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cont.

WILLIAM L. GARNER. Although prominent as a contractor and builder and proprietor of one of the active planing mills of Chickasha, William L. Garner is the youngest man in the city who has arrived at the dignity of a contractor. He was born in Franklin county, Tennessee, on the 22nd of January, 1882, son of Martin D. Garner, himself a carpenter and recently identified with his son in business. The father was also born in Franklin county (in 1861) and married Mary Gilpin, who bore him six children. The paternal grandfather, John Garner, was a Tennessee farmer, who died in 1907 at the age of seventy-seven years. The father, although a carpenter by trade, located near Texhoma, Beaver county, Oklahoma, in 1901, and there he pursued his unwonted avocation of farming until the death of his wife, when he came to live with his son in Chickasha. Mrs. Martin D. Garner was formerly Susan Myers, a daughter of John Myers, and became the mother of John Henry, a farmer of Beaver county, Oklahoma; William L. Gamer, and Alice M., the latter now the wife of John Stewart, of Verden, Oklahoma.
    William L. Garner received a common school education, which was intermixed with his work as a carpenter under the early supervision of his father. From the age of nine years until his marriage at eighteen, their interests were in common; but the setting up of an individual household was also the com-

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mencement of an independent business. He was a wage earner until after he became a resident of Chickasha, when, having accumulated a small capital, he entered the construction field as a contractor and the experiment has proven permanent and lucrative. In January, 1907, he erected the People's Planing Mill, which has given him a great advantage as a contractor and enabled him to underbid his competitors who have not his facilities for turning out manufactured building material. When to this advantage is added his honesty and skill as a workman and his energetic management of the contracts which he undertakes, the continued success and development of his business are assured. In order to more particularly identify Mr. Garner with the building industries of Chickasha it is in place to mention that he has erected the Terrel building, Catholic parsonage, cottages for J. R. Abercrombie, and. residences for Edward Johns, R. Stephens, George Ladd, F. D. Lemon, George P. Holland, J. P. Coots, Mrs. Davidson, Webb Hendrix, L. J. Gray and Joseph and Louise Phillips.
    Mr. Garner was married in Franklin county, Tennessee, November 26, 1900, to Nannie M., daughter of David Wakefield and Josie Gipson. Mrs. Garner is the elder of two daughters, her sister being now Mattie, wife of a Mr. Jackson, of Franklin county, Tennessee. Mr. and Mrs. Garner's children are D. J., Rosey and Inez. No legacy or other financial aid has fallen into the lap of William L. Garner. His unfailing and well directed industry has sustained a comfortable household and developed his business, and his property at the corner of Ninth street and Choctaw avenue also represent the substantial accumulations of his brief, but active and progressive, career.

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cont.

THOMAS J. PADGETT. It is nearly ten years since Thomas J. Padgett, in partnership with James Jones, established the enterprise which later developed into a combined cattle and mercantile business, which was long classed as one of the most profitable ventures of the territory and which has done much to advance the substantial prosperity of Rush Springs and Grady county. Since 1907, the mercantile branch of the business has been handled by Mr. Padgett, the partnership, connection being dissolved at that time, and his house has become one of the largest and most complete in this section. He has been a progressive resident of this locality for fifteen years, and since coming to live in Rush Springs has shown such energy and sound business ability that its citizens have called upon him to participate in their public affairs as a member of the common council and in other capacities. In fact, he has a happy faculty of making all
these affairs "move" in which he has a hand.
    The birth of Thomas J. Padgett occurred in Van Zant county, Texas, on the 3rd of May, 1861, and he represents one of the real pioneers of that state. His grandfather, Chester Padgett, was born in Alabama about 1804, and in l829, when Texas was still Mexican territory, crossed over into the wilds of Van Zant county, eastern Texas. There he established himself among the scattered settlers and continued his farming operations until his death in 1864. His children were as follows: Nathan, who died at Birmingham, Alabama, leaving a family; William J., of Van Zant county; Monroe, of Henderson county, Texas; Ewell and Chester, who both died in Van Zant county; Caroline, who married William Meeks and died in Freestone county, Texas, leaving a family; Sarah F., who died in Claremore, Oklahoma, as the wife of John Gauge, leaving children; Texas, wife of H. L. Robinson, also of Van Zant county, Texas; Emeline, who became the wife of Samuel Hunt of Smith county, Texas, and James R., who was one of the oldest of the children. James R. Padgett was a native of Van Zant county, Texas, born in 1854, was a farmer and was serving in the ranks of the Confederate army when he died in 1864. He married Roselpha Farmer, a daughter of Howland Farmer and born in Rusk county, Mississippi, where her father engaged in agricultural pursuits for many years prior to his migration to eastern Texas. She was the mother of one child by Mr. Padgett, their offspring being Thomas J., of this notice. The husband died and the widow married Robert D. Jones, the couple removing to Clay county, Texas, also on the frontier, where Mr. Jones also died, leaving her with a second son James Jones, one of the well known agriculturists of Grady county. Some years later Mrs. Jones married J. H.Pate, with whom she resides in Rush Springs. In Gainesville, Texas, on the 20th of November, 1884, Thomas J, Padgett was joined in marriage to Mary E. Stewart, a daughter of Mitchell Stewart, a farmer and early settler of Texas. Mr. Stewart's wife was formerly a Miss McGee, and both were natives of Georgia. Mrs.

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Padgett was born in Cooke county, Texas, in 1867, and has no children.

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JAMES A. SLATON, of Rush Springs, is one of the pioneers and active cattlemen and farmers of this locality, having passed the last seventeen years in what is now Oklahoma and the last dozen years around the place of his present abode. In the territory now covered by Grady and Stephens counties he has been an especially active spirit. The old settlers well remember him as a hardy hand on the ranch of Bourland and Colbert, well known cattle men of a score of years ago, and some time afterward as an ambitious young farmer and stockman establishing himself in the community on the headwaters of Rush Creek. Acquiring a right by marriage, in 1898, he finally located his allotments on the waters of that stream, ten miles east of the town, where he still occupies a farm of five hundred acres of some of the best valley land in that section of the state. The historic order of the family migrations had been from Georgia and Alabama to Texas, and it was in the central part of the Lone Star state that James A. Slaton was brought up, spending most of his time ranging over its great plains on the back of a pony. It was to this section that his parents, with their family, had come from northern Alabama, in 1870.
    Mr. Slaton is a native of Macon, Georgia, born on the 8th of December, 1861, son of W. T. and Georgia (Flournoy) Slaton. His father was liberally educated, taught school in Georgia when a young man, and served in the Civil war as commissary sergeant in a regiment of Confederate troops. He was not a man of strong constitution, and died in Cooke county, Texas, in 1889, at the age of fifty-two years. His father (James A. Slaton) who had accompanied him in his migrations to Alabama and Texas, passed away in Ellis county, Texas, in the early seventies at an advanced age. The mother, who was of Scotch-Irish extraction, passed away on Wild Horse creek, in 1895, at the age of fifty-eight years, being the mother of James A., of this notice, and William, the latter residing in Oklahoma City. As stated in 1870, when the former was nine years of age the family had entered the Lone Star state, coming by boat from Alabama to Galveston, thence to Corsicana in Navarro county and therein, as well as in Ellis, Tarrant and Cooke counties, the parents passed the remainder of their active lives. In 1891, two years after his father's death, James A. Slaton commenced his busy and useful life in Stephens and Grady counties, with, the results already noted. On September 28, 1898, he was united in .marriage to Mrs. Mary J. McDonald, widow of A. M. McDonald and daughter of Mrs. Margaret Moncrief, a member of the Choctaw tribe and a quarter-blood of her race. Mrs. Moncrief was born in Alabama in 1821, and is one of the very few left of her tribe who were brought into what is now Oklahoma in 1842. Mr. and Mrs. James A. Slaton have become the parents of two sons, Cornelius McDonald, of Tubencary, New Mexico, and Muir McDonald Slaton, a schoolboy living at home. The family stand high in the community and Mr. Slaton, besides being a cattle man of large and expanding interests, is president of the First National Bank of Rush Springs, of which he was one of the organizers in 1906.

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cont.

PERRY HALL BLAKELY, who occupies an attractive and valuable farm near Rush Springs, Grady county, is a representative of one of the early settlers of Oklahoma, and was himself born in the Chickasaw Nation, on the 5th of July, 1879. His family on both sides are most favorably known, his father having identified himself with the nation in the early seventies, and his mother's people having come to their future home, the Choctaw Nation, with the first band moved to the country set apart for them by congress in the first half of the nineteenth century. The Blakely family originated in Scotland, and spread into the southwest through Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Mississippi. Frederick C. Blakely, the father of Perry H., laid out the original town of Rush Springs, and married Martha Hall, whose grandmother was a full blood Choctaw. She herself was born in Pauls Valley, Oklahoma, in 1857, and died July 11, 1880, leaving an only child, Perry Hall, of this sketch. Rush Springs, to which his family ties so closely bound him, was his early home, his education being obtained in it, or in this vicinity. When not attending school, most of his time until he reached years of maturity, was spent on the back of a pony; for during this period his father was engaged in the cattle business and he was his assistant. Since his marriage in 1901 he has been identified with farming operations. With the opening of the lands to settlement, Mr. Blakely took his family allotments near and adjoining Rush Springs,

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which consisted of seven hundred acres, but his homestead adjoins the town site, and is one of the most attractive and desirable places in the locality. It is substantially and conveniently improved and produces good crops of cotton, corn and other standard harvests.
    The American history of the Blakely family commences with the emigration of Milton and Catherine (Ferris) Blakely from Scotland to Pennsylvania. Subsequently they migrated to South Carolina and Mississippi, locating in Nuxubee county, of the latter state, where both died in the year 1875. Milton Blakely was a physician and a merchant, and on account of his strong Union sentiment was appointed postmaster at Shuqualak, in the county named, serving thus during the war. Frederick C. Blakely, the son, was born in Nuxubee county, Mississippi, October 21, 1858, and acquired his education in the public schools. of his native state. At the age of eighteen he left home, made his way into the Indian Territory, and remained identified with the cattle business from that time until 1892, when he established the first drug store at Rush Springs. In 1901 he disposed of this business and founded a grain and mill enterprise, which has proved an important factor in the commercial life of the community. In politics, the elder Mr. Blakely is a Democrat, and, beginning with Cleveland's second administration, served as postmaster of Rush Springs for eight years. In 1878, Frederick C. Blakely married Martha Hall, daughter of Perry and Patsy (Martin) Hall. The Martins came from Mississippi to the Indian Territory in 1842, being among the first of their people to settle in their new home. Thomas Martin, the head of the family, was a native of Ireland and his wife (Mary Fry) was a full blood Choctaw. As industrious and respected farmers they passed their later lives at Doaksville, Chocktaw Nation. One of their children, Patsy, married Perry Hall, a quarter-blood Choctaw of Mississippi birth, who died at Rush Springs in 1881, at forty years of age. The Halls resided near the site of Rush Springs for many years, and, in fact, owned the land now occupied by the town. This, however, they sold to Frederick C. Blakely, their son-in-law, who finally laid off the place. Mr. Blakely's first wife became the mother of, Perry Hall Blakely, and died July 11, 1880, the widower marrying again in 1882, wedding as his second wife Isabel Terry. The children by this union were as follows: Nellie, wife of Henry Trapp, of Rush Springs; Birdie, deceased; Laura, Lillie, Edith, Frederick, Grace and Paul. Perry Hall Blakely was married May 3, 1901, to Miss Annie Davis, daughter of John R. Davis, a resident of Texas. Mrs. Blakely was born at Durant, Oklahoma, July 26, 1883, and their children are Emmett, F. C. and Waldon.

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cont.

LENNES L. SCHROCK. Prominent among the more active, intelligent, and progressive citizens of Tuttle is Lennes L. Schrock, who for many years has been identified with the settlements about old Silver City, and is now intimately associated with the business affairs of rattle as a dealer in real estate, handling not only the interests pertaining to his own several family allotments, but those of others. While "seeing the country," winning his way from place to place with the card of a "Union" printer, Mr. Schrock happened upon this section of the Indian Territory, and being pleased and fascinated with the novelty of the situation his intended brief stay resulted in his permanent location here, his marriage, and his adoption as a citizen to the Chocktaw Nation. An Ohio man by birth and breeding, he was born, July 7, 1871, in Delaware county, that state, a son of Rev. Homer Schrock.
    Coming from Pennsylvania-German stock, Homer Schrock was born, about sixty-five years ago, in Westervelt, Ohio, coming from a family of prominence and distinction, his parents having furnished the Union army with four of their sons during the Civil war, and having four sons who became ministers of the gospel, in their zealous work promoting the interests of the Methodist denomination. Homer Schrock married a Miss Getzendantier, of Pennsylvania. She died in early life, leaving three children, namely: Lennes L. of this sketch; Ella, wife of Harry Reed, of Delaware, Ohio; and Artie, of Meridian, Mississippi.
    Receiving excellent educational advantages as a youth, Lennes L. Schrock was graduated from the high school Of his native town when eighteen years old. Subsequently learning the trade, of a job printer in the office of F. T. Evans, in Delaware, Ohio, he followed it there for a time. In 1893, with the restless spirit characteristic of the Americans, he conceived the brilliant idea of making his trade useful in showing him the country. Therefore, armed with his Union card, he traveled through the Mississippi basin, Over the

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Rockies, onward to the Pacific coast, in the meantime working on such metropolitan papers as the Cincinnati Enquirer, the Louisville Courier Journal, and the San Francisco Examiner. It was then, while on his return trip, that Mr. Schrock made his advent in the Chickasaw Nation, in which he has since resided, happy, busy and contented. From the type case to a cow ranch, and the humdrum of farm life, was surely a radical departure but one in which he has ever taken delight, and which to him has proved both congenial and profitable.
    In November, 1898, Mr. Schrock married Frances, daughter of Mr. Williams, of the Choctaw Nation, and established his home on his substantially and attractively improved allotment, adjoining the village of Tuttle. Four children have blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Schrock, namely: Arthur, Lennes, Homer and Foster.

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cont.

JAMES H. TUTTLE. Conspicuous among the earlier settlers of Grady county is James H. Tuttle, in whose honor the village of Tuttle was named, and in which he has for many years been a valued and respected citizen. A man of ability and excellent judgment, he is a fine representative of the men whose shrewd foresight and determined energy opened the way for the settlement of this part of the country, and who have since been active in developing its varied resources. Like many of the pioneers of the present, he came here in his youth and as an employe of a man who for many years made history in the cattle industry. A son of James H. Tuttle, Sr., he was born, June 4, 1860, in Grayson county, Texas, and was there bred and educated.
    A native of Alabama, James H. Tuttle, Sr., was born, in Alabama, near Mobile. His father died in early life, leaving three children, two of them being daughters, and his widow subsequently married for her second husband a Mr. Harley, by whom she had several children. In 1840, while Texas was yet a republic, he sought the wilds of its confines, settling in Grayson county, where for a number of years he was engaged in mercantile pursuits. Enlisting, during the Civil war, in the Confederate army, he served bravely, rising from rank to rank until, before the dose of the conflict, he was commissioned captain. Accepting most philosophically the results of the war, he subsequently entered cordially into relations with the new Federal sentiment, and materially aided its establishment and reorganization. Identifying himself with the Republican cause., he served a number of years as sheriff of Grayson county, making a capable and popular official. He was afterwards appointed, by President Grant, collector of Internal Revenue for the district of Jefferson, Texas, and held the position eight years. Returning then to his home, he was again elected sheriff of the county, as was serving in that capacity at the time of his death in 1875.
    James H. Tuttle, Sr., married first Virginia, daughter of Colonel Henderson, a prominent planter and slave owner of Red River county, Texas, who served as an officer in the Mexican war. She died in Grayson county, Texas, leaving three children: Virginia, who married W. J. Erwin, and died in Chickasha, Oklahoma; Robert, of Lindsay, Oklahoma; and James H., of this review. The father subsequently married Miss Budge Brockett, daughter of Dr. M. B. Brockett, and they became the parents of three children: Claude, of Hobart, Oklahoma; Ernest, who died in Oklahoma City; and William, of Minco, Oklahoma. Mr. Tuttle was a charter member of the Grayson county lodges of both the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
    At the age of seventeen years, having completed his studies in the public schools of his native county, James H. Tuttle came to Oklahoma, and the following eight years was in the employ of R. M. Smith, herding cattle along the Washita river, in the Indian Territory, receiving a monthly stipend of thirty dollars for his labors. Proving himself unusually capable and efficient he was admitted to partnership with Mr. Smith, his employer, and his nephew, Bud P. Smith, the now well known Chickasha stockman and financier, and under the firm name of Smith, Tuttle & Co., carried on an extensive cattle business for a number of years, being the largest concern of the kind in the Washita vaI1ev. At the death of the senior member of the firm, in 1901, the remaining partners dissolved by mutual agreement, Mr. Tuttle continuing alone. He carried on an excellent business in the vicinity of old Silver City, his operations having been curtailed, by the encroachments of the settlers, only, and has even yet a few hundred cattle feeding and fattening upon the domains of his family allotment, on the south bank of the Canadian river.

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For many years, Mr. Tuttle made his home in Minco, then the metropolis of the valley, while there being identified with its mercantile interests, being at the head of the firm of James H. Tuttle & Brothers. He was influential in the establishment of various enterprises in that locality, holding stock in the Bank of Minco, in the Minco Mill and Elevator Company, and in the Purcell Mill and Elevator Company. In 1899, Mr. Tuttle organized the Citizens' National Bank of Chickasha, served as its president four years, and then disposed of his stock, and has since devoted himself to his rural interests on the banks of the Canadian stream, maintaining his home almost on the identical spot occupied by the old town. Here, in 1904, he erected his handsome and commodious residence, overlooking the valley of the Canadian for miles. The family allotment, with the exception of that of one child, lies in one body, two miles north of, Tuttle, where extensive farming operations are being carried on successfully.
    Mr. Tuttle married first, November 16, 1889, Nora W., daughter of James H. Bond, whose wife was a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation. She lived scarce a year after marriage, dying June 16, 1890. Mr. Tuttle married second Carrie Campbell, a daughter of the late L. C. Campbell, a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation, and of their union seven children have been born, namely: Molette V.; Nora Alma; James B.; Charles C.; Annie; Harley, deceased; and Holmes P.  Politically, Mr. Tuttle is a zealous supporter of the principles of the Republican party, at every election upholding his party banner with the enthusiasm of a sure victor.

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cont.

SAMUEL O. MARRS, M. D., of Chickasha, is an excellent representative of the medical fraternity and especially worthy of mention in a work of this kind. A popular and successful physician, he identified himself with the leading interests of the city before its incorporation, coming here when it was but a small town and having since ably assisted in its rapid growth and development. He was born May 13, 1867, in Metcalfe county, Kentucky, which was also the birthplace of his father, Samuel H. Marrs. He comes of English stock, the emigrant ancestor of the Marrs family having emigrated from England to the United States at a very early period of its settlement. His grandfather, Samuel W. Marrs, was a resident of Metcalfe county, Kentucky, living there until his death in 1880, at the age of fourscore and four years.
    Born in, 1835, Samuel H. Marrs was liberally educated for his time and during his earlier life taught school in Metcalfe county. In the Civil war he served the Confederacy as captain of a company of militia. Subsequently he was actively employed for many years in tilling the soil of his native county, chiefly as a tobacco raiser, remaining thus engaged until 1894, when he removed to Tarrant county, Texas. Locating in Mansfield, he continued there as a farmer until his death in 1900. He married Telitha Woodward, who was of Irish descent, her grandfather Woodward having been born in Ireland. She survived her husband and is now residing in Mansfield, Texas. She bore her husband the following named children: Silas T., of Mansfield, Texas; Nancy G., wife of Charles Kinnaird, of the same place; James K., of Abilene, Texas; Samuel O., of this review; Sudie, deceased; William G., of Cleveland, Oklahoma; and Henry C. Marrs, deceased.
    Although the father of Samuel O. Marrs was a thorough believer in education and its benefits both to the individual and the community, he was not able financially to give his children a thorough schooling. The Doctor's systematic mental training was therefore virtually deferred until he had attained his majority and was able to defray his school expenses himself. As a boy he performed faithful labor in the tobacco field and his earnings of later years enabled him to acquire an education which fitted him to teach; but after serving as a teacher in his native county for three terms he went to Nashville, Tennessee, for the purpose of prosecuting his medical studies in the State University Medical College. In 1893 he was graduated from that institution with the degree of M. D.
    Dr. Marrs began the practice of his profession at Mansfield, Texas, remaining there until November, 1897, when he settled in Chickasha, where he has since resided, with the exception of the period he spent in Chicago, during 1902, pursuing a post-graduate course. Skilful and faithful to the interests of his patients, Dr. Marrs has here identified himself with the practice of medicine and surgery, in which he has acquired a large and remunerative patronage. His first residence in the place was located on Chickasha avenue, where the business of the Indian town was

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transacted, largely in frame buildings, the residential area then covering but a few blocks. The Doctor became the owner of a choice corner on the west side of the town, on Seventh street, upon which he erected two residences and otherwise improved the property. This location, which is his office, is now in the midst of a well populated district, and represents a valuable piece of property.
    On February 14, 1894, Dr. Marrs married, in Mansfield, Texas, Bertie A. Smith, daughter of Joel and Parmelia (Clark) Smith, who moved to that place from Minnesota. She is an only child. The Doctor and Mrs. Marrs have one child, LaRue, born on the 6th of March, 1895. Dr. Marrs belongs to several fraternities and is a member of both the County and State Medical societies, at one time serving as president of the former. He is also a member of the United States Board of Pension Examiners, of which he is secretary, and is examiner for many of the old-line insurance companies, as well as for several fraternal societies.

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cont.

JOHN S. MCCLURE is president of the Ten Thousand Club of Duncan, which has been the most active organization in promoting the growth of the town. The club embraces within the scope of its efforts not merely expansion in numbers, but all the interests that make a better city. In thus being chosen to head this club, Mr. McClure's position as a leader of sentiment and action in Duncan is well shown. Mr. McClure has been in the real estate and insurance business in Duncan since August, 1906, for a time being associated with James P. Sampson, the pioneer newspaper man of Duncan, who retired in 1907, and since that time Mr. Newby has been his partner. Mr. McClure was identified with some of the early business activities of Duncan. He came here in 1892, and started the third grocery in town, his old stand being now occupied by the City National Bank. In 1900 he retired from merchandising and engaged in the cattle business in Castro county, Texas. He purchased some cheap lands and leased others, but his enterprise as a whole was marred by ill luck, mainly attributable to disease and hard winters that carried off many of his stock, so that no profits were shown and much of his capital disappeared. After this venture he returned to Oklahoma and for two years was engaged, in partnership, in a grocery business at Lindsay. He has been very active in bringing the advantages of Duncan to the knowledge of the world. He was secretary of the Democratic committee during the last campaign.
    John S. McClure was born in Fannin county, Texas, January 10, 1865, the family having been founded in the Lone Star state by his father, Washington S. McClure, who was one of the pioneers and first settlers of Bonham. Washington S. McClure was born in Tennessee, a son of John McClure, an Irishman from Baltimore, Maryland, and passed his life as a farmer. He was a soldier in the Confederate army, and passed away at Bonham, Texas, December 5, 1877. He married Elizabeth Nally, who died before her husband. They were parents of Henry, of Fort Worth; John S.; and Alice, wife of I. J. Gordon, of Lindsay, Oklahoma. After the death of his parents John S. McClure was reared by his father's sister at Bonham. His opportunities to gain education were confined to brief and infrequent attendance at the country schools, and he began life on a farm, renting land during his residence in his native state. As an orphan he had an uphill fight duing [during?] his early years, and constant industry has been the keynote of his success. He married, January 16, 1889, Miss Taddie Leftwich, of Bonham, Texas, who was born in Bolivar county, Mississippi. They have one child, Nellie May, born November 10, l895. The family is an active one in the affairs of Methodism, and for many years Mr. McClure has served the church as steward.

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cont.

HORACE M. WOLVERTON, of Duncan, Stephens county, ex-United States Commissioner of the Chickasaw Nation and formerly a prominent practicing attorney of that place, is now the proprietor of, the Chickasaw Nursery, one of the prosperous institutions of this locality. He has been a leading figure in the Indian country since 1892, coming hither from McNairy county, Tennessee, where his birth occurred May 1, 1872, and where his father is still prominent in the profession which he himself has honored. Horace M. obtained his education, preparatory to his professional training, in the common and high schools of his native county. His first work as an independent factor in the world was as a farm hand, at eight dollars per month. As early as possible he left home and ventured into the seductive country of the southwest. Within the present state of Oklahoma, he stopped first at

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Ardmore, Carter county, where he took up the study of law with Ledbetter and Bledsoe, but before his admission to the bar he passed on to Duncan and connected himself with its pioneer fire insurance business. At the same time he continued his law studies. In 1894 he was admitted to practice, and continued his professional work in connection with the insurance business. In 1897 he was appointed by Judge Hosea Townsend of the United States court to be United States Commissioner, and he efficiently performed its duties until his resignation of the office in 1900. He was elected to the City Council of Duncan in 1903, and then served as city attorney for two terms. In 1900 he disposed of his insurance business to Sampson and McClure, and embarked in a modest nursery business. He first planted a few pounds of seed on a few lots in Duncan, the proposed product of the enterprise being mostly forest trees and fruit trees. To the surprise of the projector the demand for the young trees became so brisk that he was forced to look for a larger tract of land and for the purpose secured eighty acres east of town, fifty acres of which is now occupied by the very flourishing Chickasaw Nursery. What was originally but a small, uncertain venture, has been developed into one of the most important business establishments of the county. In polities, Mr. Wolverton is a stanch Republican, and his fraternal connection is with the Masonic order, in which he is a Royal Arch.
    The Wolvertons comprise one of the old and historic families of America, his first ancestors in the United States being Charles and Mary (Dixon) Wolverton, who settled in Amwell township, Hunterdon county, New Jersey, in the early years of the eighteenth century. James T. Wolverton, the father of Horace M., is a native of Shelby county, Tennessee, where he was born in 1845. At an early age he lost his parents, and was reared as a hard working boy on a farm, who was able to obtain little access even to the primitive common schools of that district. As a youth he served three years in the Union army, was captured and exchanged, being placed aboard the steamer "Susquehanna," and as one of eighteen hundred others started for the north. When a few miles above Memphis the boat was literally blown to pieces, and only about three hundred of the passengers escaped. Mr. Wolverton, as one of the fortunates, drifted down the river about nine miles, was finally rescued and taken to Memphis. After the war he was connected for a time with the retail liquor business at Adamsville, Tennessee, and subsequently engaged in farming. He then studied law, with special reference to the prosecution of pension cases at Washington, was admitted by the department of the interior, and has since been profitably and honorably engaged at Adamsville, Tennessee, as United States pension attorney. One of his brothers, the late Dr. Wolverton, was a prominent Democrat of Oklahoma, and made considerable stir in his campaign against Mr. Markham for national committeeman of his party. James T. Wolverton married Sallie, daughter of Shepard Holman, and they became the parents of the following: James H., county judge of Comanche county, Oklahoma; Horace M., of this sketch; Florence, wife of Coleman Alexander, of Selmer, Tennessee; Georgia, who married T. J.Daniels, and resides in Corinth, Mississippi ; Maud, wife of Frank Bell, of Adamsville, Tennessee, and Eugene, a resident of the same city.
    Horace M. Wolverton was married in Duncan, Stevens county, April 29, 1894, to Maggie C., daughter of Michael Reynolds, who came to Oklahoma from Rockbridge county, Virginia. Mr. Reynolds was one of the staff officers of the famous Confederate commander, Stonewall Jackson, and located in Oklahoma in 1882. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Wolverton are: Edith, Dorothy, Hester May, Thomas Michael and Royal Allen. Mr. Wolverton is a Republican, a Royal Arch Mason and a citizen of broad and varied talents, and is a valuable factor in the community of his residence.

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cont.

FRANK FUQUA. The upright and able citizen, Frank Fuqua, is honored with the fatherhood of Duncan, Stephens county. He came to the town site when it appeared like any other portion of the prairie, and, with his companion, W. H. Breedlove, erected one of the first business structures and among the first houses, thus laying the foundation of the community. He was also chosen the pioneer mayor of the place, and his fellow townsmen insisted in placing him in the municipal chair for three terms. It was in February, 1891, that Mr. Fuqua cast his lot with the unmarked spot, which has developed into such a prosperous community, and with Mr. Breedlove built a gin in the hollow about two blocks east of the electric power house. The

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machinery for the plant was hauled from Texas. He afterwards built what is now known as the Union and Farmers' gin, operating it for two years. At that time Mr. Fuqua sold his interest and entered into the mercantile business with R. I. Allen, continuing thus until the close of 1907,when he sold out to devote his time more closely to an invalid wife. Mr. Fuqua was born in Stewart county, Tennessee, on the 10th of January, 1858, and quite early in his life, his parents removed to Metropolis, Illinois, in whose public schools he received the bulk of his education. In 1876, a young man of twenty-three, he located in Cook county, Texas, and was first employed by Reasan Jones, an honored Pioneer of that section, whose daughter he afterward married. Ginning and farming were the chief occupations of his later years. In 1891, still with only limited resources at his command, Mr. Fuqua left near Valley View, and became one of the strongest factors in the founding and growth of Duncan. Whatever has come to him in the way of profit, he has earned through the legitimate channels of trade and not through speculation. He has aided in the substantial building of the town by the erection of two business houses on Main street and also residence On East Main street. His public record has also. been most meritorious and further evidence of his faithful and high citizenship. While mayor the bonds were floated for the erection of the water works and he issued the call far the voting of bonds to insure the building of the public school of Duncan. At the present time he is chairman of the School Board, interested in all beneficial public movements, and a Democrat combining the straight forward honesty of the old school with the progressive tendencies of the new. For several years he served as chairman of the Duncan Board of Trade; in Masonry is a member of the chapter, and is a leading worker in the Baptist church, in which he is a deacon.
    Theodore J. Fuqua, the father of Frank was born near Richmond, Virginia, in 1822, and by occupation was a carpenter and builder. He was educated and reached maturity in the Old Dominion, and when a young man removed to Tennessee, where he learned his trade and married Margaret Lowe. After several years of married life in Stewart county, that state, the family home was transferred to Metropolis, Massac county, Illinois, where the father busied himself at his trade until his death in 1882. His wife had preceded him several years, and they are both buried at Metropolis. The following were their children: D. N., a resident of Duncan; Frank of this sketch; James M., of Dunklin county, Missouri; Marcellus, of Memphis, Tennessee, and Edward F., of Dallas, Texas. In 1878 Frank Fuqua married Elvira Jones, who died in 1891 without surviving issue. In 1893 he married Miss A. Jones, daughter of Maston C. Jones, a Texan and the issue of this union are, Nolan, now fourteen years of age, and Herbert, aged twelve.

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cont.

LEWIS H. HARRISON is a pioneer settler in this section of Oklahoma, a builder of its first school house and church, and especially identified with the grazing interests of Stephens county south of Duncan. He has a small but profitable stock farm near Bailey, which he occupies in summer, and moves to Duncan in the autumn where they have the benefit of superior schools. Mr. Harrison was born near Caffrey station, Choctaw Nation, on the 23rd of May, 1866, his father, who was a quarter blood of that tribe, having married a pure Choctaw woman. His mother died while he was yet an infant, and the boy was reared and educated by his paternal grandparents. Although his education was neglected, his surrounding influences were morally good. When he was about fourteen years of age his father brought him from the Choctaw to the Chickasaw country and here he took the trail as a cowboy and followed it until his marriage. For six years he was in the employ of James Rainey, in Rush Creek—a locality which afterward became the site of Bailey—and during the succeeding five years he joined the Addingtons on the Keno ranch. About this time he was called home to divide the estate of his father, and after he had received his portion, chiefly stock, he was the possessor of interest of such importance that they required his entire and close attention. While riding the range south of the present site of Duncan, Mr. Harrison came into possession of so large a tract of country that after accommodating his stock he decided to plant a colony there. He thereupon induced a number of settlers from Arkansas to locate on the land, and proceeded to. erect for them the first school house and church in this section of the country; He was well assisted in his pioneer work by Messrs.

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Hurd, Purden, Cluckand and B.L. Deaton. The building, which provided for both educational and religious advantages, was built of logs, sixteen by thirty-two feet in dimensions, and was erected in 1885. When the railroad came through Mr. Harrison sold seven miles right-of-way through his land, which is an indication of his importance as a landowner at that time. After his marriage in 1890 he located at Doyle, in a short time removed to a point southwest of Duncan, and still later to Bailey, where the family remained for seven years and where they received their allotments for land. Mr. and Mrs. Harrison now own some 1,400 acres there, a large tract in Grady county and property in the city of Duncan. Mr. Harrison bears a strong resemblance to his mother's people. While without a technical knowledge of the forms of good English, he is possessed of a remarkable vocabulary and is really an entertaining conversationalist, and although he failed to acquire a thorough education himself, he has the wisdom to bestow it upon all his children. In Masonic circles Mr. Harrison is well known in this section. He joined the order at Velma, Oklahoma, was triade a Chapter Mason at Rush Springs, and a Shriner at Oklahoma City in 1906.

ZADOC HARRISON, the paternal grandfather of our subject, brought his family into Indian Territory prior to the Civil war, in which he participated as a captain in the army of the Confederacy. His children were as follows: Hilburn and Joel, deceased; William H., a citizen of Moon, and a representative in the Oklahoma. legislature; John and Robert, of Atoka, seat of the county by that name; Susun, deceased, who married a Mr, McVay and died without issue; Martha, who became the wife of Dr. Spruell and died leaving two children: Rebecca, wife of A. J .Allen, of Center, Oklahoma; and Daniel, the father of Lewis H.   Daniel Harrison was born about 1837 and spent his life mainly as farmer and a grazer. He enjoyed a collegiate education, but, made no practical use of his attainments. He first married Huahoka, a full blooded Choctaw, woman, and as he was a quarter blood himself his children partook strongly of the Indian type. After the death of his first wife, he married Lizzie Mayfield, who survived him without issue. He lived in both the Choctaw and Chickasaw nations, and at his dath [death], August 23, 1888, he left a fair estate. He was a citizen of high morality and taught it to his son; was a Master Mason, and took an active interest in all matters pertaining to the improvement of his people. During a portion of his active career he sold goods in both Kinlisha county, Choctaw Nation, and Pickens county, Chickasaw Nation. Lewis H. Harrison married Egdalee Breazeale, on the 15th of October, 1890, his wife being the daughter of John Breazeale, a soldier of the Confederacy, who died in Texas in 1872. Mr. Breazeale was of German ancestry and his wife, Rosanna Lemons, of Scotch-Irish blood, the parents both passing away during the same year leaving the following children: Mary J., who married a Mr. Selby and died in Cooke county, Texas, the mother of a family; Francis, who also married and died in the county named, the father of a daughter; H. M., deceased, without issue; Cynthia, wife of O. O. Burt, of Roger Mills county, Oklahoma; Rosalina, now Mrs. John Hicks of Bailey, Oklahoma, Mrs. Lewis H. Harrison; and John, who is now a resident of New Mexico. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Harrison are: Emmett E., Cassie M., Doyle W., Cervera and Nellie C.

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cont.

WILLIAM ISAAC GILBERT.   A dozen years ago, a certificate of admission to the bar was the only basis for reputation and distinction as a lawyer that William Isaac Gilbert possessed, Since that time he has achieved a place among the leaders of the Oklahoma bar, and as a criminal lawyer has a record of remarkable success. He had completed his course of reading and passed the examination and received admission to the Logan county bar when only eighteen years of age. Soon afterward he was appointed by Judge Buford to prosecute a negro for violating the revenue laws of the Territory, this being his first case. The conditions in the Territory and in the new state preclude the possibility of a member of the bar choosing some specialty of practice to the exclusion of all others, and while Mr. Gilbert's career marks him as especially effective in criminal practice, he has engaged the attention of a large clientele in general practice. In southwestern Oklahoma he has defended many of the noted murderers of this section of the state. He and A. J. Jennings of Lawton defended the Thomas Brothers in what is regarded as the most celebrated murder case in the state, and secured their acquittal. Among other cases might be

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cited the defense of Charles Lochran for the murder of J. W. Penson because of slander of the former's wife; Dorset Brothers, for killing Drew Wade on similar provocation; Frank Thomas, for taking the life of a baseball umpire; William Alexander, for shooting a negro woman; Smiley and Dixon, at Lawton, for murder. He has defended more than one hundred cases of this character, from which the government has been able to secure, all told, but four convictions for manslaughter and one sentence of four years. As a trial lawyer, especially when on a hard case for the defense, Mr. Gilbert exhibits a strength and variety of resources that mark the born lawyer. Aside from his court and jury practice, he attends to the local legal work for the Rock Island, the Frisco, and the Santa Fe railroads. As a resident of Duncan since 1896, he has become closely identified with the business affairs of the town, being a director in the City National Bank of the town, and also in the First National Bank of Comanche, in the First National Bank of Terral, and the Bank of Cornish.
    William Isaac Gilbert was born at Martinsville, Missouri, August 18, 1876. After spending the first sixteen years of his life at Martinsville, where he attended the public schools, he came to Oklahoma with his parents, in 1892. With his arrival in this new county he began his career of practical effort. His father, who was also a lawyer, had been a member of the bar at Martinsville for many years, and had gained more than ordinary professional honors. Watonga, in Blaine county, was the first home of the family in this territory, and the sixteen-year-old boy began earning his way by hauling freight from the railroad at Kingfisher to Watonga. From this occupation he took up the study of law in his father's office, and made such creditable progress that within two years he had prepared himself for professional work and was admitted to the bar by examination.
    Horace Gilbert, his father, was born in Vermont, in 1830, a son of William H. Gilbert, with whom he came out to Missouri in 1852 and located on a farm in Clay county. Having received his education in his native state, Horace Gilbert took up the study of law in Missouri and had established himself in practice before the beginning of the war. As a sympathizer with the south, he entered the Confederate service, and after two years in the army returned to his practice. He was a successful lawyer, and continued in his work until his death in 1898. His wife's maiden name was Trescindia Wren, whose father was a Kentuckian and at an early date had moved to Bethany, Missouri, and passed the remainder of his life in that state, being a farmer and man of means. Mrs. Horace Gilbert is now a resident of Oklahoma City. She was the mother of the following children: Cora, wife of J. M. Lewis, of Kinsley, Kansas; Emmett, formerly in business in Montana, but who died in New York in 1893; Harry E.; a lawyer, who died in El Paso, in 1904, being at that time associated in practice with his brother, William L.; Mattie W., wife of J. D. Vinson, of Sapulpa; Bessie, wife of Edward H. Brewer, of Oklahoma City; William Isaac; and Sadie, wife of Robert O. Cull.
    William I. Gilbert married, December 10, 1898, at Dallas, Texas, Miss Lucy Witt. They have had four children: Emmett, who died in infancy; Jeanne, now six years old; Marjorie, who died at eighteen months; and William Isaac, Jr., born in July, 1906. Mr. Gilbert is a Democrat, though not actively identified with party politics. He was a delegate to the Sequoyah convention, one of the notable movements in the history of statehood. Fraternally he is a Knight Templar, Mason, a Shriner, a Knight of Pythias and an Elk.