Since 1908 J. F. Dale has engaged in farming in Nowata County and he has won an enviable reputation among the representative agriculturists and stockmen in the state. A native of Arkansas, he was born in Baxter County, on the 23d of July, 1871, a son of James and Lucy Ann (Coker) Dale, the former a native of Tennessee and the latter of Arkansas. Mr. and Mrs. Dale located in Indian Territory in 1881 and on the 10th of March of that year moved onto their farm on the Verdigris River near Coodys Bluff. There they, resided for many years, subsequently removing a short distance from the original home farm. Mr. Dale died in 1883, his demise coming as a severe shock to his family and many friends in the community. Mrs. Dale is living at San Benito, Texas. She owns a valuable farm, one mile east of her son’s farm.
Upon attaining school age J. F. Dale attended the log cabin schools near Coodys Bluff and at an early age put his textbooks aside. He engaged in farming, which line of work he has since followed, and on the 3d of August, 1908, removed to his present home of two hundred and forty acres, five and one-half miles southeast of Nowata. He has one hundred and eighty acres under cultivation, raising all kinds of cereals, and he is likewise an extensive stockman. He has registered shorthorn cattle and is the possessor of the prize winners, Sycamore Dale, a bull, and Lady. Mr., Dale has a modern home on his place and his outbuildings, fences, etc., are kept in the best of repair, neatness being one of the characteristics of the farm.
In 1908 occurred the marriage of Mr. Dale to Miss Will Ella Myers, a native of Ellis County, Texas, and a daughter of William and Eliza (Couch). Myers, the latter of Cherokee extraction, as is also Mr. Dale. Mr. Myers died in 1883. Mrs. Myers is living in Nowata, where she has many friends and interests. Mrs. Dale is a woman of much culture and refinement and is a graduate of Willie Halsell College at Vinita. She takes a prominent and active part in all club and social affairs and for some time she has been assistant Superintendent of the Union Sunday school. To Mr. and Mrs. Dale three children have been born: Delores O., Joseph Marcus, and Carlie Ethel.
Since attaining his majority Mr. Dale has given his political allegiance to the Democratic Party, having firm belief in the principles of that party as factors in good government. He is a stanch advocate of education and has been clerk of the school board of District No. 39, for many years. He has been identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows since he was twenty-one years of age and he is conceded to be an exemplary member of that craft. Mr. Dale is one of Nowata County’s most public-spirited citizens and his aid may always be counted upon in the furtherance of any movement he deems essential to public development and improvement. He has obtained more than substantial success in farming and stock raising and he is now drawing large royalties from the oil wells in operation on his land.