W. A. Kidd, an astute, energetic and successful business man, is well known in commercial circles of Washington County as head of the W. A. Kidd Lumber Company of Bartlesville and in the conduct of his interests he displays foresight, determination and marked executive ability. A native of Pennsylvania, he was born March 9, 1869, and after completing his public school course entered an academy in that state. After reaching mature years he went to Bowling Green, Ohio, and there engaged in drilling oil wells as a contractor until 1900, when he went to Bakersfield, California, where for three years he was similarly occupied. From there he came to Bartlesville and for three years operated four strings of tools here, at the end of which period he disposed of his interests along that line, and in 1906 he became a member of the firm of Kidd & Bailey, later purchasing the interest of his partner, since which time he has conducted the enterprise independently. He handles lumber, catering to the retail trade exclusively, and obtains his stock from Texas and Arkansas. He has built up a business of large proportions, giving employment to seven people and utilizing four delivery trucks. In 1922 he opened up a yard at Shidler, Oklahoma.
He is also engaged in the tile business and, in fact, handles everything pertaining to the building of a house. He has also invested heavily in oil stock and he likewise owns a lumberyard at Tulsa, this state, where he employs six men, being one of the most successful lumber operators in northeastern Oklahoma. He is deserving of great credit for what he has accomplished in a business way, for when he left California he was two thousand, dollars in debt and upon reaching Bartlesville had to borrow the sum of thirty-five dollars, but through economy, industry and the wise management of his affairs he has managed to pay off all indebtedness and is now the possessor of a substantial competence.
On April 21, 1905, Mr. Kidd was united in marriage to Miss May Layton, a native of Missouri, who previous to her marriage was a teacher in the public schools of Bartlesville. They have two sons: Coburn Byron and Theodore Conlin, aged, respectively, twelve and ten years. By a former wife, now deceased, Mr. Kidd has a son, Kenneth, who is a young man of twenty-seven years.
W. A. Kidd is a prominent Mason, having taken the thirty-second degree in the consistory, and he is also connected with the Knights of Pythias, while Mrs. Kidd is a member of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, of which she is a past President. Mr. Kidd possesses in large measure that quality which has been termed the commercial sense. In other words, he realizes and embraces the opportunities for business development. He has fought life’s battles unaided, his marked force of character, persistency of purpose and untiring industry enabling him to overcome all obstacles and difficulties in his path, and he deserves classification with the self-made men and progressive citizens of Bartlesville and Washington County.