Muskogee County OK

Biography of Edward Cockrell Hoffman

Statistics show that more than ninety per cent of men are failures in business and investigation brings to light another fact that too many are prone to make constant changes in business instead of concentrating along a single line and developing a thorough mastery of the work undertaken. A notable example of this rule is Edward Cockrell Hoffman, who is now engaged in the line of business in which he started out as a young tradesman, being the secretary, treasurer and manager of the Hoffman-Speed Printing Company of Muskogee. He has been instrumental in building up a substantial business at … Read more

Biography of Tams Bixby

When historians of the future write of the state of Oklahoma, or recite the romance of the American Indian, they needs must tell the story of Tams Bixby. Above his signature five great Indian nations ceased to be, one hundred and one thousand red-men foreswore allegiance to their tribal chieftains to become citizens of the United States and twenty-one million acres of Indian hunting grounds were made ready for admission to the Union. It was in 1897 that Tams Bixby left Minnesota, where he had gained national prominence as chairman of the Republican state central committee and came to Indian … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Walter S. Agnew

(See Grant, Foreman and Cordery) Walter Scott Agnew was born May 16, 1842. Served the Confederacy in Company B, First Cherokee Mounted Rifles and Company E, Second Cherokee Mounted Volunteers. He married in December, 1866, Sarah Seabolt nee Riley, daughter of Felix and Susie (Bigby) Riley. Mr. and Mrs. Agnew had one child, Laura Agnew, who married William H. Robinson. Mrs. Sarah Agnew died and Mr. Agenew married in July, 1870, Mary Elizabeth, daughter of Andrew Jackson and Lucy (Vickory) Cobb, born May 19, 1849. Mr. and Mrs. Agnew are residents of Muskogee. They are the parents of: Ellen, John … Read more

Slave Narrative of Hal Hutson

Person Interviewed: Hal Hutson Location: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Place of Birth: Galveston, Tennessee Date of Birth: October 12, 1847 Age: 90 I was born at Galveston, Tennessee, October 12, 1847. There were 11 children: 7 brothers; Andrew, George, Clent, Gilbert, Frank, Mack and Horace; and 3 girls Eosie, Marie and Eancy. We were all Hutsons. Together with my mother and father we worked for the same man whose name was Mr. Barton Brown, but who we all call Master Brown, and sometime. Master Brown had a good weather-board house, two story, with five or six rooms. They lived pretty well. … Read more

Biography of Edward D. Hicks

Edward D. Hicks is numbered among Tahlequah’s representative business men and is one whose life record should be a stimulus to the effort and ambition of others. He was born at Fort Gibson, Indian Territory, on the 1st of January, 1866, a son of Daniel R. and Nancy J. (Rider) Hicks. His grandfather on the paternal side Elijah Hicks, was chief of the Cherokee Nation in Georgia and Indian Territory and died in 1856. Mr. and Mrs. Hicks came with the immigration of Cherokees in 1837 and 1838 to Indian Territory and the father became a successful farmer and stock … Read more

Slave Narrative of Harriett Robinson

Person Interviewed: Harriet Robinson Location: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Place of Birth: Bastrop, Texas Date of Birth: September 1, 1842 Age: 95 I was born close to Webbers Falls, in the Canadian District of the Cherokee Nation, in the same year that my pappy was blowed up and killed in the big boat accident that killed my old Master. I never did see my daddy excepting when I was a baby and I only know what my mammy told me about him. He come from across the water when he was a little boy, and was grown when old Master Joseph … Read more

Biography of Eugene Sloan Adkins

Eugene Sloan Adkins, organizer and promoter of the Adkins Hay & Feed Company of Muskogee, is also identified with other important business interests of the state, whereby he has won classification with the representative merchants of Oklahoma. His plans have always been carefully defined and promptly executed and his energy has enabled him to overcome all difficulties and obstacles in his path. Mr. Adkins was born in Choteau, Oklahoma, March 26, 1896, and is a son of Moses E. and Hattie (Sloan) Adkins. The father is deceased. Eugene S. Adkins obtained a public school education, completing a course in the … Read more

Biography of Joseph L. Hull

Joseph L. Hull, member of the Muskogee bar since 1915 and now engaged in the practice of civil law as a partner in the firm of Gibson & Hull, was born in Athens, Georgia, May 6, 1885, and is a son of Augustus L. and Callie (Cobb) Hull. He is also a nephew of the Hon. Hoke Smith, at one time governor of Georgia and afterward United States senator. Augustus L. Hull was born and reared in Georgia and for a number of years was secretary and treasurer of the State University at Athens, while his name is found on … Read more

Biographical Sketch of James Durrett Simms

The subject of this sketch was born in Albemarle County, Virginia, January 6, 1880, his parents being James M. and Mary Durrett Simms. While a child his parents moved to Missouri and his education was received in the schools of that state. In September, 1900, he went to St. Louis, studied shorthand there, accepted a position in a law office in February, 1901, and took up the study of law, attending the lectures of the Benton College of Law at night. In June, 1902, he was admitted to the bar in the city of St. Louis. He resided in St. … Read more

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

Biographical Sketch of John Wesley Porter

John Wesley Porter, a successful young practitioner of law in Muskogee, where he has followed his profession through the past three years, was born in Henderson county, Kentucky, on the 1st of December, 1886, his parents being John Wesley and Lucy Jane (Moss) Porter, the former a tobacco merchant. In the acquirement of an education he attended public and private schools and also studied under a private tutor. His professional training was received in the law department of the Washington and Lee University at Lexington, Virginia, from which he was graduated in June, 1909. He first located for practice at … Read more

Biography of Professor Charles Byron Smith

Professor Charles Byron Smith, principal of the Washington school at Muskogee, is a native of Rusk County, Texas, his parents being Lucien Drayton and Amanda Melvina Smith. The father was born in Buncombe County, North Carolina, and in 1852 re-moved to Texas. The mother was born in Tennessee and became a resident of the Lone Star state in 1836. Mr. Smith was a ranch-man farmer and early removed with his family to western Texas, where his son, Professor Smith, grew to manhood with scarcely any Church or school privileges but nevertheless was well instructed religiously and educationally, for when he … Read more

Slave Narrative of William W. Watson

Do I remember slavery? Who could forget these lash prints on my back. Some time I set here and look at my wife and think Lord help me look what I live through. Me and my wife had a car wreck early last year, that made her lose her mind so she just sings all the time cant think. Raises chickens and talks like a baby. She is two years older than me, and too she is the mother of thirteen children, had lots of trouble. I am still able to find the cows and horses that belong to my … Read more

Biography of John W. Capps

Among the leading financial institutions of Muskogee county is numbered the Haskell National Bank, of which John W. Capps is the president, and the successful conduct of the enterprise is largely due to his well formulated and promptly execute plans and marked business ability. He was born in Madison county, Arkansas, June 15, 1880, and is a son of James R. and Louisa (King) Capps, the former a native of Missouri and the latter of Texas. For four years the father cultivated a farm in Arkansas and in 1888 removed to Texas, where he purchased land which he continued to improve and … Read more

Biography of Andrew J. Snelson, M. D.

Dr. Andrew J. Snelson, who has been actively and successfully engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery in northeastern Oklahoma during the past two decades, has continuously maintained an office in Checotah since 1908 and is numbered among the leading representatives of the profession here. His birth occurred in Johnson County, Arkansas, on the 1st of January, 1862, his parents being John and Cynthia S. (Davis) Snelson, both of whom were natives of Overton county, Tennessee. The father enlisted for service in the Confederate army at the time of the Civil war and was killed in battle at Camden, … Read more

Biography of Herbert George House

Herbert George House, conducting a bond business and fire insurance agency, has won many clients, by reason of his thoroughness, his progressive methods and his unfaltering enterprise. Muskogee has reason to class him with her representative citizens, recognizing his value as a factor in the commercial and financial development of the city. Mr. House came to the southwest from Ohio, his birth having occurred in Cardington, that state, on the 3d of September, 1870. His parents were Richard Johnson and Mary June (Cook) House, the former a banker, now deceased. Herbert G. House became a student in the University at … Read more

Slave Narrative of Henry F. Pyles

Person Interviewed: Henry F. Pyles Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma Date of Birth: August 15, 1856 Age: 81 That’s how the niggers say old Bab Russ used to make the hoodoo “hands” he made for the young bucks and wenches, but I don’t know. ’cause I was too trusting to look inside de one he make for me, and anyways I lose it, and it no good nohow! Old Bab Russ live about two mile from me, and I went to him one night at midnight and ask him to make me de hand. I was a young strapper about sixteen years … Read more

Biographical Sketch of William Custis Harnage

(See Ghigau and Sanders)-William Curtis Harnage was born April 15, 1884, and was educated in the Male Seminary and Henry Kendall College in Muskogee, graduating from the latter institution. He married at Tahlequah in 1905, Rose B., daughter of H. L. Nye. They are the parents of William Halleck, born in 1906 Griffith Scott, born in 1909 and Lawrence Nye Harnage born in 1912. Mr. and Mrs. Harnage are members of the Presbyterian Church, and he is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias organization. William Thomas Harnage was born July 27, 1847, and married December 25, 1870, 1850 in Marshall … Read more

Slave Narrative of Phoebe Banks

Person Interviewed: Phoebe Banks Location: Muskogee, Oklahoma Date of Birth: October 17, 1860 Age: 78 In 1860, there was a little Creek Indian town of Sodom on the north bank of the Arkansas River, in a section the Indians called Chocka Bottoms, where Hose Perryman had a big farm or ranch for a long time before the Civil War. That same year, on October 17, I was born on the Perryman place, which was northwest of where I lived now in Muskogee; only in them days Fort Gibson and Okmulgee was the biggest towns around and Muskogee hadn’t shaped up … Read more

Biography of Henry Stanley Shelor

Henry Stanley Shelor is conducting a general insurance agency at Muskogee and has here developed a business of large extent that is indicative of his close application, his persistency of purpose and his sound judgment in all that he undertakes. He was born in Montgomery County, Virginia, September 14, 1879, and is a son of Crockett Pierce and Clara (Abell) Shelor, the former a planter, well known in the Old Dominion. Henry S. Shelor obtained his education in the public schools of Danville until he had completed his high school course and then entered the Danville Military Institute. His initial … Read more