Christian Franklin Herring. Starting his independent career as a cowboy on the open plains of Texas, later engaging in handling stock in the Indian country, next carrying on farming in Montgomery County, Kansas, and giving this up to be identified with mercantile pursuits and the oil fields of Oklahoma, Christian Franklin Herring finally settled down in his present business, that of proprietor of an automobile garage at Tyro. Mr. Herring’s career has been a varied and interesting one and has included the vicissitudes and experiences that make up the lives of the men who have sought and found success in the West and Southwest. The prosperity which has attended his present business indicates that he is firmly established in business life, while that he has placed himself substantially in the confidence of his fellow-citizens was demonstrated in 1915, when he was elected mayor of Tyro for a two-year term.
Christian Franklin Herring was born at Upper Sandusky, Wyandotte County, Ohio, January 20, 1856, and is a son of Christopher and Mary (Ellis) Herring. Henry Herring, the grandfather of Mayor Herring, was born in 1792, in the Canton of Basel, Switzerland, and as a young man served in the regular army of his native land. In 1841 he brought his family to the United States, settling in the vicinity of Upper Sandusky, in Wyandotte County, Ohio, as a pioneer farmer, and there continuing to reside during the remainder of his life. He was well known and highly thought of among the early settlers of that part of Ohio, and through an industrious life won a fair measure of material success. He died in the faith of the Lutheran Church, in 1868, having been active in the work of that denomination throughout his life. In politics he supported the democratic party.
Christopher Herring was born in the Canton of Basel, Switzerland, in 1832, and was nine years of age when he accompanied his parents to the United States. He grew up in Wyandotte County, Ohio, where he received a public school education, and was there reared to farming and married, following which he settled down to the raising of and dealing in stock. In 1871 he sought the broader opportunities offered by the West, locating in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma), but after twelve years returned to Upper Sandusky, where his death occurred in 1904. He was a man of upright principles, honest in his business dealings and true to his obligations, and had the esteem and confidence of those with whom he came into contact. Like his father, he was not a politician, but supported the democratic party’s candidates. Also, like him, he was a lifelong member of the Lutheran Church, while his fraternal connection was with the Royal Arch Masons. His operations in farming and stock raising resulted in the accumulation of a property which rendered his old age comfortable. Mr. Herring married Miss Mary Ellis, who was born in Wyandotte County, Ohio, in 1844, and died at Upper Sandusky, in 1902, and they became the parents of four children, namely: William, who died in Ohio at the age of eighteen years; Christian Franklin, of this notice; Mary, who died at the age of fourteen years; and John, who was a moulder in an iron foundry and died in 1908 at Marion, Ohio.
Christian Franklin Herring was educated in the public schools of Upper Sandusky, Ohio, primarily, and later at Caney, where he attended public school for three years while his parents were living in Indian Territory. He was about twenty years of age when he gave up his studies, and at that time left home and went to Texas, where for about nine years he followed the life of a cowboy on the open range. In the meantime, when twenty-five years of age, he had been married, and on his return to Indian Territory settled on a farm, being there engaged in the handling of stock until the territory was combined with Oklahoma and formed into a state. In 1891 Mr. Herring came to Montgomery County, Kansas, and began to devote his attention to farming, a vocation which attracted his activities during a period of seven years. His next venture was in a mercantile direction when, in 1898, he became associated with the Tyro Supply Company, of Tyro, a concern dealing in hardware and agricultural implements. After one year’s experience in this line, Mr. Herring disposed of his interests and entered the Oklahoma oil fields, where he labored for four years with some success. He then returned to Tyro and secured a position as clerk in the Deuel Hardware Company’s store, and continued with that concern until 1915. In the meantime, Mr. Herring had noted the need of Tyro for a first-class automobile garage, and finally, in 1915, built his present establishment on Main street, where he has an up-to-date establishment, with a floor space 50×80 feet, and all modern equipment for the handling and repair of automobiles. He has built up an excellent business in this direction, owing to his energy and good management. Mr. Herring has his own residence, located opposite the Methodist Episcopal Church, and also owns two other residential properties at Tyro.
Mr. Herring has been well known in public and fraternal life for a number of years. In politics a democrat, he has been active in the ranks of his party, and has been called upon to serve in a number of local offices. While still on the farm he was a member of the board of directors of School District No. 99 for seven years, and since coming to Tyro has acted in a like capacity for several years. In 1915 he became the candidate of his party for the office of mayor and was duly elected by a good majority, and took the oath of office in April, 1915. His term will expire in April, 1917. Mayor Herring has fully lived up to the promises he made prior to his election, and has given Tyro a clean and businesslike administration, bending every effort to the securing of civic improvements. He belongs to Tyro Lodge No. 386, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; is president of the Anti-Horse Thief Association; has been secretary of the Homesteaders during the past four years, and is one of the leading members of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, being past noble grand of Tyro Camp No. 517, of which he has been secretary for the past fourteen years, and a delegate to the national convention of Odd Fellows, held at Pittsburg, Kansas, in 1898.
Mayor Herring was married in 1881 at Caney, Kansas, to Miss Jessie B. Wood, daughter of Sylvester and Lydia Wood, the former of whom died on his small farm in 1912, while his widow still survives and makes her home there. To Mr. and Mrs. Herring the following children have been born: Charles G., who is an oil well driller and follows the oil fields; Howard H., who is an oil worker and resides south of Morris, Oklahoma; Jentia, who married Charles Frost, an oil well operator, living six miles from Nowata, Oklahoma; Keith, who is assisting his father in business and resides at Tyro; Mary Ann, who is unmarried and resides with her parents; and Geneva, who is a senior in the Tyro High School.