Taking up her residence in Bartlesville eighteen years ago, Mrs. Jennie Stewart has thoroughly identified her interests with those of the town, in whose progress and development she is deeply and helpfully interested, her influence being at all times on the side of advancement and improvement. She was born in Osborn, Dekalb County, Missouri, her parents being Joseph and Nancy J. (Parrott) Truex, the former a native of Tennessee while the latter was born in Illinois. In Missouri her father engaged in merchandising and he also took a prominent part in public affairs serving as a member of the state senate at the time of his death, in 1883. The mother passed away in 1912. Their family numbered seven children: John W., deceased; Daniel A., who is living in Pasadena, California; E. E., 4 resident of Mosier, Missouri; Della A., who has passed away; Jennie, now Mrs. Stewart; and Thompson J. and Claude A., both of whom are deceased.
In the acquirement of an education Miss Truex attended the Stephens College at Columbia, Missouri, specializing in the study of literature, and she left school in 1889 to become the bride of J. B. Hockensmith, by whom she had two sons, James Marshall and Frank Edward. The elder son is assistant cashier of the Union National Bank of Bartlesville and the oldest employe of that institution in point of years of service. The Masonic fraternity finds in him an exemplary representative who endeavors to fulfill in his life its teachings concerning mutual helpfulness and brotherly kindness. He married Miss Mabel W. Voegele of Dwight, Kansas, a graduate of the Virgil Piano School of New York and a most charming and intellectual woman. For ten years she taught music in Bartlesville and her death was deeply regretted by a large circle of friends. She left a son, Frank Marshall, now two years of age and living with his grandmother, Mrs. Stewart, who is devoted to his welfare and happiness. The younger son has been a traveling salesman for the Brecht Candy Company of Denver, Colorado, but is now salesman for the Brown Brokerage Company of Denver. He is a prominent Mason, having taken all of the degrees except the thirty-third. During the World war he was sent to Fremont, California, where he was made sergeant, and was assigned to the Three Hundred and Nineteenth Engineers Corps. He was sent overseas and was stationed at Brest, France, receiving his discharge at the end of nineteen months’ service.
Mrs. Stewart came to Bartlesville in 1904 and at once became actively identified with the interests of the town, having a beautiful home at No. 116 Choctaw avenue. She is a member of the Baptist Church, in the work of which she is deeply interested, and is prominent in social circles here, belonging to the Women’s College Club and the Federated Clubs of Bartlesville. In 1905 she served as second matron of the Bartlesville Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star, while she also filled the office of Grand Ruth in the same year. During the World war she worked untiringly in behalf of the Red Cross and in recognition of her services received a certificate of merit from that organization, signed by President Wilson, while since its organization in 1920, she has been President of the Women’s Auxiliary of the American Legion, and is vice-commander of the Department of Oklahoma. A kind and devoted mother, she inculcated in her sons, principles of truth and honor, rearing them to become useful members of society, and she may well feel proud of the result of her teaching. Her interests and activities have never been self-centered, for her sympathetic nature and spirit of helpfulness have led to her identification with many worthy movements, and she is a woman whom to know is to esteem and honor.