Simeon Cecil Canary is one of the progressive young business men of Southern Kansas, and is a member of a family that has some of the largest holdings in the ranch and oil districts of Southern Kansas, Northern Oklahoma, and also operates ranches in other states. Simeon Cecil Canary was born at Webber Falls, Oklahoma, May 15, 1892.
His ancestors were among the pioneers of the State of Ohio, where his father, J. D. Canary, was born, in 1869. J. D. Canary was reared in Texas, and in 1898 came to Kansas. He lived for several years on a ranch just across the border in Oklahoma, but has his home in Caney since 1902. J. D. Canary is president of the Canary Oil Company and is general manager of the two large ranches owned by himself and sons. He is an active democrat.
J. D. Canary married Enolia Gibson, who was born at Collin, Texas, in 1872, a daughter of M. W. Gibson. Her father was a native of Texas, was an extensive cotton raiser and owned a number of cotton gins both in Oklahoma and Texas. She died at Waggoner, Oklahoma. The children in the Gibson family were: Mrs. J. D. Canary; James, a farmer at Waggoner, Oklahoma; W. M., Jr., a general merchant and farmer at Webber Falls, Oklahoma; M. W. Gibson, who has extensive farming and mercantile interests at Webber Falls; and Nettie, wife of Omer H. Ellington, a general merchant at Waggoner, Oklahoma. Mr. and Mrs. J. D. Canary have the following children: E. P. Canary, wife of I. D. Williams, who has an orange grove at Lakeland, Florida; Simeon C.; James H., manager of the ranch in Wyoming; Elmira L., who is now a student in the Monticello Seminary at Godfrey, Illinois.
Simeon Cecil Canary received a public school education in Oklahoma, and in 1912 graduated from the Caney High School. In the following year he completed the course at the Culver Military Academy at Culver, Indiana, and then entered the University of Wisconsin, where he specialized in agricultural work preparatory to the large responsibilities he would assume. He remained in the university through the sophomore year. Since July, 1915, he has been engaged in the oil business and in ranching. He is a stockholder in the Canary Oil Company, has interests in the J. D. and S. C. Canary Oil Company, in the J. D. Canary & Sons Oil Company, is a stockholder in the Tyrone Oil and Gas Company. The last named company is operating in the Kansas fields, while the others are principally centered in the fields along the border line between Kansas and Oklahoma. The Canary Oil Company has given a name to an important oil field in Washington County, Oklahoma, as the Canary Oil Field. The officers of this company are: J. D. Canary, president; J. W. Ernest, secretary and treasurer. The J. D. and S. C. Canary Oil Company operates entirely in Oklahoma.
Special mention should be made of the two large ranches controlled by the Canary family. Simeon C. is personally interested in the management and control of the 3,000-acre ranch six miles east and a mile south of Caney. The family has a ranch of 1,500 acres in Wyoming, located in one of the richest farming districts of the state along the North Platte River and at the Town of Saratoga.
Some of the finest cattle in the world have been handled and bought by the Canary interests. A few years ago they paid $8,100 for a bull called Repeater the 63rd. This marks the record highest price ever paid for a yearling bull. Repeater 63rd combines the blood of the greatest sires and dams of the breed, being a grandson of Distributor by Disturber; dam by Lamplighter by Don Carlos; second dam by Don Quixote by Anxiety 4th; third dam by Don Carlos.
Simeon C. Canary owns a fine residence on East Fourth Avenue in Caney, and also three business blocks in the city. He is unmarried. Politically he is a democrat, and is affiliated with Caney Lodge, No. 324, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Caney Lodge, No. 1215, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and is a member of the Independence Country Club.