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NEWTON S. FIGLEY, postmaster of Hastings, one, of the pioneer farmers and dealers in horses and mules, in his locality, is a man moral worth and substantial character. He was educated in the country schools of Brown county, Kansas, and reached manhood on his father's farm near Horton. Here he became thoroughly posted in all that pertains to the live stock industry, but when forced to leave the family homestead on account of paternal reverses he went to Kansas City, Missouri, and temporarily worked as a freight brakeman for the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Company. He was thus engaged when the Comanche country was opened to settlement, and, absenting himself from work long enough to register, drew No. 1554, and located the northeast quarter of section three, township four, S., range nine, W. In the main he has been engaged in farming ever since. His faithful Republicanism, combined with his solid and popular qualities, secured his appointment to the postmastership of Hastings in the month of February, 1908.
     Postmaster Figley is a native of Carroll county, Ohio, born November 5, 1869, son of James J. Figley, who was for years a stockman and farmer of Brown county Kansas, where he settled in 1873. There also he died in August, 1899. The Elder Figley was a man of great industry and natural ability, and at one time owned one of the best improved and most abundantly stocked of the many good tracts of land near Horton. He was also an active and representative Republican of his county but his good comradeship induced him to become the endorser for too many unreliable or unfortunate associates and he himself suffered financial ruin. James J. Figley married Sarah M. Huston, who yet resides in Brown county, Kansas, and they became the parents of the following: Andrew, of Brown county; Eva, wife of John Gray, a resident of Jackson county, Kansas; Newton S., of this sketch; Lizzie, who is the wife of James Farmer and lives in Thomas county, Kansas; and Anson, of Canton, Ohio.
     Newton S. Figley was married in Brown county, Kansas, on December 29, 1896, to Anna Hopper, daughter of Joseph B. and Charity (Henion) Hopper, the famity coming from Bergen county, New Jersey, where Mrs. Figley was born August 20, 1874. The children of the Hopper family were as follows: Rachel, who married A. V. Berry and died in Brown county, Kansas; Arthur, living at Maryville, Missouri; Mrs. Newton S. Figley; Myra and Irving, also of Brown county, Kansas, and Lloyd, of Cairo, Illinois.
The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Figley are Joseph M., Florence, Gertrude and Preston N.

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cont.

JESSE A. MARLEY. One of the promoters of the town of Hastings, and in other ways conspicuously identified with the founding and development of the town is Jesse A. Marley, who came to the county August 7, 1901. Having purchased the business of the old Independent Mutual Townsite Company of Oklahoma with which he had been associated as salesman, he replatted the town and refiled the plat, and has since been busy in dealing in town real estate and promoting its development as a business and residence center. From a farm adjoining the town, he carved two of the well known additions, known as the Marley Addition and South Hastings. In 1902 he was appointed United States commissioner for the apportionment of the lots.
     Mr. Marley was one of the organizers and first directors of the First National Bank of Hastings. He managed the financial affairs connected with the location and equipment of the South-western Academy at this place in 1904, and by contributions to educational and religious movements and in many other ways has assisted in the making of Hastings.

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Mr. Marley, who was born in Carroll county, Arkansas, November 4, 1876, was reared in the atmosphere of hard work and was handicapped by lack of schooling. Two three-month terms were the principal advantages that he had in this line, and for the rest he had to improve such opportunities as came to him. Planting corn at fifty cents a day was one boyhood employment that he remembers, and he did farm work of every description, making rails and digging wells in Arkansas, and even continuing this hard labor after he came to Oklahoma in 1897. He was engaged in farming for three years near Shawnee, and then took up the real estate business. On changing his occupation he felt the need of knowledge of law, and from text books acquired a knowledge sufficient to gain him admission to the bar. He has made his practice a profitable side issue, preparing cases in not one of which he has ever been defeated in court, but has too much business in his regular line to devote himself seriously to his law practice.
     Jesse A. Marley's father was Henry M. Marley, who settled in Carroll county, Arkansas, about forty years ago, and died at Siloam Springs, Arkansas, in 1894, aged sixty-two. He was a Union soldier in the Fifth Kansas regiment of cavalry, having been a resident of Fort Scott, Kansas, when the war broke out. He was a blacksmith by trade, learned it while growing up in his native state of Indiana. He married at Fort Scott, Mary E. Allen, daughter of Jesse Allen. She now lives at Hastings with her son. Her other children were: Harvey; Florence, wife of John Gardner, of Drakes Creek, Arkansas; Maggie, wife of T. M. Faulkner, of Hastings; Lydia, wife of N. L. Bowman of Chandler, Oklahoma; George and Nora, of Hastings. Jesse A. Marley married, December 25, 1907, in Ozona, Texas, Abigail M. Pierce, daughter of J. S. Pierce, a ranchman, formerly of Pennsylvania. Mrs. Marley grew up in Crockett county, Texas, and was educated in Baylor University and in the San Antonio Female College.

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cont.

ROBERT L. GIBSON, president of the Bank of Sugden, Jefferson county, and prominent for many years in the cattle business of the Red river country of Oklahoma, is a nephew of the famous Sugg brothers, pioneer ranchmen of the territory. He was born at Cotton Plant, Monroe county, Arkansas, on the 20th of December, 1866, and is a son of Captain Gideon and Castero P. (Sugg) Gibson. Quite early in his life his parents removed to Gainesville, Texas, where, as well as at Spanish Fort, the boy received his education. As a youth of seventeen, he joined his uncle Sugg in the cattle business, at the latter point, and although his experience had previously been in the production and handling of cotton he seemed naturally adapted to his new venture. In 1883 he took a large drove of cattle to the Powder river country of Wyoming, remaining in that section as manager of his uncle's interests until the outbreak of the Rustler's war, with its disorganizing effects upon the business. At this time he closed out the business and returned to Oklahoma. Outnumbered as they were, the cattle owners threatened to be exterminated by the Rustlers, and the government responded to their appeals by sending a military force from Fort Laramie to protect their vested interests. Mr. Gibson was one of the leaders among the cattle owners, and witnessed the last battle between the warring factions, prior to the interference of the United States regulars. On his return from Wyoming, Mr. Gibson became manager of the cattle interests of Sugg Brothers in the territory, and thus remained until they retired from business. He then entered the field independently, and only abandoned the business when statehood threatened to cut off the open range and make it unprofitable. In 1901 he became identified with the financial interests of Oklahoma by founding the Bank of Sugden, of which he remains president. He also engaged in the banking business established at Waurika, now the First National Bank, and built the first brick bank structure in the town. Besides being thus established as a strong financial factor in the prosperity of Jefferson county, Mr. Gibson is one of its large landowners and pays taxes on considerable property in Sugden. Further, he is a leading Democrat of his section, being chairman of the County Central Committee, a member of the executive committee and a prime figure in the conduct of the first campaign of the party in the state.
     Captain Gideon Gibson, the father, was born in Gibson county, Tennessee, on the 26th of December, 1838, and was reared on his father's farm, which was devoted to the breeding and raising of blooded horses. He was educated, first in the public schools of Jackson, Tennessee, and prepared for med-

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icine in the old McDowell Medical College, of St. Louis, Missouri. As a soldier of the Confederacy, he was commissioned captain of a company in the Sixteenth Tennessee Cavalry, his command being a portion of Forrest's famous division. His troops surrendered at Johnsonville, Tennessee, on May 16, 1865, and the captain immediately located at Cotton Plant, Arkansas, and became the doctor. There he met his future wife, whom he married March 11, 1866, and later removed to Kennett, Dunklin county, Missouri, where he died in 1875. Dr. Gibson was a son of Stephen Gibson, who was a native of Raleigh, North Carolina, and at the age of sixteen migrated with his father and other members of the family to west Tennessee. He was a slave owner, a successful stock raiser and business man, and died in 1885 at the age of eighty-one. His wife was known before marriage as Miranda McFarland. The great grandfather of our subject was Israel Gibson, an Englishman by birth and the other members of his family, besides Stephen, were Roger, Tobias, Green and Newberry. They were tobacco manufacturers of Camden, Tennessee, with the exception of Newberry, who became a merchant of Memphis, Tennessee, member of the firm of Titus, Gibson and Company. He was murdered in his sleep by one of his partners.
     Mrs. Dr. Gibson was a daughter of Thomas C. Sugg, who was born in Monroe county, Mississippi, in 1812, and married Mary De Priest. The mother of Mrs. Sugg was born at Russellville, Alabama, in 1780, and died at Quincy, Mississippi, in 1883. Thomas C. Sugg passed his life as a farmer, came to Arkansas before the Civil war and followed his children to Texas, where he passed his last years, dying at Gainesville, in May, 1907. The children of his family were as follows: John W., of McLean, Texas; Mary, who married Colonel Bagly and died at Cotton Plant, Arkansas, leaving three children; Andrew, who died of wounds received in the Confederate service; William, who was killed in the battle of Little Rock; Castero P., widow of Dr. Gibson and mother of our subject; Calvin E., the noted stockman of Texas and the Territory, who died at Gainesville and left three children living at Los Angeles, California; and Joel D., of San Angelo, Texas, the surviving member of the famous Sugg Brothers. Dr. and Mrs. Gibson were the parents of Robert L., of this review; Belle, wife of C. L. McCowl, of Gainesville, Texas; and Stephen A., of Fort Worth, Texas. On December 12, 1894, Robert L, Gibson married Dora Bristow, who died July 2, 1898, leaving two children—Daugherty and Wren. His second union occurred September 15, 1899 to Dena Bristow, sister of his first wife. the issue of this marriage are J. D., and Polly. It should be stated that Mr. Gibson is well known as a fraternalist, being a Master Mason and a member of the Knights of Pythias.

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cont.

JAMES H. WHITESIDE, cashier of the First National Bank of Ryan has passed the greater part of his business life in Oklahoma, and been connected with several banks in this state and Texas. He was born near Dawson, Navarro county, Texas, in 1872, and received his common school education at Dawson under the pioneer teacher of that section of Texas, E. J. L. Wyrick. In 1890 he moved with his parents to the Panhandle of Texas, located a claim in Greer county and spent about nine years on the farm and ranch. After completing a business course in the Metropolitan Business College at Dallas, Texas, he secured a position with the Quanah National Bank, Quanah, Texas, in 1900, with whom he was creditably connected till the fall of 1902 when he resigned his position to organize the First State Bank of Eldorado, Oklahoma. Selling out soon after organization, he accepted the appointment of special commissioner and receiver of the defunct Exchange Bank of Hollis, Oklahoma, and in 1903 accepted a position with the First National Bank, St. Jo, Texas, with whom he was connected as assistant cashier until 1905, when he accepted the cashiership of the First National Bank of Ryan. He has always felt interested and took an active part in the upbuilding of the community or town in which he has lived, serving on town council board and is now a member of the school board elt Ryan endeavoring to make that town one of the best for educational advantages in southwest Oklahoma.

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cont.

RUFUS F. BENTON. Thirty years ago, when the cattleman. and his herds were the sole disturbers of Indian sovereignty in the Indian Territory, there came into the southwest corner of the old Chickasaw Nation a young cowboy who rode attendance upon the herds of J.W. Dobkins, still remembered as a Red River ranchman of considerable wealth and note in that period. Rufus F. Benton, who is , known to practically all the citizenship of Jeff-

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erson county, Oklahoma, was the cowboy who came across the river from Cooke county on that day of March 17, 1878, and who, as events proved, became permanently identified with a region that is now one of the wealthiest sections of Oklahoma. Eighteen years old at the time, a vigorous, healthy knight of the plains, he continued to herd the cattle and look after the interests of ranchman Dobkins for six years, lacking only six months of the time spent in school. In those days of intense practical activity on the plains, educational advantages were esteemed less highly than in the same sections to-day, and it was a well considered review of his own literary defects that led him to seek schooling after he had well started on a career.
     Mr. Benton finally became a partner of Mr. Dobkins, the basis of their agreement being the "increase plan," so common among cowmen then and still known to the craft. The partnership lasted eight years, and the country east and southeast of Ryan was the scene of their success and some minor reverses. Since the dissolution of their partnership in 1892, when the beeves were shipped to market. and the profits and stock divided, Mr. Benton's influence as a cattleman increased year by year with the multiplication of his herds until they numbered as high as 5,000 during several years of his range operations. Several times a year he chanced the cattle markets, and made or lost small fortunes as the market happened to be favorable or unfavorable. About the time the north and south line of railroad was built through this section of the Chickasaw country, Mr. Benton, being a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation through his marriage, fenced all the country he could and according to Indian law became proprietor of all the land on which he placed these improvements. His cattle grazed quietly over the hills and grew into productive wealth with the minimum of care and expense on his part, while he gave most of his time to opening a farm and bringing into cultivation the rich bottom soil along the Red river valley. Here he grew the roughness which was the only feeding his cattle needed above the grass of the range. With the approach of statehood, which he perceived would limit the range, he curtailed his cattle interests and increased the farming operations until he had fifteen hundred acres under the plow. With the allotment of lands in severalty he selected lands that he had previously fenced, and by subsequent purchases he has increased his holdings in Jefferson county, which lies in the southwest corner of the old Chickasaw Nation, until he is noted as the proprietor of 1,700 acres, besides owning a similar amount across the Red river on the Little Wichita in Clay county, Texas. On the latter ranch he keeps what remains of his once noted herd of cattle.
     Mr. Benton bears witness to the once common practice of "mavericking" during the range cattle era. It was a common practice, he states, among the cattlemen for a man to place his brand on any animal over a certain age, wherever found, and in the spring time the branding iron played an important part in the accumulation of wealth. It was during the particular season of the year when this practice was at its height that Benton, then little more than a boy, joined a cattle outfit engaged in mavericking. For a calf out of each bunch as his reward, he built the fires and kept the iron hot while the ownership of young cattle was being rapidly and sometimes questionably established. His brand was the flying "A," and though in early years it was insignificant, it came to be one of the most familiar in southern Indian Territory.
      Mr. Benton was born in Cooke county, Texas, February 18, 1860, and responded to the call of opportunity to enter the cattle business before he had really enjoyed all the training and experience that belong to boyhood. His father was William F. Benton, who was born in Georgia, in 1826, and as a boy accompanied his father (William Benton) to East Texas, and from there moved to Cooke county in 1859. He was a private in the Confederate service during the Civil war, lived the life of a farmer, and died in Cooke county in 1902. Of Irish stock, the Benton family have long been characterized by tendency to agriculture as a pursuit and to Democracy as a political faith. By his first wife William F. Benton had the following children: Susan, wife of A. W. Dobkins; Sarah J., wife of William Poasous, of Ryan; James, deceased; and William, of Belcherville, Texas. His second wife, Elizabeth Sanders was a daughter of Black Brazwell, a Louisiana farmer, and widow of Pleasant Sanders. The Sanders children were: Mattie, deceased, the former wife of Jesse Johnson; and Laura, wife of Amos Johnson. By his second marriage William F. Benton had: John, who died at Tuscpla, Texas; Blake, who died in Montague county, Texas; Rufus F.; and George, deceased. William F. Benton married for his third wife Mary Scott, a widow with

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two children (William and Mary). Two children were born of this marriage, Lizzie, wife of W. M. Miller, of Ryan, and Zelda, deceased. Rufus F. Benton married, March 9, 1889, Mrs. Julia Gray, daughter of Wiley and Amanda (Holloway) Johnson. The Holloways were Choctaws. By her first husband, W. C. Gray, Mrs. Benton had three children, Effie, wife of Gilbert Benton; Minnie. wife of Joshua W. English; and Mrs. Willie Fullerton. Mr. and Mrs. Benton's children are: Cora, who died. young; Elmer, Amanda and Lola.

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cont.

SAMUEL LEE WRAY, vice-president of the first National Bank of Terral, and who owns and operates a large and valuable farm near the town, is one of the most substantial landowners and citizens in this section of the state. Although he has never been active in politics or public affairs, his interests as a property owner and a householder have always kept him in line with intelligent and progressive citizenship. Mr. Wray is a native of North Carolina, born June 24, 1864, his father, who was a Baptist minister, being also born in the Tar Heel state (in 1834). The family is of Irish ancestry, the paternal members of it consisting also of John, William, James and Kate, the sons mentioned remaining in their native state of North Carolina. The mother of our subject, formerly Viola Rebecca Hunder, died in 1877, the mother of the following: Mary, who married Milton Bird and died at Fort Smith, Arkansas; Samuel Lee, of this notice; Sallie, who died unmarried, and William B., a merchant and prominent citizen of Ryan, Oklahoma. The father was educated in the schools near his birthplace, and quite early in life was converted and during the period of the Civil war engaged in the ministry of the Baptist church. In 1870 he brought his family west, and after residing in Red River county, Texas, for some eight years removed to Newport, Clay county, where he farmed until 1897, when he settled in Louisiana and there passed his last years.
     Samuel L. Wray obtained but poor educational opportunities in Red River county, Texas, Whither his parents had removed when he was but six years of age. At that time the country was new and sparsely settled, and the schools were most primitive in equipment and teaching force. As far as book learning was concerned, therefore, when at the age of twenty-four he crossed the Red river into Oklahoma to really commence a new life he had a very poor stock of knowledge to fall back upon. But he possessed an abundance of determination, health and common sense, and was a thorough farmer-which was more to the point in that country. With a couple of ponies, a saddle and a little pocket money, he fell in with S. W. Ryan, and at once was employed as a man-of-all-work about his ranch and farm. Like the Israelite of old he worked for his future father-in-law for seven years, but he served for cash as well as for his employer's daughter. Soon, after his marriage he began farming at Ryan, Jefferson county, and remained in that community until 1897, when he fenced a large tract of land near Terral and commenced to improve and cultivate it. Being a citizen by marriage, when the allotments were made he selected the land which he had occupied, and now has under control for himself and his dependents a fine body of 1,800 acres. With the assistance of ten tenants he produces a good crop of cotton, grows thousands of bushels of com and has also a fine herd of cattle. His home occupies a conspicuous site about three and a half miles northeast of Terral. His striking and simple residence, with white enclosure, his commodious red barn and other modern improvements, mark his homestead as one of the most substantial and attractive in Jefferson county. Both Mr. Wray and his wife have also large interests in the First National Bank of Terral, of which, as stated, he is vice-president. Although thus prominent as a strong factor in the prosperity and progress of his home community, he has never participated in politics or the administration of public affairs. His wife was formerly Serena B. Ryan, daughter of S. Walker Ryan, who may also be called the father of Mr. Wray's good fortune. The children born to their marriage of July 22, 1894, are as follows: Lester F., David W., Carrie E., William Thomas, Samuel Noble and Grace B. Wray.

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cont.

WILLIAM E. SMITH is one of the proprietors of the Walter Mill and Elevator Company, which was one of the early and important business enterprises of the town. He bought his share .in the establishment in 1906 and has since been connected with the welfare and progress of the town. His partner is W. F. Lingenfelter. Their mill has a daily capacity of 150 barrels, and their flour and other products are sent out over the state and even goes so far as Wichita.
     Mr. Smith is not new to Oklahoma life and affairs. He was one of the first settlers of

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the Strip at its opening in 1893, and at the end of an exciting horse race he located a claim three miles northwest of Medford. After proving up his claim he moved into Medford, and for several years before coming to Walter was engaged in the grain and elevator business there. For fifteen years prior to becoming a resident of Oklahoma he had been a citizen of Harper county, Kansas, at first as a farmer and then in the grain and elevator business at Freeport.
     Mr. Smith was born in Johnson county, Iowa, May 10, 1855. James Smith, his father, was born in Lancashire, England, in 1822, and having learned the trade of cotton manufacturing, followed it for a time in Philadelphia after coming to the United States. Later he became a pioneer of Johnson county, Iowa, and was successfully engaged in farming until his death in 1868, when he left ample provisions for his family. During the Civil war he endeavored to en1ist in the Union army, but was rejected by the physician. He followed the fortunes of the Republican party, but never as a practical politician. He had left England for America on his wedding day, and his wife long survived him, passing away in September, 1898, aged seventy-one. Their children were: Hannah, who married David Hope; William E.; Eliza, wife of William Hope, both she and her sister Hannah living in Atlantic, Iowa; Emma wife of James Cozine, of Audubon, Iowa; and Z. W., on the old homestead in Iowa.
     William E. Smith completed his education in the Iowa City Academy and began his career as a, farmer. In 1879 he and his family drove a wagon overland to Kansas, and took up a claim in Harper county, where he continued his residence and business activity until moving to Oklahoma.. He married, October 6, 1875, Miss Nettie E. Edgerton, daughter of William and Hannah (Hastings) Edgerton, whose other children were: Mary, deceased, whose husband was James De Croft; and Rebecca, who married Casper Cooper, of Harper, county, Kansas. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have the following children: LaRue E., of El Reno, in the harness business; Grace E., wife of Ernest L. Guthrie, of Bentonsport, Iowa; and Glen, at home. Mr. Smith, while never a political aspirant has followed local politics closely during his residence in Oklahoma and is well acquainted with the local leaders. He is a Master Mason and Odd Fellow, having passed the chairs in both and represented the Freeport Odd Fellows in the Kansas Grand Lodge.

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cont.

ARTHUR RIMMER LEWIS, M. D., has been a resident and has practiced medicine in the territory now included in Jefferson county since 1900. He had an office in the old community at Fleetwood, on Red river, for a time, was then located at Terrall and in 1903 came to the principal commercial center of this county, Ryan. His professional attainments and personal integrity have been such as to win the confidence of the people, and he has a strong following and is an influential citizen of the town and county. Officially he is local surgeon for the Rock Island Railroad, and is the county and city health officer.
     Mr. Lewis, who was born in Kosciusko county, Mississippi, May: 26, 1872, a son of a physician, completed his public school studies in Mexia, Texas, and then became a clerk in a drug store of that town. His work led him to study pharmacy, and in 1895 he graduated from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy. He pursued his studies further with the object of entering the profession of medicine, and in 1900 graduated from the Barnes Medical College of St. Louis. As a graduating thesis he chose the subject: "The chemical analysis of cotton seed oil," and its scientific discussion of a subject of much interest to Texas people was of such merit that the paper was published in the Dallas News, and secured a wide circulation over the state. Dr. Lewis came to Oklahoma very soon after his graduation. A Democrat in politics, he takes much interest in local affairs. He was married, February 12, 1903, at Terral, to Miss Nettie Roberts, daughter of George Roberts, a farmer who formerly resided at Corsicana.
     Dr. Lewis is a physician by right of inheritance as well as choice. His grandfather was Dr. Ozias Lewis who was a native of Culpeper county, Virginia, of Scotch-Irish parentage, and passed his active life in Kosciusko. county, Mississippi. He opposed secession in 1860, and throughout the war remained a Union man. He married Emily Comfort, of Litchfield, Connecticut, and their children were: Harriet, wife of James Hammond, died in Kosciusko county; William, a dry-goods merchant of Flint, Michigan; John, a traveling salesman with residence in Cincinnati; one daughter deceased, who was the wife of J.M. Comfort; and Dr. J.M. The last named, who was the father

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of Dr. A. R, was a graduate from both the literary and medical departments of the University pf Michigan, and a lifelong scholar in various lines of knowledge. He often made addresses, and wrote a treatise of much value entitled "The home treatment of malarial diseases." He was actively engaged in the practice of his profession up to the close of his life on December 28, 1889. For many years he was local surgeon for the Houston and Texas Central Railway, and during the yellow fever epidemic of 1878 gained prominence as an assistant state and county health officer. Dr. J. M. Lewis married Sallie J. Rimmer. Her father, James Rimmer, a native of Connecticut, was a large planter and one of the wealthy residents of Attala county, Mississippi, owning many slaves and when the time came giving earnest support to the cause of the Confederacy. The children of J. M. Lewis and wife were: Dr. Arthur R.; James M., of Terral; Ozias, of Mexia, Texas; Louise, wife of John Davis, of Mexia; Esther, wife of G. A. Lyall, of Mexia; Mabel, who married W. C. Schutts, of Fort Worth; Mattie and John W., of Mexia.

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cont.

GEORGE A. AHERN. Shortly after the open of the Kiowa-Comanche reservation, George A. Ahern came to Frederick, a railroad station and less than half a dozen houses constituted the chief features of the town. By profession Mr. Ahern was a lawyer, and while this region might have presented some splendid opportunities for immediate prosperity to the agriculturist or stockman, it required no little foresight and confidence for a professional man to locate here. Mr. Ahern looked ahead to the time when Frederick, being the center of what he conceived to be the richest portion, agriculturally, of the reservation, would become a flourishing business and residence town, and at this time it is possible to justify and commend his foresight in the fact that Frederick has become one of the most prosperous and populous towns in southwest Oklahoma, and, under the new state constitution, is the county seat of the new county of Tillman.
     Soon after locating in Frederick Mr. Ahren was appointed United States commissioner, and in December, 1903, left that office to become postmaster. As postmaster nearly four years he saw the business of the office increase to almost the amount transacted by the average second-class office, this fact being the very best index of the town's growth during these years. In order to devote all his attention to his practice, he resigned the office in the spring of 1907, and his wife received appointment as his successor, she being the present incumbent.
     George A. Ahern was born in Brooklyn, New York, and at the age of three years he was taken by his parents to Wisconsin, and three years later to Seward county, Nebraska, where the family improved a homestead and lived until their removal to Friend, in Saline county, same state. A good public school education supplied him with a fair preparation for life, and while engaged in other occupations he studied law in Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska, until he was admitted to practice by the supreme court at Lincoln in 1900. In June, 1901, he came to western Oklahoma, and lived in Granite until the opening of the Kiowa-Comanche country a few weeks later. After a brief residence at Lawton, he came to Frederick and has since been identified with the town in the various capacities outlined above. Mrs. Ahern, his wife, who before her marriage was Miss Frances Kalb, is a native of the state of Iowa.

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cont.

GEORGE W. MOSBY was one of the first citizens and business men of the town of Frederick, at the time of its founding after the opening of the Kiowa-Comanche reservation. As a real estate, financial and immigration agent he has been an active factor in the upbuilding and development of this country. In every new town where the advance has been as rapid as in Frederick there are necessarily some leading and influential men, to whom are due some of the substantial and most important improvements. Mr. Mosby and his partner, C. A. Schwartz, under the firm name of Mosby and Schwartz, have a large business that is directly connected with the growth of town and vicinity. As local land and immigration agents of the M. K. & T. R. R, they direct many homeseekers to new homes each year, and their business in this line is very gratifying from their own and the public point of view. Mr. Mosby established his farm loan business at first in partnership with F. H. Babcock, and on the formation of the present firm added the general real estate and insurance business. They built and are owners of the Mosby and Schwartz building, a large two-story brick business and office building on Grand avenue.

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     Mr. Mosby was born in Ray county, Missouri, in 1878, a son of Benjamin L. and Phebe B. (Thomas) Mosby, the latter of whom is still living. His father was a native of Woodford county, Kentucky, and his mother of Greenup county, in the same state, and they settled in Ray county among the early settlers before the war. The father was a cousin of the famous Col. John M. Mosby, commander of Mosby's Partisan Rangers in the Confederate army. Mr. Mosby was reared in a small town (Camden, Missouri) in his native county, attended the schools there, and got his first business training in Camden, Missouri, and Excelsior Springs, Missouri. The greater part of his business career has been spent in southwest Oklahoma, a coul1try with which he is enthusiastically identified. On June 10, 1906, he married Miss Anna Mannan, a daughter of one of the leading citizens of Morgan county, Indiana, but who now possesses agricultural interests in the vicinity of Frederick.

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cont.

WILLIAM A. STINSON. One of the members of the townsite company that founded the town of Frederick was William A. Stinson, one of the most prominent cattlemen of the southwest. Since the establishment of the town he has constantly worked for its advancement, has placed large capital in various enterprises to promote the welfare of the town, and has been of particular service to the business interests by erecting several of the business blocks that give the town such a substantial appearance. When the Kiowa-Comanche country was thrown open to settlement in August, 1901, he established himself in business at Lawton as land agent. His thorough familiarity with the country, derived from many years' experience in the cattle business, brought his services in demand in locating homesteads for newcomers, and many of the settlers of this region are indebted to him for the selection of their present prosperous farms. This same extensive acquaintance with the resources of this country and of the entire southwest led him in his choice of Frederick as his home and seat of business. It is his firm belief that this locality excels every other in richness of soil, natural resources, climate, and as a place of business and residence. A public-spirited advocate of all worthy public enterprises, he has been a constant influence in keeping up enthusiasm for the growth 2nd development of Frederick and surrounding country. His firm (Stinson & Mounts) in June, 1907, established a bank at the new town of Ken in the Big Pasture.
     Although Mr. Stinson is a wealthy man and very prominent because of his extensive business interests in Oklahoma and elsewhere, he began his career some forty years ago as a driver of a freighting wagon with an ox team, and for many years his principal earning capital was his energy, industry and foresight. His early career was in Texas, where he became identified with the cattle business when that industry first began to revive after the Civil war. Born in Saline county, Arkansas, in 1851, he lost his mother soon afterward, and in 1862 his father moved to Red River county, Texas, where he died in 1866. Thus left dependent on his own resources at the age of fifteen, he remained in Red River county until 1867 and then located in Denton county, which was still close to the Texas frontier. During the following years he came to know the cattle ranges of Texas and the famous cattle trails to the north perhaps as well as any cattleman of the time. By 1874 he had succeeded in getting a start on his own account in the cattle business, and for the subsequent thirty odd years has been a well known figure in the industry so that the name William A. Stinson has a special distinction among those of the leading cattlemen of the southwest. With the other qualities which have marked his success, he has been a thorough progressive, and much of his success no doubt is due to his facility in adapting himself to circumstances and changing conditions. For example, when wire fencing was introduced during the early eighties instead of joining the obstructionists who were the active factors in the fence-cutting wars of the period, he at once came forward as an advocate of the new era and began fencing in large tracts. In 1884 his headquarters were established in Greer county (then a part of Texas), and besides the large areas of pasture leased in this county he also leased similar amounts in the adjoining Kiowa-Comanche reservation. In this latter region alone he had 170,000 acres leased and under fence, and in 1889 he fenced in 20,000 acres in the Caddo .country. A few years later, with the advance of permanent settlers into this region, he moved his cattle north to Woodward county, where he fenced large tracts. The opening of the Cherokee

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Strip in 1893 compelled another move, and he has since operated his cattle enterprises in eastern Colorado. His partner in this business is his brother, J. R. Stinson, and together they have, at this writing, about 7,000 head of catt1e on their pastures in Colorado. Mr. Stinson has been a member of the Baptist church at Frederick for several years. He was married in Collin county, Texas, to Miss Florence Jones, a member of the well known Portman family of that county. They have five children, William, Maud, Albert, Edna, Byron.

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cont.

ALEXANDER W. KERR, the pioneer merchant of Hobart, and during the past three years its efficient clerk, was born at Sparta, White county, Tennessee, October 9, 1862, a son Alexander W. and Laurinda (Moore) Kerr, both of Tennessee, and a grandson of Levi Kerr, one of the pioneer< of that commonwealth. During the Civil war Levi Kerr was a Union man but too old for army service, and although he took no part in the struggle he was badly abused by the opposing side, and more than once was left for dead by cowardly attacks upon him. The war proved a sad and disastrous affair to the Kerr family. Levi had five sons old enough and able for army service, and at the beginning of the struggle he told them choose sides for themselves. They were divided on the subject and fought in both armies, brother against brother. Alexander W. Kerr chose the Confederate side and went to the front. Receiving a furlough in 1863 he started to return to his home and family, but was brutally murdered on the way by the Gatewood bushwhackers, his remains finally reaching home where they were buried. During, the conflict both armies passed by the home farm, confiscating or destroying everything in their wake, leaving nothing but the barren land.
     After the war and the death of her husband Mrs. Kerr began with her two small sons the reconstruction of the farm, taking the lead in all work, both indoors and out, and it was truly a noble struggle of womanhood. She eked out a good living and kept the little family together, continuing the struggle until called to her just reward in 1873. She lived and died in the faith of the Baptist church, but her husband was a Methodist. They were married in their native state of Tennessee and their two sons were Cissero and A. W., the elder dying in Texas.
     A. W. Kerr received a good elementary education in the common schools by his own exertions after a man grown. After the death of his mother he found a home with his grandfather Kerr, but after attaining to the age of nineteen he decided he could paddle his own canoe and left without his grandfather's knowledge or consent. ,Coming to Texas, he first stopped at McKinney in Collin county, where he found himself short of money and compelled to work for his bread. Securing employment as a farm hand, he saved his earnings and was able later to attend one term of school at Tyler, Texas. For four years after leaving school he worked as a farm hand in Dallas county, during a number of years was a clerk and bookkeeper in a grocery store in Hillsboro, and then became the proprietor of a dry goods and grocery store, which he conducted successfully for a number of years, finally closing out to enter the real estate, loan and insurance business. In 1902 he came to Hobart and with a partner bought the dry goods stock, valued at twenty-five thousand dollars, of the Brook-Roper Mercantile Company, the firm name of Kerry and Kerr continuing with ever increasing success until the memorable fire, of July 30, 1903, which destroyed sixty-five business houses. During the conflagraton [conflagration] dynamite was used to destroy the buildings and check the fire, and in one explosion Mr. Kerr was caught and his body badly mangled, nearly costing him his life. He lost the sight of one eye, and the accident left him somewhat maimed for life. In April, 1905, he was elected the city clerk of Hobart, and has since succeeded himself in that office, proving a valuable and conservative official, and at the same time has done much for the upbuilding of Hobart.
     At Itaska, Texas, in 1890, he married Miss Florence Rice, who was born in Jasper county, Alabama, in 1870, a daughter of Captain E. J. and Martha (Gravely) Rice. Mrs. Rice is a daughter of the Rev. Gravely of Jaspar, Alabama. Captin [Captain] Rice entered the Confederate service early in the conflict, went through the war to the close and was made the captain of his company. Returning home, he moved with his family to Johnson county, Texas, where he was a farmer and stock trader until moving to Dallas, his present home, and he yet continues his farming and stock trading. His children are: Sarah P., Effie Golden, Florence Kerr, William, Nettie, Ralph and Mabel, all of whom came

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with their parents to Texas but are now scattered in different parts of the country. The three children born to Mr. and Mrs. Kerr are Alexander W., Julian and Philip I. Mrs. Kerr is a member of the Baptist church, and Mr. Kerr is identified with the Knights of Pythias, the Masons, the Woodmen of the World and the Fraternal Union of America.

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cont.

REV. FATHER HENRY KICKX, rector of St. Peter and Paul's church, Hobart, diocese of Oklahoma, was born at Ghent, Belgium, July 11, 1878, and was reared in that City, attending the Sisters school, St. Barbara's University, St. Nichola's College, and graduating from the Theological Seminary of Ghent. He was ordained priest August 23, 1903, and took his place among the ministers of the Word. September 19, 1903, he sailed from Antwerp to America, and on October 9, of the same year he arrived at Chickasha, Oklahoma, there he became assistant priest. He labored among the people of that district until October 1, 1905, when he was chosen rector of St. Peter and Paul's church at Hobart.
     On St. Patrick's day of 1902 Father Isidore, O. S. B., the well known missionary priest of Anadarko, invited by a few Catholics scattered about Hobart, came for the first time to this city, where Holy Mass was celebrated in the Sherman House, about thirty Catholics assembled. Soon after this, Captain Hill donated from his addition a few lots for the erection of a Catholic church, and Father Isidore delegated his assistants, Father Stanislas, Father Aloysius and Father Hippolyte to come here occasionally and dispense the ministrations of God. In 1903, when Lawton became a Catholic parish, Father Steber, who had traveled all over the country in his apostolic visits, was appointed the first pastor of the newly erected parish. After a few months he was succeeded by Father Huffer, whose jurisdiction extended also over Kiowa county. Father Buffer visited Hobart more regularly than had formerly been done, and even organized the place as one of his principal missions. Cline's Hall, the north and south frame school buildngs [buildings], had been for some time the place of Worship for the Catholics of Hobart, but in 1904 the old frame postoffice building was purchased by Father Huffer and moved to the lot donated by Captain Hill. The following summer the revered father left for a vacation to Europe. The Catholics of Hobart owe to Father Huffer's efforts and sacrifices the little church of which they are so justly proud. He labored zealously and through many hardships to bring Hobart to the front. During his absence Father Layman succeeded him, and October 1, 1895, Father Kickx was appointed by the Rt. Rev. Bishop Meerschaert as first resident pastor of Hobart. From the beginning of his pastorate Father Kickx placed his whole heart in the new field of labor. He is a man of force in his pulpit, energetic in his administrations, and under his directions and assisted by a faithful congregation, daily increasing, his work has been phenomenal [phenomenal]. The old postoffice building has been remodeled and comfortably furnished, new lots adjoining have been purchased, a commodious house erected, and Father Kickx is looking forward in the near future to the building of a commodious new church on the corner lots he has purchased. He is also contemplating the erecton [erection] of a Sisters' school accessible to all regardless of religious belief. Just recently he has purchased a plot of five acres of land to be used as a cemetery exclusively for Catholics. When Father Kickx took charge of the Hobart church in October, 1905 there were only ninety-seven communicants, which he increased the first year to two hundred and ninety-eight and the second year to live hundred and ninety-one. He is enthusiastic in his church work and in building up a greater Hobart. In addition to the parish here he has charge of twelve missions to which he makes monthly visits.
      Father Kickx is a son of Professor John J. and H. (Goethals) Kickx, both natives of Ghent, Belgium, and both members of prominent old families of Ghent. Mr. Kickx was numbered among the leading educators of Belgium, being president of the State University of Ghent, president of several other institutions of learning, the author of several books on botany and was well posted on all matters pertaining to state and nation. He died in 1887, aged but forty-five, and his widow yet survives and resides at the old homestead in Ghent. Both she and her husband descended trom honored old Catholic families there. They were blessed with eight children, four sons and four daughters, and all are yet living and residents of their native country with the exception of the Rev. Father Henry Kickx, the loved rector of St. Peter and Paul's church, Hobart.