine. Mr. Pendergrass has been engaged in the drug business at Eureka Springs for fully forty years and is one of the honored and influential citizens of that place. Mr. and Mrs. Allen have two children: Harvey F. and Mary Florence.
Mr. Allen is prominently affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, in which he was raised to the degree of Master Mason in April, 1906, in Campbell Lodge, No. 115, Ancient Free & Accepted Masons, at Eureka Springs, Arkansas, his present ancient craft affiliation being with Delta Lodge, No. 425, at Tulsa. He also holds membership in Marshall Chapter, No. 94, Royal Arch Masons, and in the Scottish Rite he is identified with Indian Consistory, No. 2, at Mc- Alester, Oklahoma. In the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine he is a member of Akdar Temple, at Tulsa. He holds membership also in Tulsa Lodge, No. 946, Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks, and Silver Plume Lodge, No. 182, Knights of Pythias. He and his wife hold membership in the Christian church.
ROBERT JOSEPH LINDSAY.
Robert Joseph Lindsay, secretary of the Hope Engineering & Supply Com- pany, is a man whose business condition and success rest upon an unassailable integrity and excellent judgment. He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, October 12, 1883, and is a son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Beaver) Lindsay, both of whom were natives of northern Ireland and came to the United States in early life. While spending his youthful days under the parental roof Robert J. Lindsay attended the public schools and at sixteen years of age started out to provide for his own support by entering the employ of the Philadelphia Gas Company, in which connection he worked his way upward from a very minor position. After two years with that company, during which he gained a wide knowledge of the business and of various questions relative thereto, he made his way westward to Independence, Kansas, as a representative of the Hope Engineering & Supply Company, a gas engineering concern, engaged in con- struction work on casing-head plants and oil pumping stations. This company has built some of the best plants of the kind in the western country and its pipe lines extend from coast to coast and from the northern to southern boundaries. Step by step Mr. Lindsay advanced, winning promotion after promotion through
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the development of his powers and through his initiative and energy. In 1915 he was elected secretary of the company and is building up a big business through his efficiency, constantly extending his operations in the southwest. Men who have long known him speak in no uncertain terms concerning his "absolute integrity, excellent judgment and gentlemanly deportment." He is the kind of man who will always suffer wrong rather than inflict it on others and his high principles of integrity and honor have featured strongly in every busi- ness transaction with which he has been associated. He is likewise the secre- tary and treasurer of the Hesco Gasoline Company, having a plant at Drum- right, and is interested in the Emerald Oil Company and other companies oper- ating in the oil fields of the southwest.
Mr. Lindsay was united in marriage to Miss Bertha A. Billingham, a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and a daughter of Benjamin Billingham. They now have four children: Clara Gladys, Robert Joseph, Alfred Hammon and Elizabeth Sarah. Mr. Lindsay and his wife are prominent members of the First Methodist Episcopal church, taking an active interest in its work since coming to Tulsa in 1915. Mr. Lindsay is very prominent as a member of the Bible class and is a thorough Christian gentleman. His social activities are di- rected by his high ideals. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity and is interested at all times in those things which make for good. His Masonic rela- tions connect him with the lodge, the chapter, commandery and Mystic Shrine. What he undertakes he accomplishes and his record proves that success and an honored name may be won simultaneously. Identified with the Hope Engineering & Supply Company from its organization in 1906, he has continu- ously served as one of its directors and for the past eight or ten years has been western manager, so that today he occupies an enviable position in oil circles in Tulsa.
ISAAC GRANVILLE ROSSER.
Isaac Granville Rosser is the president of the Rosser-Casebeer Furniture Company, having one of the leading stores of this kind in Oklahoma. He is a progressive young business man, alert and enterprising, watchful of all oppor- tunities pointing to success, and as the years have passed his course has been marked by a steady progress that has brought him to a place in the foremost rank of the merchants of Tulsa. Mr. Rosser was born in Memphis, Tennessee, December 6, 1880, a son of Isaac and Virginia (Taylor) Rosser. The father was born in North Carolina and in his boyhood days went to Tennessee, where for many years he engaged in business as a cotton commission merchant. He served in the Confederate army during the Civil war and passed away in 1883. His wife, who was born in Mississippi, died in 1885.
Isaac G. Rosser, their only child, was a public school pupil in Memphis, Ten- nessee, and initiated his business career there in connection with the furniture trade. He served for seven years as an employe in a furniture house in that city but at the time of the Spanish-American war put aside all business and personal considerations and joined the army. He became a first lieutenant in the state militia and as a member thereof participated in the capture of the murderers of Captain Rankin.
It was in the year 1906 that Mr. Rosser came to Oklahoma, settling first in Oklahoma City, where for six years he was connected with the Bass Furniture
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Company. He then removed to Tulsa to accept the management of the Bass Furniture & Carpet Company of this city and continued to act in that respon- sible position until 1919, when he resigned and organized the Rosser-Casebeer Furniture Company, which was incorporated and of which he has since been the president. Their store is located at 517 South Main street and they occupy five stories and the basement of a modern business structure fifty by one hundred and forty feet. They carry an extensive line of high-grade and medium-priced furniture and their business methods commend them to the patronage of the public, for they are at all times reliable and progressive and put forth earnest effort to please their patrons, recognizing the fact that satisfied customers are the best advertisement. The building occupied by the company was erected by them and their establishment is in every way thoroughly modern and splendidly equipped.
In 1910 Mr. Rosser was married to Miss Lilla Bass, a daughter of J M. Bass, of Houston, Texas. Mrs. Rosser is very active in social circles and also in the Methodist Episcopal church, of which both Mr. and Mrs. Rosser are members. Fraternally he is a Mason, holding membership in Delta Lodge, No. 71, A. F. & A. M., while in McAlester Consistory he has attained the thirty- second degree of the Scottish Rite. He likewise belongs to Akdar Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., and has membership in the Lions Club and the Retail Mer- chants Association, of which he was president during the first three years of its existence. His political allegiance is given to the democratic party but without desire for office, although he is remiss in none of the duties of citizenship but on the contrary gives active aid and support to all measures and movements for the general good. His life, however, has been preeminently that of a thorough- going and successful business man. Starting out in connection with the furni- ture trade immediately after completing his education, he has always concen- trated his efforts and attention along this line and there is no phase of the busi- ness with which he is not thoroughly familiar. His initiative spirit, too, has produced results which have been most effective in the upbuilding of the trade and the establishment is at all times a credit and an ornament to the commercial circles of Tulsa.
ABRAHAM S. VINER.
Abraham S. Viner, of the Viner Investment Company, builders of medium priced homes in Tulsa, was born in Philadelphia, August 5, 1885, a son of Jacob and Mary (Schwartz) Viner, who were natives of Russia. Coming to the United States in 1883 Jacob Viner engaged in general merchandising for twenty years in Kansas City, after spending some time in Philadelphia. He later went to Europe and South Africa, when he managed business there for two years. He next removed to Natchitoches, Louisiana, where he carried on general mer- chandising for two years and then returned to Kansas City, becoming identi- fied with the Viner Chandelier Company, chandelier manufacturers, with which firm he remained until 1920, when he retired from business.
Abraham S. Viner, after attending the public schools of Kansas City, be- came a student in the Louisiana State Normal and at nineteen years of age he entered the employ of his father who was then engaged in general merchandis- ing in Kansas City. A little later, however, he embarked in business on his own account there and remained in the western metropolis of Missouri until 1917.
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when he came to Tulsa and with his brother William organized the Viner In- vestment Company, for the building of medium priced homes. He has devel- oped the Park Hill district and the Hill Crest district of Tulsa, makes his own plans, superintends the construction and also owns a lumberyard and lumber- mill. Thus controlling the various phases of the business he has developed his interests to substantial proportions and the company is now conducting an im- portant and profitable business.
On the 19th. of September, 1906, in St. Joseph, Missouri, Mr. Viner was married to Miss Anna Epsten, daughter of Henry and Rachel (Freedenburg) Epsten, her father a wholesale junk dealer. They have become the parents of four children : Lillian, Dorothy, Walter and Ruth. Mr. Viner and his wife are members of Temple Israel and he is also identified with the brotherhood organ- ization of the church. He belongs to the Southgate Lodge, No. 547, A. F. & A. M., of Kansas City, Missouri, and attained the fourteenth degree of the Scot- tish Rite in Kansas City, while later he took the degrees up to and including the thirty-second, in McAlester. He likewise belongs to Elysian Grotto, No. 52, of Kansas City, and is a member of Akdar Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Tulsa. Mr. Viner belongs to the Chamber of Commerce, is a director of the Real Estate Exchange of Tulsa and has membership in the Kiwanis Club. He is actuated in all that he does by a progressive spirit and is constantly making a forward step in his business career.
GEORGE A. GREEN.
George A. Green, manufacturer of automobile tops at Tulsa, has developed a business of substantial proportions, his trade growing steadily by reason of his excellent work and the satisfaction of patrons, who are ever the best advertisement. Mr. Green was born at Sidney, Delaware county, New York, May 21, 1888, his parents being Ulysses T. and Emma (Parsons) Green. The father, also a native of the Empire state, devoted his life to the occupation of farming.
George A. Green was reared under the parental roof and completed his education in the high school of his native city. He was a lad of but twelve years of age when he began to earn his living, giving his attention to farming interests and to the raising of horses and cattle. He was. connected with farm . work for three years and then entered the employ of the Cortland Cart & Carriage Company, with which he remained for six years. He served a full apprenticeship, learning every angle of the business of building and trimming fine coaches and carriages, working his way upward to the position of head trimmer. He spent seven years in Detroit in the employ of Major A. Fisher, making customs bodies and trimmings. On the 2d of June. 1914, he arrived in Tulsa and opened a small shop for the manufacture of automobile tops and customs trimmings, making top, seat and tire covers. The business was begun on a small scale but has rapidly increased until it is now one of sub- stantial proportions, and he has the reputation for doing the highest grade work of this character in the state. His trade has grown steadily by reason of the excellence of his workmanship, which is attested by satisfied customers. He does no advertising, his trade coming entirely from the district, and week by week his business seems to grow and expand. He has also become identi- fied with oil interests and other business affairs in the southwest but concentrates
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liis attention upon his manufacturing interests and specializes in high-class work, seeking no other kind. He belongs to the Automobile Dealers Associa- tion and has exhibited at the automobile shows.
Mr. Green was married to Miss Irma Beaumont of Muskogee, and they are well known socially in Tulsa. They have one child, Paula Jean, born April 14, 1921. In politics Mr. Green's position is that of an independent demo- crat. Fraternally he is connected with the Elks Lodge, No. 946, and he became one of the early members of the Kiwanis Club. He likewise belongs to the Automobile Club and to the Chamber of Commerce and is interested in all those forces which make for the growth and progress of the city through the extension of its trade relations and the upbuilding of its intellectual, moral and civic forces.
ROBERT EDWARD ADAMS.
Robert Edward Adams, who is the head of the Adams-Walker Investment Company of Tulsa, is a man of splendid business ability, of marked initiative and untiring energy. Back of his activity in real estate and oil circles is a broad experience in the practice of law which won him distinction as an able member of the bar. All of the experiences of his life have been made to count for much in the attainment of the present-day success. A native of Odessa, Missouri, he was born March 27, 1881, his parents being Noah P. and Mary Elizabeth (Muir) Adams, the former a native of Kentucky, while the latter was born in Odessa, Missouri. The father devoted his life to the occupation of farming and was a veteran of the Civial war. He belonged to the Christian church and ever guided his life according to its teachings. The family numbered nine chil- dren, of whom seven are living.
Robert E. Adams, having completed a public school course, attended Odessa College and then entered the Washington University at St. Louis in preparation for a legal career, winning his LL. B. degree in 1905 and gaining admission to the bar in the same year. He then engaged successfully in law practice for eleven years at Taloga, Oklahoma, after which he came to Tulsa, devoting alto- gether fifteen years to his practice as a member of the bar. He displayed splendid ability as a trial lawyer, kept his work up and never let a case drag along in the courts. Possessing also good business judgment, as a consequence he made a financial success of his law practice. Since 1916 he has given his at- tention largely to the oil business, to building and loan operations and to the handling of real estate, being now at the head of the Adams-Walker Investment Company, his associate in this undertaking being W. Frank Walker. They have eleven solicitors in their office and are conducting a business of extensive pro- portions. Mr. Adams readily recognizes the advantageous point of a situation, displaying at all times splendid business ability and untiring energy.
About fourteen years ago Mr. Adams was married to Miss Sarah Black, a native of Oklahoma, and they have become the parents of three children : Helen thirteen years of age; Robert, aged ten; and Mary Lou, four, constituting a most interesting little family group.
Mr. Adams is a generous contributor to the Christian church and fraternally he is connected with the Masons, having attained the Knight Templar degree in the York Rite, while with the Nobles of India Temple of Mystic Shrine he has crossed the sands of the desert. He is likewise identified with the Independent Vol. III-4
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Order of Odd Fellows and he is a member of the City Club, the Advertising Club and the Tulsa Automobile Club. In politics he is a democrat and at one time was state committeeman from Dewey county. In Masonic circles, too, he was called to office and is a past grand master of the blue lodge. He still be- longs to the State Bar Association and finds many of his friends among his former colleagues and contemporaries in the profession. He is a clear and in- teresting speaker, strong in debate, and a logical reasoner. What he has already accomplished is a foreshadowing of future successes and Tulsa has reason to be congratulated on the fact that he has cast in his lot with hers, for his activi- ties are of a character that contributes to public prosperity and progress as well as to individual advancement.
ALBERT WALTON ROTH, M. D.
Dr. Albert Walton Roth, who in his practice in Tulsa is specializing on dis- eases of the eye, ear, nose and throat, was born in Fairfield, Iowa, July 7, 1873, his parents being J. E. and Laura (Craine) Roth, the former a native of Mari- etta, Pennsylvania, and the latter of Ohio. In young manhood Mr. Roth went to Iowa, where he engaged in the dry goods business for a time and later be- came identified with the Iowa State Savings Bank at Fairfield, in which under- taking he was very successful. He was regarded as a man of thoroughly sound judgment and his opinions and advice were sought by the entire community. He was truly a self-made man and started out in the business world when a boy as an employe in a dry goods store in Fairfield at a salary of but one hundred dollars per year. From that initial point, however, he worked his way steadily upward and became one of the men of affluence in his community, winning at the same time that good name which is rather to be chosen than great riches.
After acquiring a public school education Dr. Roth attended the Parsons College at Fairfield, Iowa, and then entered the Hahnemann Medical College, from which he was graduated in 1900, with the M. D. degree. He served as an interne and from 1900 until 1904 he was in general practice in Detroit, Michi- gan, and did special work in the Detroit eye, ear, nose and throat clinic. He also took postgraduate work in the Manhattan College in New York city. In 1905 he located in Fort Collins, Colorado, where he specialized on the eye, ear, nose and throat and not only did he win a creditable professional position, but was also active in civic and public affairs there. He was president of the local Young Men's Christian Association and was active as a member of the state committee of the Young Men's Christian Association. He belonged to the Presbyterian church and took a most helpful interest in the Sunday school work. He served as alderman of the city and thus in many ways was influential in the public life of his community. In 1909 he went to Texas and in April, 1910, he came to Tulsa, where he has remained, limiting his practice to diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat. He is not only one of the oldest, but ranks as one of the best representatives of his profession in this field. He has thorough knowledge of the science of medicine and surgery, particularly in the line of his specialty and gives close personal attention to all of his duties of this character. He is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and belongs to the Tulsa County, Oklahoma State, American and Southwestern Medical Associations, to the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Oto-Laryngology and to the Mid-west Medical Society. In 1916 he was president of the Tulsa Medical So-
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