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GEORGE W. Fox, now an active citizen of Oklahoma City, was one of the pioneer settlers of Pawnee county, and was identified with the early history of that section in several notable ways. At the opening of Oklahoma in 1889 he located a homestead in the famous triangle country, near the intersection of the Arkansas and Cimarron rivers. He began farming on a successful scale, but was also very active in public affairs. He was elected a member of the first school board of his district, and when the members assembled, to plan for the first educational facilities of their new country the meeting took place- under a black-jack tree. He was re-elected and served several years on the school board, A Republican in politics, he was active in the affairs of his county and district and one of the leaders of his party.
    In recent years oil was discovered in his neighborhood, and this together with the general development of the country advanced his land to values far in excess of its worth when he homesteaded it. He is owner of eighty acres of oil land near Hallet, and he and W. C. Brissey of Oklahoma City, who has purchased a half interest in the property, are at present engaged in developing it. Mr. Fox in February, 1907, transferred his residence to Oklahoma City, from which point he manages his interests in Pawnee county and is also engaged to some extent in city realty operations, dealing principally in residence property.
    Mr. Fox was born in Macomb county, Michigan, December 25, 1844, and was reared on a farm. He is a veteran of the Civil war, having enlisted in 1861 in Company D of the Fifteenth Michigan Infantry, and served throughout the war. As a member of the Third Brigade, Second Division, Fifteenth Army Corps, he was at the siege of Vicksburg, at Missionary Ridge, Chattanooga, and other engagements in that vicinity, in the siege and battles at Atlanta, in the Hood campaign back into Alabama and Tennessee, and then rejoined Sherman's army on its march to the sea and of its final grand review at Washing-

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ton at the close of the war. His military service took him throughout the states of Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia, and he was mustered out at Little Rock, Arkansas, in August, 1865, as orderly sergeant. He lived for a few years after the war in Livingston county, Michigan, and during the seventies moved to Topeka, Kansas, being a resident of the latter state until the Oklahoma opening. He has seven children, Carl E., Mason E., Mark, Mrs. Lillie Matlock, Don, Hazel and Opal. His second wife before her marriage was Miss Belva Tinker, of Perry, Oklahoma. By his first marriage, which occurred December 25, 1865, to Viola Gillam, he had six children, of whom one is deceased. By his second marriage, there are two children. His first wife died in February, 1904.

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cont.

DR. WILLIAM H. BALDWIN. The Oklahoma State Loan Company is one of the city representative financial concerns, and its general loan and mortgage transactions cover a wide range of interests and have brought a large amount of outside capital to Oklahoma. . The president of the company is Dr. William H. Baldwin, a retired physician and for many years one of the prominent business men of Dallas, Texas, where he was a member of the J. W. Crowdus Drug Company, which is still one of the most important wholesale firms of its kind in that city.
    Dr. Baldwin has had a varied and generally successful career. Born at Union. Monroe county, Virginia, February 22, 1837, he was the son of a physician, Dr. Charles Baldwin, who was a native of Fairfield, Connecticut, was educated at Yale and the University of New York, and becoming an early resident of Monroe county, Virginia, was engaged in the practice of medicine at Union for a long period of years. William H. Baldwin was reared and educated at Union, and received his higher education in the University of Virginia at Charlottesville. His name appears on the university records as one of the earliest members of the Chi Phi fraternity. His medical studies were pursued partly under his father, also at the university and at Red Sulphur Springs, Virginia, and in 1859 he moved to Texas and began practice at Beaumont. His professional activity being interrupted by the war, he enlisted at Beaumont, in the fall of 1861, in the Eighth Texas Cavalry, which is better known in history as Terry's Rangers, one of the most effective fighting organizations of the Confederacy, and was assigned from the regiment into the Hospital Department with rank as major, and as such served in that department throughout the war. For a short time afterward he was located in practice at Beaumont, and then practiced medicine at Chappel Hill, Texas, until 1872, when he moved to Dallas county. On removing to the city of Dallas in 1882 he discontinued active practice and entered the drug business, continuing his membership with the J. W. Crowdus Company until January, 1885. He moved to Denton and engaged in the drug business for a number of years. He then engaged in the clothing business at Greenville, Texas, remaining there a few years, then moved back to Dallas, and in 1905 he came to Oklahoma City. Dr. Baldwin was married first in 1861 to Sarah E. Gill at Beaumont, Texas, and by this marriage there were six children: Gill, Corinne, Charles; Hattie B.; Clara; Robert; all deceased but Clara. The mother of these children died in 1877 and Dr. Baldwin married at Union, Virginia, Miss Virginia Leanna Keenan, who was also a native of that town. She died in Oklahoma City October 1, 1906, being survived by her husband and two children, Mrs. Anna Brown and William H. Baldwin, Jr.

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cont.

ARTHUR J. WILLIAMS, to whom belongs the distinction of being the leading architect and one of the pioneers of Oklahoma City, with whose growth he is intimately associated, was born in Wellington, Shropshire, England, in 1866. His father, who is yet living in England, still has land holdings in Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and at Chimley in Berkshire. The son was educated in London, where also he received his training in civil engineering and architecture, being articled to J. S.. Moye, Southwick street, Hyde Park square, an architect who did the architectural work for the Hurlingham and Carlton clubs, and who developed the Nottingham Park Estate at Chiselhurst, Kent, upon which lived the Empress Eugenie, and for whom Mr. Moye did some work.
    In 1888 Mr. Williams went to Manchester to apply for a position on the Manchester ship canal under his relative, Sir John Leader Williams, who was chief engineer. The architectural work, however, on the canal was not to begin for some two years, and Sir John advised the young man to come to America in the meantime and return later, if

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he wished to accept a position an the canal. Accordingly Mr. Williams came to. the United States in 1888, locating at St. Paul, Minnesota, where he worked far Clarence H. Johnson, and other leading architects of that city. About 1890. he went to. Superior, Wisconsin, on architectural and engineering work connected principally with the enterprises of the Land and River Improvement Company, and one of the directors of which at that time was Theodore Roosevelt, and designed the Roosevelt Terrace at that place. From Superior Mr. Williams returned to St. Paul, where for Mr. Johnson he worked at competitive drawings far the proposed new state capital. Following this he was far two years in partnership with the building inspector of St. Paul, while in 1897 he came to the southwest to look after some financial interests of St. Paul friends in Missouri and Arkansas, making his headquarters at Springfield. In 1898 he came to Oklahoma City, which at that time on account of the rapidly nearing completion of the extension of the Frisco Railroad from Sapulpa was just beginning to give signs of the great growth and development which have taken place since that time. A state fair was also held in Oklahoma City about that time, and Mr. Williams was so favorably impressed with the agricultural and other products there displayed showing the rich resources of the country that he decided to locate permanently in Oklahoma City and take an active part in its progress and of the territory. In 1901 he was appointed the architect for the State University at Norman, and as such designed the group of buildings which composed the university, while also upon the request of the authorities of that institution he designed its seal, motto, etc.
    Mr. Williams has designed and supervised the construction of many of the mast important buildings in Oklahoma City. He built the original and smaller buildings far several of the commercial establishments in the earlier years, and has been called upon of later years to design the larger and mare modern structures demanded by the great growth of business in the city. A particular instance in this case is that of the Alexander Drug Company, for whom in 1907 he designed the immense modern building it now occupies on Harvey and First streets. He built the original structure occupied by this firm, and same fear was expressed at that time that it was too large. He designed the new seven-story building of the Pioneer Telephone Company, also the new building on North Harvey street for the Western Newspaper Union, which was completed early in 1908, and is the first rein farced concrete building in Oklahoma City. Mr. Williams was the architect of the beautiful St. Paul's Episcopal church at Robinson and Seventh streets, and was also the architect for the first wholesale house in the city, the Williamson-Halsell-Frasier Grocery Company. The above are suggestions of some of the more important architectural work he has done in Oklahoma City.

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cont.

LUTHER E. PATTERSON. One of the companies, with ample capital and enterprise, for the development of Oklahoma City's suburban extensions is the Patterson Company, of which Luther E. Patterson is the president and manager. He has been identified with the interests of this city since 1905, and on his arrival here he at once saw that the southeast portion of the city lacked the attention and efforts at development which the other sections of the city had enjoyed, and he accordingly became the pioneer in promoting the southeast section, buying and laying off first-class residence additions there and encouraging the building of homes thereon, and this task has been accomplished with gratifying results. He promoted this section of the city not alone from the speculator's standpoint, but with the view of making it attractive and desirable to home builders. As a part of his plans be promoted and had constructed the Oklahoma Interurban Traction Company's line, of which about three miles of track have been constructed, and this will later be extended and probably form part of a more extensive system. This interurban line is independent and runs from Oklahoma City through Mr. Patterson's additions to the east part of Capital Hill.
    Mr. Patterson was born in Webster county, Mississippi, where he was reared, educated and received his business training. Soon after he was of age he went to Texas, locating in the western part of the state, where for several years thereafter he was engaged in various business enterprises. He became particularly well known as a cattle man, having a cattle ranch in Crockett county, twenty miles from Ozona and one hundred mile, from San Angelo. From Texas he came to the Indian Territory, locating at Ada in the Chickasaw Nation, where he became inter-

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ested in the banking business, and is still the vice-president of the Citizens National Bank there. Coming to Oklahoma City in 1905, Mr. Patterson at once engaged extensively and with energy and enterprise in the work of making a greater city, and his commendable efforts have been rewarded with a high degree of success. He is a director in the Real Estate Exchange.

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cont.

VINCENT L. BATH. At the east limits of the city, in which direction the city has in recent years received a notable impulse of building, lie the residence subdivisions known as the Bath additions, including the Bath Highlands, Bath Orchard, Edgemont and East View addition. Extending north from Tenth to Sixteenth street, they are now considered among the most eligible residence sections of Oklahoma City. Their situation commands a beautiful view of the Canadian valley extending for miles eastward from the city, as well as a vast expanse of country to the north and south, all dotted with rich farms and comprising a landscape that would be difficult to excel in any country.
    The proprietor of this property is Vincent L. Bath, one of the farsighted business men who a few years ago determined to their own satisfaction that Oklahoma City, as the future state metropolis, would have a remarkable growth in all directions from its business center, and that with the proper encouragement and development the outlying land would all be demanded for the uses of an increased population and expanding industry and business enterprise. The location in 1907 of the State Fair Grounds near Mr. Bath's additions served to bring into further favorable notice and publicity these subdivisions, and the projected construction of a street railway line to his section of the city will bring it nearer to the center of town than is Epworth University located in the northwest section. Mr. Bath on coming to Oklahoma in 1900, gave both time and study to a consideration of the respective possibilities for future development in the principal cities of Guthrie and Oklahoma City, and on the strength of his decision that the latter would become the metropolis he bought a quarter section of land adjoining the city on the northeast (the southeast quarter of section 26, town 12, range 3 east). At that time his neighbors informed him that in paying $5,500 for this property he had paid an excessive price, and that, in figurative expression, he "had been left with the bag to hold." The subsequent development of this property as above mentioned confirms the soundness of his first judgment and the reasonableness of the price. He has since sold thousands of dollars' worth of this land, and still has much of it left, including his home place of twelve acres. His own home, which he, erected himself, is a handsome, modern structure, located at the corner of Eleventh street and Bath avenue.
    Mr. Bath was one of the original projectors and is a member of the board of directors of the Oklahoma State Fair Association, which held its first annual fair in October, 1907. Besides the Bath additions he is the owner of much other valuable residence and business property in Oklahoma City, notably the new Bath business block, on West Main street, between Broadway and the Santa Fe Railroad, a fine three-story and basement building, built in the summer of 1907, and now occupied by the A. M. Hughes Paint Company.
    Through hard work and wise and judicious investments Mr. Bath has become a man of strong financial resources, although when he came to Oklahoma City he was in debt. All that he makes he puts back into Oklahoma City property and business, taking always a public-spirited part in building up the city's interests. Mr. Bath was born in Erie county, Ohio, in 1858, of English parents, his father having come from England and settled in Erie county in 1850. Reared on a farm, he made farming his business until he came to Oklahoma, and for a number of years was a successful farmer and leading citizen in Groton township of his native county. He participated in township affairs, and as a Republican served several years as township clerk and township treasurer. He is a director in the Planters and Mechanics Bank of Oklahoma City.
    Mr. Bath was married in Sandusky, Ohio, to Miss Sarah Kelham, of a well known family of educators of that city, she being a teacher in the Sandusky schools, and her sister a principal of one of the public schools. Mr. and Mrs. Bath have two adopted children, Gussie and George.

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cont.

ERNEST L. LAWRENCE. One of the finest and most noted fruit farms of Oklahoma is the Lawrence farm, southeast of the business center of Oklahoma City and so situated that the recent rapid expansion of the metropolis now threatens to encroach upon the land and absorb it as a residence district. On this

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beautiful farm were produced the grapes which, when exhibited at the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904, received a diploma and bronze medal. This distinctive achievement for Mr. Lawrence and Oklahoma was gained in competition with the exhibits from the noted grape-growing districts of western New York, California, and other places. Prior to statehood and prohibition Mr. Lawrence was a manufacturer of high-grade wines, and besides his vineyards and one of the finest peach orchards in Oklahoma, and is an extensive grower of berries.
The Lawrence fruit farm is only two miles southeast of the business center of Oklahoma City, and occupies one of the most beautiful and advantageous locations of' any place in this vicinity. It lies on an elevation that commands a fine view not only of the city, but of all the surrounding country, and is only a short distance from Capitol Hill, the southern suburb of the city. In 1907 the owner organized a company to subdivide a part of this farm into city lots under the name of "Lawrence Place" Addition, and place it on the market for high-class residence lots. In. view of the popularity in recent years of this vicinity for residence additions, the new subdivision has excellent prospects of becoming an integral part of the city within a few years.
    This well known fruit farmer and real estate man was born in Floyd county, Georgia, in 1865, a son of Thomas J. and Nancy (Dowtin) Lawrence. The families on both sides were among the early settlers and well known people of Georgia. The father died many years ago, but the mother is still living. Ernest L. Lawrence was reared in Chattooga county, to which place his parents removed in his childhood, their home being a beautiful location in north Georgia in sight of Lookout Mountain. Reared on a farm and familiarized with its duties, he lived in Chattooga county until 1889, and on April 22, of that year, joined the memorable rush to Oklahoma, being then a young man of twenty-four. The Santa Fe train from Purcell brought him into the territory. When about a mile and a half from Oklahoma City he followed the example of many other passengers and leaped from the moving train and quickly staked out the claim that is now his valuable fruit farm and almost within the limits of the growing city. His claim was the northeast quarter of section 15, township 11, range 3 west. Though possessed of the right to this land he had no financial resources, not even enough money to buy food. He alternately worked for others and occupied himself with the improvement of his claim. Even after the first months of hardship, he had to undergo the disastrous years that followed, especially during the period of depression following the panic of 1893. He well remembers the many times when he could get only fifteen cents a bushel for corn. Perseverance and hard work were the factors that finally made successes in Oklahoma, and Mr. Lawrence is one of those who have come to enjoy the rewards of past hardships. His prosperity consists not only in his farm real estate, but in considerable city property.
    Mr. Lawrence's brother, Thomas J. Lawrence, who also came into the territory on the opening day (but on horseback), took up a quarter section adjoining his brother's on the west, and part of this has been recently subdivided and placed on the market, being a . part of Shields South Oklahoma Addition. Thomas J. Lawrence died in 1898, but his widow still lives on the place and has charge of it. The Lawrence properties are among the finest of the suburban additions to Oklahoma City.

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cont.

EMIL BRACHT. One of the best known stock raisers of the southwest is Emil Bracht, who, an Oklahoma 89'er, has his residence and noted stock farm adjoining the northeast limits of Oklahoma City. His herd of fine Jerseys is the best in this state, and has taken first premiums over all competitors wherever they have been exhibited. His prominence and success as a Jersey breeder were notably demonstrated at the First Annual Oklahoma State Fair in Oklahoma City, October, 1907, where his Exhibition Herd took the first premium. In addition he also took the following premiums, among others: First and second premiums for three-year-old bull; first premium for two-year-old bull; first, second and third premiums for bull under one year old; first and second premiums for cow over three years old; first and second premiums for heifer one year old and under two; first premium for herd of calves; first premium on herd of four-year-olds and over; he also won the Jersey champion sweepstakes for both cow and bull.
    Mr. Bracht is also well known to the citizens of Oklahoma City as proprietor of a large and popular dairy business. He has been actively identified with the city, both as

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a citizen and in his special line of business, since it was founded on the bare plains nearly twenty years ago. He came to Oklahoma on January 1, 1889, some weeks before the opening, and after that event acquired the farm which has since been his home. His residence is on East Twenty-third street. The city in its remarkable development of the last few years, has grown rapidly toward his farm, and much of the adjoining land is already cut up into city subdivisions for residence purposes.
    Mr. Bracht was born in Grant county, Kentucky, in 1864, being a member of a substantial German-American family that was established in Kentucky by his father, Major F. G. Bracht. The latter, of noble birth, was born in Prussia in 1810, and received all the advantages of young men of his class, both in education and military training, having been educated for the law at the University of Bonn. His coming to America was the result of the German revolutionary movements of the thirties and forties, which caused so many young Germans of distinction to leave their fatherland, Carl Schurz being one of the best known examples. Major Bracht became one of Kentucky's noted horsemen, and prominent in other ways. When the Civil war broke out he, like most of his compatriots, espoused the Union cause and rendered valiant service in the conflict, winning his military title through that service. Major Bracht married a native of Kentucky, Elizabeth Thomas. Both are now deceased. Emil Bracht grew up in his home county of Grant, and from his earliest years has been associated with the breeding of fine stock. He was married in Oklahoma City to Miss Delia Shelton, a native of Iowa. They have two children: Gertrude and Irene.

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cont.

SCHUYLER C. GLASGOW. At the organization of the Oklahoma Interurban Traction Company in 1905, one of the most active promoters was Schuyler C. Glasgow, who has been vice-president of the company since that time. It was under his supervision that the company built, in 1905, the interurban line from Grand avenue in Oklahoma City a distance of three miles to the town of East Capital Hill, over which regular trolley service is now maintained. Mr. Glasgow is half owner of this system, which has been the means of developing, in a way that could not have been accomplished by any other agency, a large section of territory in East Capitol Hill and vicinity, as well as in Oklahoma City proper. Home building in this suburb is now an attractive proposition to the man of average means, since the traction service places him in ready communication of the business district.
    Through honesty, energy and public spirit, Mr. Glasgow has become a man of strong financial resources, although at the beginning of his career, and even up to the time of his coming to Oklahoma, he was entirely dependent upon the constant exertion of his own efforts to provide himself and family with means of livelihood. He was born in Owen county, Indiana, in 1858, of an old family of that vicinity, his grandfather Glasgow having come from Scotland and settled, in 1818, on the farm where Schuyler C. was born. On a farm in Harrison county, New Albany, Mr. Glasgow spent his youth, and later moved to Coles county, Illinois, near Ashmore, where he was married, at the age of twenty-
one, to Miss Annie B. Reede of that county. In 1884 they moved to southwestern Kansas, and for a number of years, during the hard times in that section of the country, lived on a farm in Stafford county. Finally, in October, 1898, they came to Oklahoma City. It is in illustration of the wonderful possibilities of this southwestern country that we state that Mr. Glasgow at that time had only $52 in cash and his own efforts as the only resources for his family, consisting of wife and three children. Having farmed for one year, he began work at the carpenter's trade, and after four years spent as a carpenter and builder, he turned his attention to real estate operations, being successful as a trader and by good judgment made considerable money. This has brought him gradually into the higher realms of business, so that for several years he has been one of the strong forces in control of business and industrial affairs of the metropolis. He owns a handsome home at 212 Chickasaw street. His three children, above mentioned, are Mrs. Clara McNeil, Robertson, and Frank, and there is also a grandchild, Mabel McNeil. Mr. Glasgow affiliates with the Odd Fellows, the A. O. U. W., the Knights of Pythias and Eagles.

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cont.

CHARLES H. DEWAIDE. No inconsiderable share of the development of townsites and the improvement of farm areas in western Oklahoma during the last few years has been the result of the activity of the real estate agent and colonizer. The general results of this

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movement are elsewhere summarized, and at this point we will refer to an individual case that illustrates how the enterprise of one man and his associates may do much for settling and developing a region. Mr. Charles H. Dewaide, who now lives in Oklahoma City and is prominent in real estate circles there, has probably done more than any other one man in building up that section of western Oklahoma traversed by the Rock Island Railroad from El Reno westward. This was the original Choctaw road, and when the extension westward from El Reno was begun, Mr. Dewaide, with a number of associates, organized the Choctaw Townsite and Improvement Company, which promoted and built, along this new line, the towns of Geary, Weatherford, Foss, Elk City, Sayre, and others. His activity as a promoter had begun with his first location in Oklahoma, which was in 1893, when he located at Yukon, in Canadian county. This was the center of a rich agricultural region, and through his efforts Yukon soon became noted as a grain market. He became one of the largest grain merchants in the territory, but with the construction of the railroad as above mentioned, he transferred his operations further west, and establishing his headquarters at Geary, went into the real estate and banking business. He should be honored as the founder of the town of Geary, since he built eighteen brick stares and other structures there and did practically all the building that was done during the first year of the town's existence. His interests were later extended to Elk City, which has become noted, although a small city, as one of the largest broom-corn markets in the United States, and is surrounded by a country that is rich in other agricultural resources, such as cotton, wheat, corn, etc. Mr. Dewaide himself is owner of one of the best ranches in Oklahoma, about a mile from the town of Foss, in Washita county, which is devoted principally to the raising of alfalfa.
    Mr. Dewaide spent several years in building up the western towns, and, while making a great deal of money for himself, at the same time opened up new opportunities and new fields of enterprise for thousands of new settlers, both agriculturists and business men. Since taking up his permanent residence at Oklahoma City in 1904 he has devoted most of his time to the management of his own large real estate and property interests, doing no commission business. In 1906 he built and now lives in one of the finest residences in Oklahoma, a beautiful home that is a source of pride to the city. It is located on West Fifteenth street, at the corner of Shartel.
    Mr. Dewaide was born in 1864, on the plains of Waterloo, near the historic battlefield, of French parentage. The family came to America in 1871, and after living awhile in Will county, Illinois, moved to Concordia, Kansas, where Charles H. was reared and educated. He was trained for business life and has succeeded far beyond the success attained by the average man. He is a publicspirited citizen, and thoroughly identified with the best interests of the new state. By his marriage to Miss Mamie Phelps of Fairfield, Iowa, there is one son, Clarence Harold Dewaide.

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cont.

GEORGE W. PATRICK. Most people have forgotten that such a place as South Oklahoma ever existed. But owing to the congressional act limiting a townsite to three hundred and twenty acres, the overflow population of Oklahoma City found a way to avoid this technical obstruction by laying out a town immediately south of the main site and giving it the name of South Oklahoma. The survey of this new site was made April 23d, the day after the opening, and the dividing line between the two proposed cities was Reno avenue, which was the section line. Being but an extension of Oklahoma City proper, South Oklahoma existed as a legally separate town only until permission was obtained to merge the two, but in the meantime it had a regularly organized municipal government. The principal actor in the planning and organization of South Oklahoma was George W. Patrick. A surveyor by profession, he helped survey and layoff the new site, and he explains that notwithstanding his efforts peacefully to make his street lines lines meet accurately those of the streets of Okla homa City, the conflicting claims and interests of those who laid off the main site caused the famous "jog" that exists in Broadway where it intersects Grand avenue. Mr. Patrick showed such qualities of leadership among the heterogeneous multitude that made up the population of South Oklahoma that at the election held on the Saturday following the opening day he was elected the first mayor of the new town. The other officials of South Oklahoma elected on April 27 were: W. T. Bodine, city recorder; Colonel L. P. Ross, city attorney; N. C. Helburn

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city marshal; John Cochran, city treasurer; councilmen: J. P. McKinnis, S. E. Steele, E. W. Sweeney, E. S. Hughes and W. R. Killebrew. The ballot-box used to receive the votes was a gallon coffee pot.
    The establishment of an additional townsite called South Oklahoma is described by "Bunky" in "First Eight Months of Oklahoma City." Many of the boomers who came in on the trains from Purcell on the afternoon of the opening day, unable to find lots an the original townsite, spread out over the quarter section lying south of what is now Reno avenue, which is a township line. Several lots. were located north of this line on the afternoon of the 22d, but on the next morning about 8 o'clock the survey was begun on the east end of Reno avenue. "In a very short time," says "Bunky," "all the lots on the south side of Reno avenue were located. The survey went on peaceably for two or three hours when all at once a man mounted a dry-goods box, waived his hat and shouted at the top of his voice, 'Attention, citizens!'. Immediately a large crowd had gathered around to hear what the gentleman had to say. This was the first mass meeting ever held by the citizens of South Oklahoma. The object of this call was to elect a surveyor, a secretary of survey and an adjusting committee of four to settle disputes between lot claimants. W. R. Killebrew was elected as surveyor; G. W. Patrick, secretary of survey; Messrs. Steele, Hughes, Helburn and Cochran, committeemen.
    "The newly elected city officers," continues the chronicler, "began to hold council meetings and to enact a code of laws for city government. It was impossible to make laws to suit all, and trouble began. Numerous charges were made against the mayor and certain members of the city council. In two or three weeks everything was 'excitement and confusion. Men who had been disappointed in securing lots and getting offices were calling mass meetings and exciting rebellions. G. V. Patrick served as mayor about twenty days, when he offered his resignation, which was accepted by the council. Mr. Killebrew, one of the councilmen, about the same time offered his resignation." The election of T. J. Fagin as Mayor Patrick's successor did not restore calm to the city, and the agitation was continued on the south side very much as in Oklahoma City proper. A charter was adopted in July, and an election of city officers followed, when Mr. Fagin was again chosen mayor. During the following months, the charges and recriminations between the "ins" and the "outs" in city affairs continued to disturb the civic progress, and Mayor Fagin finally resigned to avoid an impeachment trial. There were other changes in the officials. J. M. Milton filled out the term of Bagin, and in April, f890, when the civic status was better established, a new set of officers was chosen—Mayor Green; J. M. Vance, recorder; J. N. Harvey, attorney; B. F. Waller, treasurer, and the councilmen were Bean, Keyes, Snode, Watson, Chinn and Dierker.
    After resigning the office of mayor, Mr. Patrick devoted himself to a matter that was even of greater importance to the new community than a town government. This was the organization of a school. The territory still being without school laws, the only way to establish a school was by private effort. Soon after the town was opened, Mr. Patrick had gathered together the first school in the city and became its first teacher, having about 400 pupils. The location of this school was in the old Bone and McKennan building, a large frame structure at the corner of Broadway and California avenues, where the fire department is now located.
    George W. Patrick, who has the distinction of serving as the first mayor of the former town of South Oklahoma, and also the organizer of the first school, was born in Whitley county, Kentucky, in 1856, was reared in Knoxville, Tennessee, where he graduated from the University of Tennessee in 1882, and took up the profession of surveying and civil engineering. For several years before Oklahoma was opened to settlement he lived in Texas, principally at Sherman. April 22, 1889, he came into Oklahoma City on the first train from Purcell, and at once became an eager and energetic participant in the turbulent life that characterized the early days of this city. His professional skill brought him into prominence in connection with the very matters over which the greatest strife arose-the platting of the streets and lots in the new born city. His principal achievement, however, when considered with regard to the general public benefit, was in starting education in the city. In this too he was well prepared to act as a leader, having had several years' experience in school work, as county superintendent of schools in Campbell

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county, Tennessee. When territorial government was formally inaugurated, Mr. Patrick became private secretary of Governor Steele and had much to do with the appointment of the entire list of first county officers throughout the territory. From this early activity in public affairs he finally turned his attention to the real estate business, in which he has enjoyed a large degree of success. Besides property interests in and about his home city, he has quite extensively engaged in land and mining propositions in Mexico, principally in the state of Sonora, being now president of the Yaqui Gold Mining Company and secretary and treasurer of the Toledo Development and Exploration Company. In Oklahoma City he owns and controls five residence additions, including about thirty tenant houses, all valuable property.
    Mr. Patrick was married at Williamsburg, Kentucky, February 4, 1876, to Miss Amanda J. Davis, and they have one child, Mrs. Emma O. Lang, of Oklahoma City.

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cont.

JOSEPH B. THOBURN, of Oklahoma City, is a native of the Buckeye state, having been born at Bellaire, Ohio, in August, 1866. His paternal grandparents were 'natives of northern Ireland, the Thoburns (or Thorburns) being a Scottish family of Norse origin. Mr. Thoburn's father, Thomas C. Thoburn, was reared in Belmont county, Ohio, though he was born at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His life was spent entirely on the farm until he entered the volunteer military service of the United States in 1862, as an enlisted man. After three years of arduous and faithful service he was mustered out, at the end of the war, with the rank of major. Mr. Thoburn's mother, whose maiden name was Mary Eleanor Crozier, was a native of Stark county, Ohio. Her ancestors came to America from Ireland in the early part of the eighteenth century, but the Crozier (or Crozer) family were originally French Huguenots. She died in 1895.
    Maj. Thomas C. Thoburn migrated with his family from Ohio, to Peabody, Marion county, Kansas, early in 1871, when his son was but four years old. Having been among the first settlers to locate in that vicinity, they experienced all of the vicissitudes and hardships incident to pioneer life in the West at that period. After being reared on a farm and having a common, school education, Joseph B. Thoburn learned the "art preservative" in a country printing office at Peabody. He was several years past his majority when he entered the Kansas Agricultural College, from which institution he graduated in 1893. In 1894 he was married to Miss Callie Conwell of Manhattan, Kansas. They have one child, a daughter, Mary E.
    The subject of this sketch located at Oklahoma -city in 1899, and followed the printing trade and newspaper work for several years. In 1902 he served for some months as secretary of the Oklahoma City Commercial Club, which, largely as the result of his efforts, was reorganized under the name of, the Chamber of Commerce. Simultaneously with the reorganization of that institution, Mr. Thoburn was chosen by the newly organized Territorial Board of Agriculture as .its first secretary, a position which he filled for two years and a half. While acting in that capacity, he supervised the organization of the farmers' institutes in the Territory, did effective work in securing needed legislation for the improvement of the public highways, irrigation and drainage development, nursery inspection and otherwise proved his usefulness and fidelity to the agricultural interests of Oklahoma.
    Mr. Thoburn has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal church since boyhood. He was one of the active projectors of Epworth University, the educational institution at Oklahoma City, which has the unique distinction of having been the first practical effort at federation in educational lines by the two great branches of Episcopal Methodism, and he is still a member of the board of trustees of that institution. Mrs. Thoburn is also an active worker in church and missionary circles.
    At the present time Mr. Thoburn is devoting his attention almost entirely to literary pursuits, having (in collaboration with Mr. Isaac M. Holcomb) recently completed an outline study of the history of the new state, which has been adopted for use as a text-book in the public schools of Oklahoma. Politically, he is a Republican, though not a narrow partisan. He is a member of two fraternal orders (Masonic and Modern Woodmen) and one patriotic society (Sons of the American Revolution).

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cont.

GEORGE A. BEIDLER. The Oklahoma City postoffice has a history that is almost unique in the records of the postoffice department, in that it was established and was ready for business several days before the town came into existence, and while the site had no other

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occupants, than land office employes and other federal officials. The little hut erected for the distribution of the first mail addressed to Oklahoma City stood out on the prairie, amid the waving grass, almost solitary as a representative of the civilization which would soon cover this wilderness and build a city equal to many in the older states.
    George A. Beidler was the first postmaster of Oklahoma City, and it was due to his foresighted planning and activity that a postoffice was established in advance of the occupation of the town. As his entire career shows, Mr. Beidler is possessed of the originating pioneer spirit, and it was this that persuaded him to become one of the first citizens of Oklahoma. In line with this intention, he went to Washington, and having a personal acquaintance with the then Postmaster General Wanamaker and other government officials, he was given the commission to establish the postoffice and become the first postmaster of the Oklahoma City to be. There was no such place on the map at the time, but it was known that this was to be a center of the new country.
    The following telegram from the adjutant general to General Crook at Chicago, dated April 15, 1889, gave official confirmation to the establishment of the postoffice at Oklahoma City before the opening: "Postmaster general informs the secretary of war that in order to expedite mail service in Oklahoma, I. T., permission be given Mr. G. A. Beidler, postmaster at Oklahoma, to erect a building for the accommodation of the postoffice there in advance of the date fixed for the formal opening of the territory, to settlement."
    Armed with his commission, with some postoffice supplies and with a small quantity of building material, Mr. Beidler reached the proposed townsite several days before the opening. The following day he had his building up, ready for business. Clearly, it had nothing in common with the fine business structures that now line the business streets of the metropolis. The word hut describes it almost perfectly, it being constructed on the stockade plan. Fortunately, Mr. Beidler possesses a photograph of this historic building, showing himself standing in front of it with a mail bag in his hand. The building was located near the Santa Fe tracks, on what is now West Main street, about where the Kingman-Moore Implement Company building now stands. It served as the postoffice only
a few months, being replaced by Mr. Beidler with a larger building on the same site, a two-story frame. Mr. Beidler was postmaster for the first six years of the city's existence, by the end of which time a real city had grown up around where the little postoffice stood. Many stories are told by Oklahomans about the early postal facilities, all of them tending to illustrate how difficult it was to carry on the business of a postoffice established on the bare prairie and suddenly called on to deliver mail to thousands of unknown people. Also, here as in other cities of Oklahoma, it was nearly impossible to get the postoffice department to understand the rapid growth of this country and its corresponding need of increased postal facilities, so that the local officials were continually hampered by the restrictions of a lower-class office being applied to a city of this size. While his term as postmaster involved a great deal of hard work without corresponding remuneration, Mr. Beidler considers it a unique honor and distinction to have been the first postmaster of the metropolis of Oklahoma. Old citizens say that his administration was marked by the strictest honesty and efficiency.
    In George A. Beidler the city of Oklahoma has a citizen of remarkable enterprise and ingenuity. Besides holding offices of trust and being a successful business man, he has been a pioneer, a soldier, and an Inventor. He possesses the excellent talent of initiative, and all his life has eagerly entered upon new fields of endeavor whenever the opportunity came. Born in Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, in 1842, he comes of a family that has given to the world several other leaders in affairs. He is of German descent on his father's side, his grandfather having settled in Pennsylvania from Germany, and on his mother's side he comes of the Hoke family, of which Hon. Hoke Smith of Georgia is a conspicuous member. Congressman Beidler of Cleveland is a cousin of Mr. Beidler. A still more remarkable man was the late J. X. Beidler (a brother of George A.), whose name and achievements have become part and parcel for all time of the early history of the Northwest, especially of Montana. He was one of Montana's pioneers, and as United States marshal, sheriff, chief of the vigilantes, associated with Col. W. F. Sanders and other noted characters of Montana, he displayed surpassing courage and energy in purifying Montana of its criminal element. A monu-

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ment erected to his memory at Helena is a well deserved memorial of one of the bravest men in that or any other state.
    George A. Beidler moved west while a boy, first to Logan county, Illinois, and in 1860 crossed the plains with a wagon party to Colorado, where he was successfully engaged in gold mining for a year or so. Returning to Logan county in 1862, he enlisted in the One Hundred and Sixth Illinois Infantry, and served his country to the end of the war, mainly in Tennessee and Arkansas under General Steele. He was promoted to sergeant major and later to lieutenant of his company (B), his regiment being commanded by Colonel Yates. After the war Philadelphia became his permanent home, and there his talents were applied to mechanical invention, with much practical success. Among the useful devices invented by him were lanterns, chimney burners, steamboat propellers, and a practical form of wood paving. During the early seventies he interrupted his activity along these lines by a period spent in Montana, where he joined his brother and was for a time engaged in mining in the noted gold camps of Virginia City, Last Chance Gulch and others. Since serving as postmaster of Oklahoma City, Mr. Beidler has been identified with the city in various ways. He served one term as register of deeds of Oklahoma county, but has since given most of his attention to the real estate business and inventing. He bought and promoted the sale of the residence lots in Beidler Heights, one of the most beautiful residence additions to the city, and where his own home is located.
    He is one of the most active members of the First Methodist Episcopal church of this city, being on the board of trustees and for nearly six years superintendent of the Sunday school. He is past commander of Grant Post, G. A. R, has been its chaplain for several years, and was recently endorsed for the position of department commander of Oklahoma. Mr. Beidler married, in Philadelphia, Miss Arline Umberger. Mrs. Bernice E. Hughes is the younger of their two children, and the son is George C. Beidler, who like his father is a successful inventor. The rectigraph, a copying device, is his invention, and the Rectigraph Company was organized for its manufacture, with plant at Rochester, New York. G. C. Beidler is vice president of the company, and one of the financial backers of the enterprise is Hon. Dennis Flynn.