Muskogee And Northeastern Oklahoma Collections – Page 9 of 23

Biography of Le Roy Kershaw

Le Roy Kershaw of Muskogee, well known because of his extensive operations in real estate and perhaps even better known as one of the leading breeders of Aberdeen-Angus cattle in the United States, was born in Elmwood, Illinois, December 6, 1880. He was educated in the University of Illinois, from which he was graduated in June, 1904. In the same year he came to Oklahoma and through the intervening period has resided in this state, being prominently identified with financial and stock raising interests in the southwest. It was he who organized the First National Bank at Morris, Oklahoma, of … Read more

Biography of L. W. Servey

The lumber industry of Washington County finds a prominent representative in L. W. Servey, who as President of the Ochelata Lumber Company is controlling a large and growing business, which he has developed through close application, capable management, energy and determination. He was born in Dempsey town, Venango County, Pennsylvania July 2, 1813, of the marriage of A. J. and Adeline (Weikal) Servey, both now deceased. The father, who was a building contractor, went to Kansas in 1868 and there took up a homestead, which he improved and developed. L. W. Servey completed a course in the high school at … Read more

Biography of L. U. Gaston

L. U. Gaston, Chief of Police of Bartlesville, Washington county, Oklahoma, was born in Neosho, Kansas, October 13, 1873, a son of James Monroe and Laodicea (Smith) Gaston, both of whom were natives of Illinois. His father was a farmer of Kansas and followed that occupation to the time of his death, which occurred in 1877. His wife died in 1895. Mr. Gaston attended the public schools of Neosho county, Kansas, during his early boyhood and when his school days were over he engaged in the livery business, which he followed for a few years. He then removed to St. … Read more

Biography of L. P. Carpenter

L. P. Carpenter, who has been a resident of northeastern Oklahoma for a third of a century, was actively identified with agricultural interests here until he put aside the work of the fields in 1919 and has since lived retired in an attractive home at Bartlesville. His birth occurred in Clay County, Indiana, on the 11th of November, 1867, his parents being Adam and Anna (Reamy) Carpenter, who were natives of Pennsylvania and Ohio, respectively. Both are deceased. He acquired his education in his native state and on attaining his majority left the parental roof to come to Oklahoma, settling … Read more

Biography of L. L. Warner

L. L. Warner, who is successfully engaged in business as a dairyman of Bartlesville, was born in Pennsylvania on the 17th of March, 1867, a son of Joseph and Catherine (Warner) Warner, who though of the same name were not related. They removed to Illinois six weeks after the birth of their son, L. L. Warner, settling in Fulton County, that state, where Joseph Warner carried on farming until 1879. In that year the family home was established in Fremont County, Iowa, where Mr. Warner of this review remained until he was twenty-three years of age, when he was married … Read more

Biography of L. L. Higbee

L. L. Higbee, who since 1912 has been fire chief at Bartlesville, Oklahoma, was born in Chase County, Kansas, November 28, 1866. He acquired his education in his native state, attending the public schools of Emporia, Kansas, to the age of twenty years. He then entered the business world as an employee in the printing establishment of Jake Stotter in the capacity of a compositor, working on the Emporia News for some time. He afterward worked for Governor Eskridge on the Emporia Republican, also as a compositor. Mr. Higbee is in possession of the first fifty-cent piece Governor Eskridge gave … Read more

Biography of L. E. Phillips

To the list of the many names that are synonymous with the commercial development of Bartlesville may be added L. E. Phillips, who is vice president of the First National Bank and of the Phillips Petroleum Company, and who since 1904 has been one of the substantial and influential citizens of Bartlesville. He was born in Taylor county, Iowa, August 18, 1876. He spent his childhood and early youth on a farm there, attending the common schools to the age of sixteen and also learning many valuable lessons in the school of experience. When seventeen years of age he took … Read more

Biography of Kelly Brown

Kelly Brown, whose ripened powers place him among the capable representatives of civil law practice in Muskogee and who is also numbered among the lawmakers of the state, having been a member of the fifth general assembly of Oklahoma, is descended from an old English family, several of the representatives thereof with the nobility. Having incurred the being connected with nobility incurred the displeasure of the reigning monarch, the original progenitors of the family in America were obliged to flee to the new world, this occurring about the time of the Revolutionary war, settlement being made by them in Virginia. … Read more

Biography of K. J. Montgomery

K. J. Montgomery, a progressive young business man, familiarly known as “Jack” to his many friends in Vinita, is numbered among the leading cattlemen of northeastern Oklahoma and worthily bears a name which for the past eighteen years has been synonymous with enterprise and integrity in business circles of Craig County. He is a native of Missouri, his birth having occurred in Cedar County on the 21st of January, 1887, and is a son of Thomas R. Montgomery, who was born in Tennessee. The father subsequently removed to the west, becoming the owner of one of the finest farms in … Read more

Biography of Judge Q. P. McGhee

The judiciary of Oklahoma finds an able representative in Judge Q. P. McGhee, county judge of Ottawa county and a man of high professional attainments, who has also won success in mercantile lines. He is a member of one of the prominent pioneer families of the state and was born on a farm situated on Cowskin prairie, in Delaware county, this state, November 22, 1886, his parents being Thomas Jefferson and Martha (Hannah) McGhee, the former a native of Georgia and of Cherokee descent, while the latter was born in Missouri. As a boy the father came to the Cherokee … Read more

Biography of Judge Napoleon Bonaparte Moore

A life of great usefulness and far-reaching influence ended when on the 10th of October, 1911, Judge Napoleon Bonaparte Moore was called to his final rest, after a long illness, at the venerable age of eighty-four years. Long a leader of public thought and action, he left his impress in notable measure upon the history of Oklahoma along agricultural, legislative, political and moral lines. A native of Alabama, he was born on the 8th of January, 1827, of the marriage of William and Lucy (Chemathla) Moore, who were also natives of that state, in which the father spent his life, … Read more

Biography of Judge Napoleon B. Maxey

Judge N. B. Maxey has the distinction of holding the oldest license to practice law in the Oklahoma courts. Notwithstanding the fact he is still active in the profession, maintaining his once in Muskogee but frequently called to other sections of the state in connection with his specialty of insurance and surety law. He was born in Smith County, Tennessee, July 15, 1853, and the fact that his father, Thomas J. Maxey, was of French extraction probably accounts for the name given to the future Muskogee lawyer, Napoleon Bonaparte Maxey. Whether the name carries with it any qualifications that to … Read more

Biography of Judge James Daniel Wilson

Judge James Daniel Wilson, who has been justice of the peace of Tahlequah, Cherokee county, since 1913, was born in Tahlequah, Indian Territory, on the 2d of February, 1861. His parents were Anderson and Nancy (Daniel) Wilson, both of the Cherokee Nation, the father being a half-breed and the mother one-eighth Cherokee. For many years Anderson Wilson was engaged in the conduct of a mercantile establishment in Tahlequah, but in 1863 removed to the Choctaw Nation, locating at Dooksville, where his demise occurred in 1865. The following year his widow returned to Tahlequah, where she made her home until her … Read more

Biography of Judge J. Sidney Swinney

Among the prominent public officials of Haskell is numbered Judge J. Sidney Swinney, judge of the police court and justice of the peace, whose record upon the bench is in harmony with his record as a man and citizen-distinguished by marked fidelity to duty and a thorough grasp of every problem presented for solution. He was born in Williamson county, Texas, April 2, 1879, and is a son of Wilson R. and Sarah A. (Skinner) Swinney, the former a native of Georgia and the latter of Kentucky. In 1834 the father removed to Texas, where he engaged in ranching and … Read more

Biography of Judge J. R. Charlton

Judge J. R. Charlton, district judge of the thirtieth judicial district of Oklahoma and one of the most distinguished citizens of Washington County, his residence being at Bartlesville, was born in Salem, Marion County, Illinois, July 21, 1858, his parents being W. J. and Elizabeth Ann (Huff) Charlton, the latter a daughter of Samuel A. Huff, who in 1873 removed to Kansas and secured a government claim near Sedan, where his remaining days were passed. The grandfather in the paternal line was Isaac Bradbury Charlton, who was a native of Virginia, whence he removed to Tennessee in 1820. In that … Read more

Biography of Judge Glenn Alcorn

Judge Glenn Alcorn of Muskogee, who formerly occupied the bench of the county court and is now giving his attention to the practice of civil law, was born in Clark county, Kansas, June 10, 1886, a son of Steward Tackett and May (Cummings) Alcorn. The father was a farmer, devoting his life to that occupation. Judge Alcorn was educated in the schools of Perry, Oklahoma, the family removing to this state during his early boyhood. Later he attended the University of Iowa, from which he was graduated with the class of 1908, his broad literary learning serving as an excellent … Read more

Biography of Judge Charles Wheeler

Judge Charles Wheeler, judge of the city court of Muskogee, was born in Three Rivers, Michigan, November 11, 1856, and is a son of Ransley and Electa (MacOmber) Wheeler. The father was a miller and farmer and active business man. The son obtained a country school education and afterward attended the preparatory department of Hillsdale College, where he pursued the regular four years college course, graduating in 1882 with the B. A. degree. Later he became a student in the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. His law studies were pursued in an office in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and later in … Read more

Biography of Joseph Tolover Hairston

One of the prominent citizens of Salina is Joseph Tolover Hairston, who was born on the 10th of March, 1862, at Saltillo, Mississippi. The Hairston family is of Scotch descent, its progenitor in this country having migrated from Scotland to Virginia at an early day. His sons, William, John and Peter, removed to South Carolina during the Revolutionary war, and William and John have many descendants in the southern states. The grandfather of Joseph Tolover was William Hairston, who died in his eightieth year. His son, Little Tolover Hairston, fought in the Civil war and was killed at Chickamauga at … Read more

Biography of Joseph Rogers

Joseph Rogers, son of Sarah and John Rogers, left his beautiful farm in Milton County, formerly Forsythe County, situated on the Duluth road, twenty-seven miles from Atlanta, Georgia, and came to the west. He took up his residence at a place now called Lowell, Kansas, three miles east of Baxter Springs, where Shoal creek empties into Spring River, in that part of the country then known as the Neutral Land. He improved a fine farm of four or five hundred acres, built the first house and had the first library in the state of Kansas. The old solid walnut bookcase … Read more

Biography of Joseph Newton Allen

Extensively interested in farming and also identified with the oil industry of the southwest, Joseph Newton Allen has made for himself an enviable place as a business man in Muskogee. Born on the 7th of February, 1868, in Greencastle, Indiana, he comes of Scotch-Irish ancestry, through a line of Virginia and Kentucky pioneers, being the eighth son of a seventh son and the seventeenth child in a family of eighteen children. His early education was acquired in the public schools of Greencastle, which is the seat of DePauw University, formerly known as Asbury University. When his public school course was … Read more