Tulsa, Oklahoma - History (part 2 of 10)

During the World war Mr. I lagan saw service with the Twenty-fifth C. A. C. and was on duty at Fort Rosecrans, California. He is now a past state commander of the American Legion and a member of its national executive committee. He also has membership with the Sons of the American Revolution, being eligible thereto by reason of ancestors in the paternal line who fought for the cause of independence. He belongs to the Kiwanis Club and to the Advertisers Club, the City Club, the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and the Knights of Columbus. The last named indicates his connection with the Catholic church and he is now a communicant in the Holy Family parish. His political allegiance is given to the democratic party, of which he is an ardent supporter, and outside of his law practice he devotes much of his time to civic and political matters. He has filled a number of important offices, though never seeking political preferment. By reason of his natural and cultivated gift of oratory he is many times called upon for public addresses and his discussion of any subject shows that he has thoroughly studied it, for preparedness is one of his marked characteristics.

Walter Earl Browx

Walter Earl Brown, whose name is a familiar one in banking circles throughout Oklahoma, is now chairman of the executive committee of the First National Bank, an institution which is the outcome of the recent merging of the old First National and the Union National Bank of this city, Mr. Brown having come to this place while president of the Union National. There are few men more familiar with banking problems and conditions than he and his progressive spirit has been an element in the growth of the institution with which he is associated. It would be difficult to determine the full measure of his influence and efforts upon the financial history of the state but all acknowledge his prominence in developing the banking interests of Oklahoma.

Mr. Brown was born in Grenola, Elk county, Kansas, August 6, 1880. His father, P. I. Brown, has also been connected with banking interests for many years but is now living retired in Tulsa, enjoying in well earned rest the fruits of his former toil. He wedded Hannah E. Jackson, a native of Missouri. and they have become parents of two children who are yet living, the brother, J. Ray, being identified with the Bank of Commerce at Okmulgee. Oklahoma. The parents are consistent members of the Christian church and Mr. Brown belongs to the Masonic fraternity, loyally exemplifying in his life the beneficent spirit of the craft. In the maternal line the ancestry is traced back directly to General "Stonewall" Jackson who commanded the Confederate troops in the Civil war and was the brave and intrepid leader that was killed by a mistaken volley from his own troops. Mrs. P. I. Brown was a member of the Jackson family.

W. Earl Brown pursued his early education in the public schools of his native state and afterwards attended the Henry Kendall College of Tulsa. Before finishing his course in business college, however, he became interested in the cattle business in Oklahoma and was thus engaged from 1895 until 1901. He is still interested to some extent in the live stock industry, although other business pursuits have in later years claimed the greater part of his time and attention. On attaining his majority he entered the field of banking and in 1900 organized the First National Bank of Beggs, Oklahoma, of which he was cashier from 1901 until 1903. He was also for six years identified with the American National Bank of Sapulpa, Oklahoma, as cashier. In 1903 he became cashier of the First National Bank of Mounds, Oklahoma, in which capacity he continued to serve for five years. It was after this time that he became associated with the American National Bank of Sapulpa, and on severing that connection he came to Tulsa, where he organized the Union National Bank, of which he became the president. This bank began business on the 2d of October, 1916, with a capital of three hundred thousand dollars and a surplus of thirty thousand dollars. At the close of business at the end of the first day on which the bank operated it had on deposit one million eighty six thousand seven hundred and sixty-nine dollars and twenty-seven cents. Its steady growth well reflected the Tulsa spirit of progress. The continuous growth of the bank made it necessary to secure a larger space from time to time until it was occupying what was formerly five distinct rooms. On the 23d of September, 1919, the capital of the bank was increased to five hundred thousand dollars and by the last day of the year the surplus had grown to one hundred and twenty five thousand dollars - figures which indicate very clearly the solid and healthy condition of the institution. The record indicates clearly also the service rendered to the public and the confidence merited through actual performance in business affairs, for the growth of a bank depends upon the confidence of its patrons and depositors. Mr. Brown brought his strong and thorough experience to bear in the conduct of the institution and as its chief executive officer made it one of the strongest financial concerns of the state. On the 1st of January, 1921, the Union National was merged with the First National Bank of Tulsa under the latter name and Mr. Brown became chairman of the executive committee. Aside from this connection he is vice president of the First National Bank of Chandler, Oklahoma. His business interests are most extensive and of an important character, contributing in large measure to the growth and prosperity of the state. Mr. Brown is also connected with the Clearing House Association, of which he was formerly president.

In August, 1902, Mr. Brown was married 10 Miss Cora Pendleton, a .laughter of Thomas A. Pendleton, a native of Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. Brown have become parents of three children, Naomi, sixteen years of age; W. Earl Junior. a lad of eleven; and Carol Maxine, six years of age.

Mr. Brown is identified with various fraternal organizations. He has membership with the Masons, the F.Iks, Woodmen of the World, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is likewise a member of the City Club of Kansas City. Missouri, and lias membership at Tulsa, in the City Club. Country Club and Chamber of Commerce.

Politically he is a democrat, giving stanch support to the party, and his religious faith is that of the Presbyterian church, of which he is a loyal follower. He is interested in outdoor sports, to which he turns for recreation, but allows nothing to interfere with the faithful performance of his duties in connection with his business affairs. He has ever believed that the banker is most worthy of support that most thoroughly safeguards the interests of the depositors and it has been along that line that he has conducted his affairs. His resourcefulness and ability in all things are bringing him to the front as one of the leading bankers and financiers of the state.

Edwin R. Perry

There is much of almost spectacular interest in the life record of Edwin R. Perry, and yet his activities have been of the most practical character, his plans well defined, his actions definite and urgent. Utilizing every opportunity that has come to him and utilizing it to the fullest extent, he has reached a commanding position in legal circles and in connection with the development of the oil interests of Oklahoma, being now particularly active as vice president of Cosden & Company and also vice president of the Cosden Oil & Gas Company He is a Harvard man and his university course was pursued at the cost of earnest self-denying effort, for he had no financial resources at his command in early life. He was born in Granton, Ontario, March 4, 1875, a son of William and Barbara (Legge) Perry, the former a native of the north of Ireland, while the latter was of Scotch descent. The father devoted his life to the occupation of farming and thus provided for his family of ten children, eight of whom are living. The mother is deceased.

Edwin R. Perry obtained his early education in the schools of Canada and afterwards attended the Northwestern Academy and the Northwestern University, from which he graduated in 1900 with the Bachelor of Arts degree. During his student days he was one of the most popular men at Northwestern and again after he entered Harvard, he was the recognized leader in his college fraternity, the Beta Theta Pi, and took an active interest while at Northwestern in the Young Men's Christian Association work. He had no particular interest in the fiction writers, giving no time to the "best sellers," but was a most careful student of history and of the lives of men who made history. The trend of his interests at that time 'foreshadowed his course in later life. After leaving Northwestern he entered Harvard University, where he pursued his law course and won his LL. B. degree as a graduate of the class of 1903. During his student days at Cambridge he became a member of the Phi Delta Phi. He was admitted to the bar of Illinois in 1903 and entered upon the practice of his chosen profession in Chicago. There he remained until 1907, when he removed to the southwest and for eight years followed his profession in Tulsa. During that period he gained a well merited reputation as a most able and successful lawyer, especially capable in handling large corporation interests and other civil cases. At length he entered the field of oil operations and is today prominently associated with the Cosden interests, being now the vice president of the firm of Cosden & Company, and also of the Cosden Oil & Gas Company. He readily recognizes the vital points of any business proposition.

In 1910 Mr. Perry was married to Miss Pauline Nelson of Bradford, Pennsylvania, a daughter of C. W. Nelson, one of the oldtime operators in the oil fields of the southwest. To Mr. and Mrs. Perry have been born two children: Mary Pauline and William Edwin, aged, respectively, nine and four years. Air. Perry belongs to the Country Club, and he and his wife are leaders in the social circles of Tulsa. He is a man of attractive personality as well as of splendid executive ability. His personality and good judgment were always among his big assets and in the statement of any business proposition or in the discussion of any civic problem he is logical, clear and emphatic. He has never claimed to have the oratorical ability of a Clay or a Webster, but has always been a convincing speaker and his position upon any vital question of a business or of a public nature, is never an equivocal one.

Fontaine L. Allen

Strong and resourceful as a trial lawyer, fortified by that comprehensive and accurate knowledge of law and precedent that makes the ideal counselor, endowed with deep appreciation of the dignity and responsibility of his chosen profession, Fontaine L. Allen holds secure vantage ground as one of the representative younger members of the bar of the state of Oklahoma, and is junior member of the well known Tulsa law firm of Denny & Allen.

Mr. Allen was born at St. Joseph, Arkansas, on the 8th of January, 1885, and is a son of John Thomas Allen and Mary Elizabeth Allen, the former born at Texas, Missouri, August 2, 1859, and the latter in Woodruff county, Arkansas, September 28, 1861. John T. Allen gained his early education in the schools of his native state and continued his studies in Arkansas, to which commonwealth the family removed in 1865 when he was a mere boy. He became a successful teacher in the schools of Arkansas, acquired valuable farm property and became one of the prominent and influential citizens of Searcy county. He served as postmaster at St. Joseph, Arkansas, was a leader in community affairs and was affiliated with the Masonic fraternity. He continued his residence at St. Joseph until his death, which occurred on the 26th of March, 1919, and his widow now resides at Cape Girardeau, Missouri.

After completing the curriculum of the public schools of his native town, Fontaine L. Allen continued his studies in the Arkansas State Normal School at Leslie, besides availing himself of the advantages of an excellent academy at Marshall that state. He became a popular teacher in the public schools of his native state and later completed a course in a business college at Springfield, Arkansas. At Eureka Springs he became secretary to the district attorney, under whose preceptorship he prosecuted the study of law, and at Berryville, Arkansas, he was admitted to the bar on the 23d of August, 1912. In the preceding April he had initiated the practice of law at Eureka Springs and in that same month he was there elected city clerk. In April of the following year he was elected city attorney, besides being appointed also to fill out an unexpired term as county attorney of Carroll county. At the close of this term he was elected county attorney and he made an excellent record as public prosecutor. He continued in the active work of his profession at Eureka Springs until August, 1918. when he came to Oklahoma and accepted a position in the Central National Bank at Okmulgee. One month later he resigned this post and came to Tulsa, where he resumed the active practice of his profession. He formed a partnership with John A. Denny, under the firm name of Denny & Allen, and this effective professional alliance has continued, the firm having built up a substantial and representative law business and gained high standing at the bar of Tulsa county. Special attention is given to corporation law and to the handling of civil cases and probate matters. Mr. Allen holds membership not only in the Tulsa County Bar Association and the Oklahoma State Bar Association, but also in the Arkansas Bar Association. He has been an active and effective worker in the democratic party and in the period of the World war gave active and loyal service in furthering the various governmental agencies for upholding the prestige of American arms. At Eureka Springs, Arkansas, he did vigorous service as a Four-Minute speaker in behalf of the various drives in support of the government loans and other war activities, his services having been continued most loyally also after he removed to Oklahoma.

At Eureka Springs, Arkansas, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Allen to Miss Florence Ruby Pendergrass, daughter of Harvey T. and Anna (Swett) Pendergrass, the former a native of Lebanon, Missouri, and the latter of the state of Maine. Mr. Pendergrass has been engaged in the drug business at Eureka Springs for fully forty years and is one of the honored and influential citizens of that place. Mr. and Mrs. Allen have two children : Harvey F. and Mary Florence.

Mr. Allen is prominently affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, in which he was raised to the degree of Master Mason in April, 1906, in Campbell Lodge, No. 115, Ancient Free & Accepted Masons, at Eureka Springs, Arkansas, his present ancient craft affiliation being with Delta Lodge, No. 425, at Tulsa. He also holds membership in Marshall Chapter, No. 94, Royal Arch Masons, and in the Scottish Rite he is identified with Indian Consistory, No. 2, at Mc- Alester, Oklahoma. In the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine he is a member of Akdar Temple, at Tulsa. He holds membership also in Tulsa Lodge, No. 946, Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks, and Silver Plume Lodge, No. 182, Knights of Pythias. He and his wife hold membership in the Christian church.

Robert Joseph Lindsay

Robert Joseph Lindsay, secretary of the Hope Engineering & Supply Company, is a man whose business condition and success rest upon an unassailable integrity and excellent judgment. He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, October 12, 1883, and is a son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Beaver) Lindsay, both of whom were natives of northern Ireland and came to the United States in early life. While spending his youthful days under the parental roof Robert J. Lindsay attended the public schools and at sixteen years of age started out to provide for his own support by entering the employ of the Philadelphia Gas Company, in which connection he worked his way upward from a very minor position. After two years with that company, during which he gained a wide knowledge of the business and of various questions relative thereto, he made his way westward to Independence, Kansas, as a representative of the Hope Engineering & Supply Company, a gas engineering concern, engaged in construction work on casing-head plants and oil pumping stations. This company has built some of the best plants of the kind in the western country and its pipe lines extend from coast to coast and from the northern to southern boundaries. Step by step Mr. Lindsay advanced, winning promotion after promotion through the development of his powers and through his initiative and energy. In 1915 he was elected secretary of the company and is building up a big business through his efficiency, constantly extending his operations in the southwest. .Men who have long known him speak in no uncertain terms concerning his "absolute integrity, excellent judgment and gentlemanly deportment." He is the kind of man who will always suffer wrong rather than inflict it on others ami his high principles of integrity and honor have featured strongly in every business transaction with which he has been associated. He is likewise the secretary and treasurer of the Hesco Gasoline Company, having a plant at Drumright, and is interested in the Emerald Oil Company and other companies operating in the oil fields of the southwest.

Mr. Lindsay was united in marriage to Miss Bertha A. Billingham, a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and a daughter of Benjamin Billingham. They now have four children: Clara Gladys, Robert Joseph, Alfred Hammon and Elizabeth Sarah. Mr. Lindsay and his wife are prominent members of the First Methodist Episcopal church, taking an active interest in its work since coming to Tulsa in 1915. Mr. Lindsay is very prominent as a member of the Bible class and is a thorough Christian gentleman. His social activities are directed by his high ideals. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity and is interested at all times in those things which make for good. His Masonic relations connect him with the lodge, the chapter, commandery and Mystic Shrine. What he undertakes he accomplishes and his record proves that success and an honored name may be won simultaneously. Identified with the Hope Engineering & Supply Company from its organization in 1906, he has continuously served as one of its directors and for the past eight or ten years has been western manager, so that todav he occupies an enviable position in oil circles in Tulsa.

Isaac Granville Rosser

Isaac Granville Rosser is the president of the Rosser-Casebeer Furniture Company, having one of the leading stores of this kind in Oklahoma. He is a progressive young business man, alert and enterprising, watchful of all opportunities pointing to success, and as the years have passed his course has been marked by a steady progress that has brought him to a place in the foremost rank of the merchants of Tulsa. Mr. Rosser was born in Memphis. Tennessee, December 6, 1880, a son of Isaac and Virginia (Taylor) Rosser. The father was born in North Carolina and in his boyhood days went to Tennessee, where for many years he engaged in business as a cotton commission merchant, lie served in the Confederate army during the Civil war and passed away in [883. His wife, who was born in Mississippi, died in 1885.

Isaac G. Rosser, their only child, was a public school pupil in Memphis, Tennessee, and initiated his business career there in connection with the furniture trade, lie served for seven years as an employe in a furniture house in that city but at the time of the Spanish-American war put aside all business and personal considerations and joined the army. lie became a first lieutenant in the state militia and as a member thereof participated in the capture of the murderers of Captain Rankin.

It was in the year [906 that Mr. Rosser came to Oklahoma, settling first in Oklahoma City, where for six years he was connected with the Bass Furniture

Company. He then removed to Tulsa to accept the management of the Bass Furniture & Carpet Company of this city and continued to act in that responsible position until IQ19. when he resigned and organized the Rosser-Casebeer Furniture Company, which was incorporated and of which he has since been the president. Their store is located at 517 South Main street and they occupy five stories and the basement of a modern business structure fifty by one hundred and forty feet. They carry an extensive line of high-grade and medium-priced furniture and their business methods commend them to the patronage of the public, for they are at all times reliable and progressive and put forth earnest effort to please their patrons, recognizing the fact that satisfied customers are the best advertisement. The building occupied by the company was erected by them and their establishment is in every way thoroughly modern and splendidly equipped.

In 1910 Air. Rosser was married to Miss Lilla Bass, a daughter of J. M. Bass, of Houston, Texas. Mrs. Rosser is very active in social circles and also in the Methodist Episcopal church, of which both Mr. and Mrs. Rosser are members. Fraternally he is a Mason, holding membership in Delta Lodge, No. 71, A. F. & A. M., while in McAlester Consistory he has attained the thirtysecond degree of the Scottish Rite. He likewise belongs to Akdar Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., and has membership in the Lions Club and the Retail Merchants Association, of which he was president during the first three years of its existence. His political allegiance is given to the democratic party but without desire for office, although he is remiss in none of the duties of citizenship but on the contrary gives active aid and support to all measures and movements for the general good. His life, however, has been preeminently that of a thoroughgoing and successful business man. Starting out in connection with the furniture trade immediately after completing his education, he has always concentrated his efforts and attention along this line and there is no phase of the business with which he is not thoroughly familiar. His initiative spirit, too, has produced results which have been most effective in the upbuilding of the trade and the establishment is at all times a credit and an ornament to the commercial circles of Tulsa.

Abraham S. Vixer

Abraham S. Viner, of the Viner Investment Company, builders of medium priced homes in Tulsa, was born in Philadelphia, August 5, 1885, a son 0I Jacob and Mary (Schwartz) Viner, who were natives of Russia. Coming to the United States in 1883 Jacob Viner engaged in general merchandising for twenty years in Kansas City, after spending some time in Philadelphia. He later went to Europe and South Africa, when he managed business there for two years. He next removed to Natchitoches, Louisiana, where he carried on general merchandising for two years and then returned to Kansas City, becoming identified with the Viner Chandelier Company, chandelier manufacturers, with which firm he remained until 1920, when he retired from business.

Abraham S. Viner. after attending the public schools of Kansas City, became a student in the Louisiana State Normal and at nineteen years of age he entered the employ of his father who was then engaged in general merchandising in Kansas City. A little later, however, he embarked in business on his own account there and remained in the western metropolis of Missouri until 1917, when he came to Tulsa and with his brother William organized the Viner Investment Company, for the building of medium priced homes. He has developed the Park Hill district and the Hill Crest district of Tulsa, makes his own plans, superintends the construction and also owns a lumberyard and lumbermill. Thus controlling the various phases of the business he has developed his interests to substantial proportions and the company is now conducting an important and profitable business.

On the 19th' of September, 1906, in St. Joseph, Missouri, Mr. Viner was married to Miss Anna Epsten, daughter of Henry and Rachel (Freedenburg) Epsten, her father a wholesale junk dealer. They have become the parents of four children : Lillian, Dorothy, Walter and Ruth. Mr. Yiner and his wife are members of Temple Israel and he is also identified with the brotherhood organization of the church. He belongs to the Southgate Lodge, No. 547, A. F. & A. M., of Kansas City, Missouri, and attained the fourteenth degree of the Scottish Rite in Kansas City, while later he took the degrees up to and including the thirty-second, in McAlester. He likewise belongs to Elysian Grotto, No. 52, of Kansas City, and is a member of Akdar Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Tulsa. Mr. Viner belongs to the Chamber of Commerce, is a director of the Real Estate Exchange of Tulsa and has membership in the Kiwanis Club. He is actuated in all that he does by a progressive spirit and is constantly making a forward step in his business career.

George A. Green

George A. Green, manufacturer of automobile tops at Tulsa, has developed a business of substantial proportions, his trade growing steadily by reason of his excellent work and the satisfaction of patrons, who are ever the best advertisement. Mr. Green was born at Sidney, Delaware county, New York, May 21, 1888, his parents being Ulysses T. and Emma (Parsons) Green. The father, also a native of the Empire state, devoted his life to the occupation of farming.

George A. Green was reared under the parental roof and completed his education in the high school of his native city. He was a lad of but twelve years of age when he began to earn his living, giving his attention to farming interests and to the raising of horses and cattle. He was connected with farm . work for three years and then entered the employ of the Cortland Cart & Carriage Company, with which he remained for six years. He served a full apprenticeship, learning every angle of the business of building and trimming fine coaches and carriages, working his way upward to the position of head trimmer. He spent seven years in Detroit in the employ of Major A. Fisher, making customs bodies and trimmings. On the 2d of June. 1914, he arrived in Tulsa and opened a small shop for the manufacture of automobile tops and customs trimmings, making top, seat and tire covers. The business was begun on a small scale but has rapidly increased until it is now one of substantial proportions, and he has the reputation for doing the highest grade work (if this character in the state. His trade has grown steadily by reason of the excellence of his workmanship, which is attested by satisfied customers. Me does 110 advertising, his trade coming entirely from the district, and week by week his business seems to grow and expand, lie has also become identified with oil interests ami other business affairs in the southwest hut concentrates his attention upon his manufacturing interests and specializes in high-class work, seeking no other kind. lie belongs to the Automobile Dealers Association and has exhibited at the automobile shows.

.Mr. Green was married to Miss Irma Beaumont of Muskogee, and they are well known socially in Tulsa. They have one child, Paula Jean, born April 14, 1921. In politics Mr. Green's position is that of an independent democrat. Fraternally he is connected with the Elks Lodge, No. 946, and he became one of the early members of the Kiwanis Club. He likewise belongs to the Automobile Club and to the Chamber of Commerce and is interested in all those forces which make for the growth and progress of the city through the extension of its trade relations and the upbuilding of its intellectual, moral and civic forces.

Robert Edward Adams

Robert Edward Adams, who is the head of the Adams-Walker Investment Company of Tulsa, is a man of splendid business ability, of marked initiative and untiring energy. Back of his activity in real estate and oil circles is a broad experience in the practice of law which won him distinction as an able member of the bar. All of the experiences of his life have been made to count for much in the attainment of the present-day success. A native of Odessa, Missouri, he was born March 27, 1881, his parents being Noah P. and Mary Elizabeth (Muir) Adams, the former a native of Kentucky, while the latter was born in Odessa, Missouri. The father devoted his life to the occupation of farming and was a veteran of the Civial war. He belonged to the Christian church and ever guided his life according to its teachings. The family numbered nine children, of whom seven are living.

Robert E. Adams, having completed a public school course, attended Odessa College and then entered the Washington University at St. Louis in preparation for a legal career, winning his LL. B. degree in 1905 and gaining admission to the bar in the same year. He then engaged successfully in law practice for eleven years at Taloga, Oklahoma, after which he came to Tulsa, devoting altogether fifteen years to his practice as a member of the bar. He displayed splendid ability as a trial lawyer, kept his work up and never let a case drag along in the courts. Possessing also good business judgment, as a consequence he made a financial success of his law practice. Since 1916 he has given his attention largely to the oil business, to building and loan operations and to the handling of real estate, being now at the head of the Adams-Walker Investment Company, his associate in this undertaking being W. Frank Walker. They have eleven solicitors in their office and are conducting a business of extensive proportions. Air. Adams readily recognizes the advantageous point of a situation, displaying at all times splendid business ability and untiring energv.

About fourteen years ago Mr. Adams was married to Miss Sarah Black, a native of Oklahoma, and they have become the parents of three children : Helen thirteen years of age ; Robert, aged ten ; and Mary Lou, four, constituting a most interesting little family group.

Air. Adams is a generous contributor to the Christian church and fraternally he is connected with the Masons, having attained the Knight Templar degree in the York Rite, while with the Nobles of India Temple of Mystic Shrine he has crossed the sands of the desert. He is likewise identified with the Independent

Order of Odd Fellows and he is a member of the City Club, the Advertising Club and the Tulsa Automobile Club. In politics he is a democrat and at one time was state committeeman from Dewey county. In Masonic circles, too, he was called to office and is a past grand master of the blue lodge. He still belongs to the State Bar Association and finds many of his friends among his former colleagues and contemporaries in the profession. He is a clear and interesting speaker, strong in debate, and a logical reasoner. What he has already accomplished is a foreshadowing of future successes and Tulsa has reason to be congratulated on the fact that he has cast in his lot with hers, for his activities are of a character that contributes to public prosperity and progress as well as to individual advancement.

Dr. Albert Walton Roth, who in his practice in Tulsa is specializing on diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat, was born in Fairfield, Iowa, July 7, 1873, his parents being J. E. and Laura (Craine) Roth, the former a native of Marietta,- Pennsylvania, and the latter of Ohio. In young manhood Mr. Roth went to Iowa, where he engaged in the dry goods business for a time and later became identified with the Iowa State Savings Bank at Fairfield, in which undertaking he was very successful. He was regarded as a man of thoroughly sound judgment and his opinions and advice were sought by the entire community. He was truly a self-made man and started out in the business world when a boy as an employe in a dry goods store in Fairfield at a salary of but one hundred dollars per year. From that initial point, however, he worked his way steadily upward and became one of the men of affluence in his community, winning at the same time that good name which is rather to be chosen than great riches.

After acquiring a public school education Dr. Roth attended the Parsons College at Fairfield, Iowa, and then entered the Hahnemann Medical College, from which he was graduated in 1900, with the M. D. degree. He served as an interne and from 1900 until 1904 he. was in general practice in Detroit, Michigan, and did special work in the Detroit eye, ear, nose and throat clinic. He also took postgraduate work in the Manhattan College in New York city. In 1905 he located in Fort Collins, Colorado, where he specialized on the eye, ear, nose and throat and not only did he win a creditable professional position, but was also active in civic and public affairs there. He was president of the local Young Men's Christian Association and was active as a member of the state committee of the Young Men's Christian Association. He belonged to trie Presbyterian church and took a most helpful interest in the Sunday school work. He served as alderman of the city and thus in many ways was influential in the public life of his community. In 1909 he went to Texas and in April, igio, he came to Tulsa, where he has remained, limiting his practice to diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat. He is not only one of the oldest, but ranks as one of the best representatives of his profession in this field. He has thorough knowledge of the science of medicine and surgery, particularly in the line of his specialty and gives close personal attention to all of his duties of this character. He is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and belongs to the Tulsa County, < )klahoma State, American and Southwestern Medical Associations, to the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Oto-Laryngology and to the Mid-west Medical Society. In IQ16 he was president of tin- Tulsa Medical So- ciety. He has at all times used every opportunity that would enable him to promote his professional knowledge and skill and his scientific attainments have placed him in a point of leadership in his chosen field. Aside from his practice he is a director of the Guarantee Title & Trust Company of Tulsa.

In June. 1900, at Lake Okoboji. Iowa, Dr. Roth was married to Miss Anna Crawford, a daughter of Oliver Crawford. Dr. and Mrs. Roth have two children : John Edward, Jr., and A. Walton.

Dr. and Mrs. Roth are members of the Presbyterian church, in which he is serving as an elder. Mrs. Roth is president of the Young Women's Christian Association and she was chairman of the women's division of the Navy League and chairman of the women's division of the United War Work Campaign during the World war. In 1917 she served as a member of the executive committee in charge of the Red Cross drive. She belongs to the Tuesday Book Club and also to the Shakespeare Club. The memberships of Dr. Roth extend to Tulsa Lodge, No. 71, A. F. & A. M., and to the Chamber of Commerce, as well as to various club organizations, including the Rotary, Automobile, City and Country Clubs. He is quite active in the Rotary Club, but his greatest activity perhaps outside of business is in connection with the church. He was a former teacher in the Bible school.

Roger Seymour Sherman

Roger Seymour Sherman, whose literary training at Harvard was supplemented by preparation for the bar in the University of Pennsylvania, is now engaged in law practice in Tulsa as a member of the firm of West, Sherman. Davidson & Moore, ranking high in the legal circles of the state. Mr. Sherman is a native of Pennsylvania, his birth having occurred at Titusville on the nth of March, 1879. He is descended in both the paternal and maternal lines from ancestry represented in the Revolutionary war. His parents were Roger and Alma (Seymour) Sherman, the former a native of Tennessee, while the latter was born in Michigan. The father, also an attorney by profession, served as a Confederate soldier during the Civil war and for many years was a resident of Titusville, Pennsylvania, where he passed away. His political allegiance was at all times given to the democratic party and his position upon any vital question was never an equivocal one. Fraternally he was a Mason loyal to the teachings of the craft, and his religious faith was that of the Episocpal church. To him and his wife were born two children, the daughter being Mrs. Thomas W. Phillips of Butler, Pennsylvania.

The only son, Roger S. Sherman, having pursued a high school education in his native city, afterward attended a preparatory school at Lawrenceville, New Jersey, and then entered Harvard for his literary course, winning the Bachelor of Arts degree upon graduation with the class of 1901. A review of the broad field of business, with its varied opportunities along industrial, commercial, agricultural and professional lines, determined him to enter upon the study of law and after a special course in the' law school of the University of Pennsylvania he was admitted to the bar in September, 1907. He entered upon active practice in the Indian Territory and for a time continued alone in the work of his profession but on the 1st of February, T91 5, entered into his present partnership relation as a member of the firm of West, Sherman, Davidson & Moore. Their Dosition at the Oklahoma bar is a creditable one and Mr. Sherman is widely rec- ognized as a lawyer of ability, who most carefully analyzes and prepares his cases and whose reasoning is sound and logical. He belongs to the Oklahoma State and American tar Associations and his fellow members of the profession speak of him in terms of high regard.

Professional interests, however, were put aside by Mr. Sherman in 19 17 in order that he might aid his country in the struggle for world democracy. On the 13th of May, 1917, he en'.isted and went to the Officers' Training Camp at Little Rock, Arkansas, where he won a commission as captain of field artillery, afterwards being assigned to the Three Hundred and Thirty-sixth Field Artillery of the Eighty-seventh Division. He went to France on the 20th of August, 1918, spending six months abroad and returning on the 21st of March, 1919. His military" record was in harmony with that of his Revolutionary war ancestry and with the record of the family through all the intervening years - a record characterized by patriotic loyalty to the country at all times.

In his religious belief Mr. Sherman is a Presbyterian and politically he is a democrat. He belongs to the University Club, the Country Club, the Petroleum Club and to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, No. 946, of Tulsa.

George Coyle

George Coyle, general superintenc'ent of the Prairie Fipe Line Company and a dynamic figure in the business circles of Tulsa, was born in Olean, New York, October 13, 1864, his parents being M. A. and Ellen Coyle. The father was born in Ireland and when twenty-four years of age came to the United States, where he engaged in business as a tanner. He has departed this life but is survived by three of the eight children of the family.

George Coyle, after obtaining a public school education which was concluded by a course in the high school, started out in the business world in the capacity of bookkeeper but has long been connected with the oil business and began his career as a pipe line man by entering the employ of the United Pipe Lines, the predecessor of. the National Transit Company. For two years Mr. Coyle operated in the oil fie'ds of New York and Pennsylvania and then went to Ohio to become an employe of the Buckeye Pipe Line Company, with which he remained until 1903. That year witnessed his removal to Kansas and for some time he was in the pipe line department of the Prairie Oil & Gas Company at Independence. Faithfulness and capability led to his steady progress and frequent promotions, and with the organization of the Prairie Pipe Line Company he was made its general superintendent and one of the directors. He has since concentrated his efforts and energy upon the management of the business, which is now conducted under the name of the Prairie Pipe Line Company, with offices in the Exchange Bank building in Tulsa. Mr. Coyle has been connected with the mid-continent oil field since 1903 and has made his home in Tulsa since 1909. Important and extensive are the duties that devolve upon him, requiring executive ability, keen insight and sagacity and indefatigable energy. He has large numbers of men under his direction, must expend huge sums of money in carrying on the business and must know at every point how to accomplish the maximum results with the minimum expenditure of time, labor and material. His long connection with oil interests has well qualified him for the work that devolves upon him and his pronounced success as a pipe line man is clearly demonstrated in the important po ition which he is now filling,

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On the 15th of March, 1891, Mr. Coyle was united in marriage to Miss Isabel Carmen, the wedding being celebrated at Bradner, Ohio. To them have been born three children : Harold, Carmen, and Kenneth.

Mr. Coyle is a member of the Country Club and the City Club and is also identified with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He is likewise a fourth degree Knight of Columbus and belongs to the Holy Family parish of the Roman Catholic church. His entire life has been characterized by a steady progress that has continually brought him larger opportunities which he has eagerly and wisely utilized, not only in the upbuilding of his own fortunes but in the development of the natural resources of the state. Oklahoma's progress in recent years is attributable in large measure to the men of broad vision and of marked enterprise who have entered the oil fields and have made use of the natural resources of the state in this connection, and the work of George Coyle has been a vital element in producing results achieved.

Edward Crossland

Edward Crossland has filled the office of county attorney in Tulsa county, his elections being the direct evidence of his capability in office and the confidence reposed in him by his fellow townsmen. He was four years assistant county attorney when called to the office of county attorney, and discharged his duties with marked fidelity to the interests entrusted to his care. Mr. Crossland comes to Oklahoma from the state of Kentucky, his birth having occurred March 24, 1875, in Mayfield, Graves county. His parents were Samuel H. and Martha (Smith) Crossland, who were also natives of that state, the former born near Clinton in Hickman county, August 7, 1849, while the latter was born in Hopkinsville, Christian county, February 26, 1852. The father was a student in Washington & Lee University after completing the public school course and later was graduated from the Louisville Law College, thus qualifying for a professional career. He entered upon active practice at Mayfield, Graves county, where he continued to follow his profession until 1909, since which time he has been an honored and representative member of the bar of Paducah, Kentucky. He served for one term, from 1882 until 1886 as county attorney of Graves county and for six years as commonwealth attorney of the First Judicial District of Kentucky. His political allegiance has always been given to the democratic party and fraternally he is connected with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Knights of Pythias. In 1895 he was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, who passed away on the 10th of December of that year. Their seven children, of whom Edward is the eldest, are living, with the exception of one. It is interesting in this connection to know something of the family from which Mr. Crossland springs. His grandfather was Colonel Edward Crossman, a native of Hickman county, Kentucky, who served for several terms on the bench of the common pleas and circuit courts and was also commonwealth attorney, while from 1872 to 1876 he represented his district in congress. He was a colonel of the Seventh Kentucky Infantry of the Confederate army during the Civil war and commanded a Kentucky brigade under General Forrest. He represented one of the oldest and most honored families of the Bluegrass state.

Edward Crossland at the usual age became a public school pupil at Mayfield and afterward continued his studies in the West Kentucky College, while later he matriculated in Central College at Danville, Kentucky, and won his LL. B. degree in 1900, pursuing his course there under the presidency of Hon. J. Proctor Knott. He was admitted to the bar, however, in March, 1898, and entered upon the practice of his profession in his native city. While there residing he was chosen for the office of city attorney and for more than a decade continued an active representative of the bar, enjoying a good practice. In August, 1910, he determined to try his fortune in the rapidly developing city of Tulsa and here opened an office for the general practice of law. Through the intervening period of eleven years he has remained here and in 1914 he was elected to the office of county attorney after having previously served as assistant county attorney. He was most wise and faithful in discharging the duties of the position, so that all who know aught of his career speak of his course in terms of the highest regard. Nor is this the only public office that he has filled, for while residing in Mayfield, Kentucky, he served on the bench of the county court of Graves county from January, 1906, until January, 1910. After removing to Tulsa he became a law partner of Judge Conn Linn and later an associate of D. T. Hainer and H. B. Martin. This covered the period up to his appointment to official position.

In 1917 Judge Crossland was united in marriage to Miss Leila Manson of Kansas City. By a former marriage he had two children : Samuel Hess, who was born April 25, 1902, and is now attending law school at Lebanon, Tennessee; and Sue Hyatt, born January 26, 1904, and now a high school pupil. Mr. and Mrs. Crossland occupy a prominent position in the social circles of the city. He belongs to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and to the Knights of Pythias and in all matters of citizenship he stands for the most progressive element and by his support of a measure contributes to the success of those interests which are of material, social, intellectual and moral benefit.

Dr. Harold B. Justice, a Tulsa physician who is specializing in urology, was born February 6, 1883, in St. Joseph, Missouri, his parents being S. H. and Hannah (Blake) Justice, natives of Illinois and New York, respectively. In young manhood the father started out in the business world and removing to St. Joseph, Missouri, there engaged in the hardware trade, being now president of the Robinson Heavy Hardware Company, a big wholesale concern. His religious faith is that of the Methodist Episcopal church.

Dr. Justice attended the public schools of his native city and afterward entered Ensworth Medical College at St. Joseph, where he won his M. D. degree in 1907. Later he studied in the University of Southern California at Los Angeles and served an interneship in several hospitals in St. Joseph, thus gaining that broad and valuable experience which comes through hospital practice. For a time he engaged in private practice in his native city and in 1917 removed to Sapulpa, Oklahoma, where he not only followed his profession but became one of the organizers and promoters of the Rotary Club of that place. Removing to Tulsa he has since confined his practice to urology and has gained eminence as a specialist in this field. He belongs to the Tulsa County, Oklahoma State, American and Southern Medical Associations. At the time of the World war his professional skill was employed in connection with military activities. On the 25th of June, 1918, he enlisted in the United States army, being sent to Camp Travis and later assigned to Base Hdspital, No. 121, for overseas service.

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Arriving in France he was assigned to Camp Hospital, No. 2b, at St. Aignan, a famous rest camp, where he was in charge of the urological section and also active as chief surgeon of this hospital, containing twenty-two hundred beds. He was promoted to a captaincy April 25, 1919, and received his discharge on the 9th of July of the same year, reaching Tulsa on the 23d of September, 1919.

On the 9th of November, 1909, Dr. Justice was married at Morrison, Illinois, to Miss Shirley Mouck, a daughter of Louis Mouck, who passed away in March, 1920. Dr. and Mrs. Justice have two children: Harriett and Gertrude.

Dr. Justice belongs to Sapulpa Lodge, No. 170. A. F. & A. M., also to the Consistory at Guthrie and the Elks lodge at Sapulpa and he has membership in Joe Carson Post of the American Legion. He is recognized as a young physician of ability and prominence and his thorough training and broad practice have gained him fame in the field of urology.

Frank Harroun Casebeer

The rapid- growth and development of Tulsa is one of the miracles of the present century. Men of enterprise, coming into the southwest, have bent their energies toward the advancement and substantial improvement of the city in a way that has brought about marvelous results. Its commercial interests find a w-orthy representative in Frank Harroun Casebeer, who is the vice president of the Rosser-Casebeer Furniture Company, one of the largest enterprises of this kind in the city. He dates his residence in Tulsa from 1914, having arrived in this city in his early thirties. His birth occurred in Des Moines, Iowa, November 5, 1882, his father being Oscar H. Casebeer, who was born in Illinois and devoted his attention to the life insurance business. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity and also of the Baptist church, in the work of which he took a very active and helpful part. He wedded Ida May Miller, a native of Kewanee, Illinois, who is still living, while the death of Mr. Casebeer occurred in Los Angeles, California. In their family were four children.

Frank H. Casebeer, after obtaining a high school education in Des Moines, attended the University of Iowa, from which he was graduated with the class of 1906. Fie then turned his attention to the grain business and was for two years identified with the Board of Trade in Chicago. He afterward went on the road as a traveling representative of the Goodyear Rubber Company and spent four and a half years in that connection. For seven months he was manager of the branch at Oklahoma City and for a year and a half was manager for the company at St. Louis. He left the latter city to come to Tulsa in 1914 as manager of the Hunt Company, proprietors of a department store. He continued in that connection until September, 1919, when he became identified with the Rosser-Casebeer Furniture Company, of which he has since been vice president. The other officers are I. G. Rosser, president, and C. E. Moon, secretary and treasurer. The company owns and controls a large furniture store and enjoys a very liberal patronage, for the business is based upon sound and reliable principles and unassailable commercial integrity. Mr. Casebeer is also a partner in the Howell & Skinner Company, an insurance business, and is a director of the Hunt Company, owners of a large department store.

In 1915 Mr. Casebeer was married to Miss Sarah Elizabeth Hunt of Arkansas, a daughter of Daniel Hunt, head of the department store of Tulsa which

Mr. Casebeer turns to golf, fishing and hunting for recreation. He belongs to the Country Club, also to the Kiwanis Club, the City Club and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is also a member of Delta Lodge, No. 496, A. F. & A. M., and has taken the degrees of both the York and Scottish Rites, becoming a Knight Templar and Consistory Mason. He is likewise a member of Akdar Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. He belongs to Trinity Episcopal church and is a member of its Men's Club. He has connection with the Retail Merchants Association and is a member of the Chamber of Commerce. His political allegiance is given to the republican party and he is active in all civic affairs, standing in support of every plan or measure that tends to upbuild and benefit Tulsa in any way. He has been one of the promoters of the new Industrial Exposition for Tulsa and there is no phase of progress and improvement that does not receive his support and cooperation. At the same time he has carefully carried on his individual business affairs and is a keen and successful man whose prosperity is the direct outcome of capability, close application and sound judgment.

Charles T. Byrd

Aside from the individual distinction he has gained as one of the prominent and influential members of the Oklahoma bar, Charles T. Byrd is a scion of one of the old and honored colonial families of Virginia and the name which he bears has been one of no minor distinction in the annals of American history. Commodore Byrd, the progenitor of the family in America, came from England and made settlement on the Potomac river, near the Mount Vernon home of General George Washington, and he was one of the honored and influential men of that section of the Old Dominion, his residence place, known as Byrd's Castle, having been one of the fine old patrician homesteads of Virginia and the history of that commonwealth gives honorable record concerning him, his home and his prominence in the public and social life of Virginia. It will be recalled also by close students of colonial history that the name of Jane Byrd, a representative of this family, was graciously linked with that of General Washington at one period in his career. The paternal great-grandfather of the subject of this review was a patriot soldier in the Continental Line in the war of the Revolution as were also seven of his brothers, and this honored ancestor attained to the partriarchal age of one hundred and five years, he having been a resident of Kentucky at the time of his death.

Charles T. Byrd of Tulsa, was born in Wolfe county, Kentucky, on the 5th of November, 1870, and is a son of William R. and Mary Byrd, his father having become a successful teacher in the schools of the Bluegrass state, where also he was long and prominently associated with farm enterprise. At the time of the Civil war he served as a private in a regiment of Kentucky infantry, and in this and all other relations of life he well upheld the honors of the family name. Charles T. Byrd gained his early education in the public schools of his native state and in preparation for his chosen profession completed the prescribed curriculum of the law department of Central College, at Richmond, Kentucky, in which institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1896, his admission to the bar of Kentucky having been virtually coincident with his reception of the degree of Bachelor of Laws.

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At the outbreak of the Spanish-American war, in 1898, Mr. Byrd promptly manifested his patriotism by enlisting, at Lexington, as a member of Company D, Fourth Kentucky Volunteer Infantry, in which he was made first sergeant of his company. The regiment continued in service until the termination of active conflict in Cuba but was not called to the stage of action. After receiving his honorable discharge from the nation's military service Mr. Byrd entered upon his professional career at Jackson, the judicial center of Breathitt county, Kentucky, and he soon made for himself a name and reputation in his chosen sphere of endeavor. He was made prosecuting attorney and also had the distinction of being one of the attorneys who appeared in connection with the celebrated Goebel election case in the Kentucky courts.

Mr. Byrd continued in the practice of his profession in the old Bluegrass state until 1902, when he came to Tulsa. Oklahoma, where his ability and reputation led to his being appointed a legal adviser to the state constitutional convention in 1907. He again came prominently forward in connection with governmental affairs in the new commonwealth when he was retained in a legal advisory capacity by the first legislature of the state, appointed by Speaker Murray. In 1909 he went to Denver, Colorado, and practiced law until 1912. In 1913 he established his residence at San Diego, California, and in the following year had active charge of the democratic campaign in southern California, with headquarters in the city of Los Angeles. He showed characteristic finesse and executive ability in the manoeuvering of the political forces at his command and made for his party a splendid record of service during that campaign. In 1915 Mr. Byrd returned to Oklahoma and engaged in practice at Pawhuska, Osage county, and there he became a recognized authority in connection with Indian affairs involving the relations of the government with the Indians of the Osage Nation. In 191 6 he became special counsel for the Lhiited States Reclamation Service with headquarters at Denver. In 1918 he established his permanent residence at Tulsa, where he has since been in active practice as one of the representative members of the bar of Tulsa county, with a large and important clientage. He continues to give much attention to legal service in connection with Indian affairs and also is known as one of the leading corporation attorneys of this metropolitan section of the state. He is still a resourceful and influential worker in behalf of the cause of the democratic party and is serving in 192 1 as a member of the party's central committee of Tulsa county. He has been affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows for a quarter of a century, holds membership also in the Knights of Pythias, and is actively identified with the Tulsa Bar Association and the Oklahoma State Bar Association.

Mr. Byrd has five children: Grace, Margaret, Lucille, Charles and Virginia Evelyn. The family home is a center of gracious hospitality and Mr. Byrd maintains his professional headquarters in the Security State Bank building.

Dr. Henry C. Childs, a physician of Tulsa, who since 1914 has practiced in this city and is largely specializing in obstetrics, was born March 10, 1878, in Canton, Texas. His father, Hezekiah Childs, was a native of Ripley, Mississippi, born July 13, 1848. and was a veteran of the Confederate army of the Civil war, enlisting in a Mississippi regiment. After the war was over he became a teacher of Texas and came to Oklahoma in the early days, carrying on mercantile pursuits at Shawnee. He has always been very active, not only in commercial circles but in other connections as well. He is a member of the Confederate Veterans Association, gives consistent support to the democratic party and is an active worker in the Universalist church. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Lee Anna Emerson, was born in Alabama and died when their son Henry was but five years of age.

Dr. Childs of this review obtained his public school education in Canton, Texas, and afterward took up the study of art and science in the University of Oklahoma before entering Tulane University, in which he pursued his medical course, winning his professional degree in 1905. He then located for practice at Norman, Cleveland county, Oklahoma, where he successfully followed his profession for several years and then in 1913 returned to the Tulane Medical College for postgraduate work. In 1914 he came to Tulsa and while continuing in general practice is also well known as an obstetrician, having largely specialized in that branch of professional work. He was the vice president of the Tulsa Medical Society in 1916 and also belongs to the State and American Medical Associations.

Dr. Childs was married to Miss Leona Kytle, who died in 1908, leaving two children: Vernon and Darwin. He later wedded Miss Lulu Leslie, a daughter of William A. Leslie, who in his boyhood came into Indian Territory and was one of the early settlers of Norman, serving as United States marshal when this entire section of the country was largely a wild and undeveloped region. In his political views Dr. Childs is a democrat and an earnest worker in behalf of party principles. He belongs to the Kiwanis Club, is vice president of the Automobile Club of Tulsa for the year 1921, is a member of the City Club and has membership in Tulsa Lodge, No. 71, A. F. & A. M., and in the Scottish Rite Consistory at McAlester. He finds his recreation largely in research work and is constantly carrying forward his study and his investigation.

Lee L. Levering

Lee L. Levering, a clothing merchant of Tulsa, belongs to that class of men to whom progressiveness spells success. Energetic, wide-awake, alert and determined, he carries forward to a logical conclusion whatever he undertakes and the results of his labors are gratifying. It is by this method that he has attained a prominent place in the business circles of his adopted city. He was born in St. Marys, Ohio, May 2, 1880, and is a son of Howard and Ellen (Heap) Levering, the former a native of Ohio, while the latter was born in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, being a daughter of Henry Heap, who afterward became a resident of St. Marys, Ohio. Howard Levering followed the occupation of farming to the time of his death, which occurred about twelve, years ago. He was a member of the Baptist church and a highly esteemed citizen of his community. To him and his wife were born eight children, but two of whom are living.

Lee L. Levering completed his education in the high school at St. Marys, Ohio, and then entered a clothing store as a clerk, spending four years in that connection. He afterward attended the United States Naval Academy and subsequently was identified with business interests in Baltimore, Cincinnati and Chicago. He established business on his own account at Mont|>elier, Indiana, and devoted seven years to the clothing trade. He afterward went to Chicago and for six months was employed in the Hub, one of tin* leading clothing houses of that city. With his removal to the southwest he settled in Muskogee, where for five years he was connected with the clothing trade. In 191 3 he removed to Tulsa and established business in a little room, twelve by fifteen feet, in the Robinson Hotel. He remained at Third and Main streets for a year and then moved to his present location. Here he has developed a large clothing store, meeting the requirements of a constantly increasing patronage. He carries an attractive line of goods and the reliability and thoroughness of his business methods have been important elements in the attainment of his present success.

In 1906 Mr. Levering was united in marriage to Miss Lillian A. Seigmund of Huntington, Indiana, daughter of J. F. J. Seigmund. They have become the parents of a son, Jack, thirteen years of age.

Mr. Levering is a member of the Chamber of Commerce of Tulsa and is now serving as one of its directors. He is also a member of the Rotary Club and of the Ad Club. Fraternally he is a Mason, having membership in Delta Lodge, No. 425, A. F. & A. M., and he has also taken the Scottish Rite degrees, while with the Nobles of Akdar Temple of the Mystic Shrine he has crossed the sands of the desert. He belongs to the Baptist church, which is indicative of his religious faith, and in the work of the church he takes quite an active interest, serving as a teacher in the Sunday school, while in the Young Men's Christian Association of Tulsa he is a director. He finds his recreation and diversion in tennis and is an enthusiast concerning the game. He has been very active and successful as a merchant and his store in the Hotel Tulsa is one of the finest commercial establishments of the city. Aside from this he was the director of the War Stamp Bank. His sound judgment is manifest in everything that he attempts and his course has been so wisely directed that he never stops short of the successful accomplishment of his purpose.

Harry Clyde Fair

Harry Clyde Fair is the attorney for the Mid-Co Petroleum Company. His ability is based upon thorough preliminary training and the development of his powers through wise study and broad experience. He was associated with one of the prominent law firms of St. Louis before coming to Tulsa, and through the period of his residence here has made steady professional progress. Moreover, he is entitled to mention in this volume as one of the veterans of the World war. He was born in New Haven. Missouri, June 28, 1890, a son of Walter H. and Mary (Murphy) Fair, the former a native of New Haven, Missouri, while the latter was born in Culpeper county, Yirginia. They still reside in New Haven, where the father has for many years successfully engaged in the nursery business. They reared a family of two sons, the younger being Robert, who is still living in New Haven.

Harry Clyde Fair obtained his education in the public schools of his native city and in Washington University of St. Louis, in which he pursued a classical course, winning the A. B. degree, while later he took up the study of law in the same institution and secured his LL. B. degree in 1 9 1 4 . In the same year he was admitted to the bar and entered upon active practice in St. Louis in connection with the firm of Nagel & Kirby, the senior partner having been secretary of commerce and labor under President Taft. Mr. Fair continued with that firm until the 30th of January, 1916, thus gaining broad and valuable experience, and at the date indicated he came to Tulsa, where he has been engaged in gen- eral practice, although specializing in corporation law of which he has intimate and accurate knowledge. He belongs to both the Tulsa County and the Missouri State Bar Associations.

On the 28th of June, 1919, Mr. Fair was married to Miss Margaret Hocker, a daughter of G. C. Hocker, a pioneer of Fayette, Missouri. Mr. Fair's political allegiance is given to the democratic party. In lodge circles he is well known, having membership in Evergreen Lodge, No. 27, A. F. & A. M., in Oklahoma Consistory and in Akdar Temple A. A. O. N. M. S. of Tulsa. He likewise belongs to the Kappa Alpha, and to the Phi Delta Phi fraternities. A most interesting chapter in his life record covers his connection with the aviation service of the LTnited States army. Entering the air service he became a first lieutenant, being on duty at Ellington Field, near Houston, Texas. He is progressive in all of his relations to the public welfare, supporting all those interests which seem to promise benefit for the community, the commonwealth and the country.

Dr. Ronald Robertson Smith, urologist. Along strictly professional lines his membership is with the Tulsa, the Oklahoma State and the American Medical Associations and through the proceedings of these societies he keeps abreast with the most advanced thought, purposes, ideals and methods of the profes-

William Stryker

Yarious lines of business claimed the attention and benefited by the cooperation and sound judgment of William Stryker while he was still an active factor in the world's work and at his death Tulsa lost a representative citizen whose interests were of importance in her upbuilding and progress. He long figured prominently in newspaper circles in the west, and while he withdrew from newspaper publication in the later years of his life, he was still the owner of a printery and bindery to the time of his demise and was also extensively engaged in the real estate business in Tulsa. He came to the southwest from Strykersville, New York, where his birth occurred March 24, 1S58, his parents being Alfred and Mary (Warner) Stryker, who were also natives of the Empire state. The father there engaged in the dairy business until 1872, when he removed to Blue Rapids, Kansas, where he took up land and also purchased large tracts, continuing the cultivation and improvement of his farm holdings to the time of his demise. Both he and his wife have now passed away.

William Stryker was reared and educated in New York and in Kansas, removing to the Sunflower state with his parents when a youth of fifteen years. The family home was established at Waterville. Kansas, where he remained on a farm to the age of twenty-one years, except that during this period he spent a few terms as teacher in a rural school during the winter seasons. On attaining his majority he entered the Kansas State Normal College at Fort Scott, Kansas, and there completed a classical course. Later he accepted a position as instructor in the college there and conducted teachers' institutes through the summer months. Subsequently he owned and managed the Central Normal College at

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Great Bend, Kansas, and it was from there that he was elected to the position of state superintendent of public instruction. It was largely through his efforts while in this office that the textbook law was enacted. Xo man who ever filled the office of state superintendent kept in closer touch with the teachers and educational workers than Air. Stryker. Upon the expiration of his term of office he became engaged in journalism, owning and publishing "The People's Voice," a weekly paper of Wellington, Kansas, and also "The Daily Tribune," published at Winfield, Kansas. In 1904 he removed to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he founded the "Daily Democrat," of which he continued editor and manager until the paper was sold in the autumn of 1916. Thereafter until his death he divided his attention among various business enterprises. He was the owner of the Democrat Printing Company, also of the Quality Engraving Company and the new Jefferson Hotel on South Boulder avenue. When he cast in his lot with Tulsa in 1904 and purchased the Democrat, it marked the transformation of a village weekly into a city daily newspaper. The strenuous life of one who devotes his time, energy and resources to the building up of a great daily paper is perhaps fully realized only by those who have carried the burden. The growth and development of Tulsa was the ideal of the Democrat rather than the personal popularity or financial success of its owner. The champion of law and order, he was the target of the lawless element. His physical and moral courage was admired by his friends and admitted by his critics. Always ready to lead in political rivalry, he was ever bold and aggressive to denounce evil and hold up the standards of civic life. His entire career in Tulsa was one of usefulness and uplift to the community in which he lived. Tulsa owes to the memory of William Stryker the benediction of approval of his life as a builder of Tulsa. He wronged no man, he gave more to than he drew from the field of his activity and in many ways he championed and promoted the interests of his city. With his retirement from the field of journalism he concentrated his attention upon the real estate business and the oil industry. He began the construction of the Jefferson Hotel, U'hich is to be a ten-story building when completed, and he likewise erected a number of apartment houses and residences in the city, wisely and carefully conducting his real estate interests, so that success attended his efforts. He likewise was interested in the oil fields and he was particularly successful as a real estate dealer, his judgment being ever sound, his sagacity keen and his enterprise unfaltering.

On the 23d of December, 1903, Air. Stryker was married to Miss Effie Owens, a daughter of J. H. and Jane (Marquis) Owens, who were natives of New Harmony, Indiana, and removed to Kansas in 1875. There they took up land and the father engaged in farming and stock raising, continuing to reside in the Sunflower state until called to his final rest on the 25th of February, 1915. His widow survived him for only about three months, passing away on the 24th of May of the same year. Their daughter, Mrs. Stryker, was born in Illinois and by her marriage has become the mother of one child, William James, born July 13. 1908.

Mr. Stryker was interested in Christian Science and his political belief was that of the democratic party. Throughout his entire life he was a man of studious habits, reading broadly and thinking deeply, and moreover was a most public-spirited citizen, standing stanchly in support of everything that pertained to the betterment, improvement and upbuilding of city, county and state. He worked untiringly to secure Oklahoma's admission into the Union and was a man of wide influence in Tulsa, his fellow townsmen recognizing his worth, his fidelity to principle and his strict adherence to high standards. It was on the

25th of February, 1918, that he was called to his final rest and in his passing Oklahoma lost a citizen whose worth was widely acknowledged and whose contribution to the improvement of the state was ever of a most substantial and tangible character.

Norris G. Henthorne

Norris G. Henthorne is treasurer of the Tulsa Daily World, and as one of the officials of this paper is displaying in its conduct the spirit of progress which has been a dominant factor in the rapid upbuilding of Tulsa, making it the leading paper of the city, while it is an exponent of the most advanced ideas of journalism. Mr. Henthorne came to Oklahoma from the state of Ohio, his birth having occurred in Ironton, March 22, 1891. He is one of a family of four children, whose parents were L. H. and Benella Henthorne, the latter deceased. Both parents were natives of Ohio, the mother having been born in Ironton as was her son. The father still makes his home there and has for many years been connected with the business interests of the city as a merchant. He has membership in the Christian church, and he is a consistent supporter of the republican party.

Norris G. Henthorne pursued his public school education at Ironton and Columbus, Ohio. When a youth he became a page in the Ohio state legislature, and afterward was identified with publicity and banking business in that state. His residence in Tulsa covers a period of nine years.

In 1 9 1 4 Mr. Henthorne was married to Miss E. Gladys Roberts of Tulsa, formerly of Findlay, Ohio, a daughter of W. W. Roberts, and they have become parents of two sons: N. G., Jr., and John R. Mr. Henthorne is well known in Masonic circles, belonging to Delta Lodge, No. 425, A. F. & A. M. ; Tulsa Chapter, R. A. M.; Trinity Commandery, K. T. ; and Akdar Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. He is a prominent figure in club circles, belonging to the Automobile Club, to the Country Club and to the Kiwanis Club. Of the last named he has served as president. He is also identified with the Chamber of Commerce and is the president of the Board of Park Commissioners of Tulsa. He is keenly interested in all civic affairs and gives stalwart support to all those interests which have to do with the upbuilding of the city and with the maintenance of the highest municipal standards.

Comparatively few who enter the medical profession attempt to cover the entire field of practice, but usually concentrate upon one or more lines and thus develop a degree of efficiency that could not otherwise lie attained. Scientific investigation has revealed to the profession so many truths that the practice is now nf a must complex nature and thoroughness and ability can only be acquired by close study and concentrated efforts. Recognizing this fact Or. Thomas Wesley Stallings is giving his attention to diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat and in bis specialty has won renown and success. Dr. Stallings is a native of Texas, his birth having occurred in Lamar county, July 10. 1N77, his parents being roseph E. and Nancy Stallings, the former a native of Mississippi and the latter of Kentucky. The father was a Civil war veteran, who in young manhood went to Lamar county, Texas, where he engaged in farming and became prominent as an agriculturist. He has been actuated at all times by a most progressive spirit and has done much to further development and improvement in the region in which he lives, lie has membership in the Christian church.

Dr. Stallings attended the district schools and also the town schools of Lamar, Texas, while later he pursued a course in the preparatory school at Paris, Texas. He has made his own way in the world from the age of twenty years. He came into Indian Territory in 1899, settling at Tishomingo in the Chickasaw nation and he knew personally all the chiefs and officials of that district. At length he determined to engage in the practice of medicine and accordingly entered the medical department of the Louisville Medical College at Louisville, Kentucky, from which he was graduated in 1905. He then devoted his attention to general practice in Tishomingo until 1917 and while there filled the office of county health superintendent for several terms. In 1917-1S he did special work in the Bellevue Hospital and other special clinics in New York city, studying the eye. ear, nose and throat at St. Bartholomew's clinic and the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, and thus he greatly benefited by his thorough preparation for his specialty. In August, 1918, he came to Tulsa and has since confined his practice exclusively to diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat, his efforts being attended by substantial success.

Dr. Stallings was married to Miss Lillie Bryant Leavell, who was born in Garrard county, Kentucky, a daughter of James Bryant Leavell, a prominent man of affairs and a leading agriculturist and stockman who was particularly well known as a breeder and raiser of horses. Dr. Stallings belongs to the Kivvanis Club and to the City Club of Tulsa, but gives the major part of his time and attention to his professional interests.

Charles E. Dent

Charles E. Dent, whose eminent position in financial circles is the outcome of unabating industry and energy that never flags, combined with sound judgment and sagacity in placing investments, is justly entitled to rank with the leading business men of Tulsa, where he has made his home since 1906. Within this period he has seen the city develop from a small town to one of metropolitan proportions, its growth reaching almost a seventyfold development within a period of twenty years.

Mr. Dent came to Oklahoma from Kansas, his birth having occurred in Parkersburg, West Virginia, on the 20th of October, 1876, his parents being James A. and Martha ( Horner) Dent, who were also natives of West Virginia. The father, who devoted most of his life to merchandising, is deceased. The mother was born in Morgantown, West Virginia, and by her marriage had four children.

Charles E. Dent pursued his education largely in district schools of Kansas, continuing his studies to the age of sixteen years. lie afterward went upon the road as a traveling salesman and spent ten years in that connection. He gained experience of a valuable nature and made steady progress in the business world. At length he came to Tulsa, where he took up his abode in 1906, and here was made business manager of the Tulsa World, of which he later became president and half owner, continuing the publication of Tulsa's leading newspaper until about three years ago, when he retired from the newspaper field to concentrate his efforts and energies upon financial interests. He has since handled bonds and mortgages and his clientele is extensive and his business of an important character. While president of the Tulsa World Mr. Dent built the World building on West Fourth street and later on the World building on South Boulder, as well as a number of residences in Tulsa.

In 1904 Air. Dent was married to Miss Evangeline Price of Joplin, Missouri, a daughter of Dr. S. C. Price, one of the first practicing physicians of that city. He is a Scottish Rite Mason and belongs to Akdar Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. He is likewise a member of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and is connected with the City Club. His wife is an active member of the Episcopal church. They are widely known in Tulsa, where they have resided for many years, and in the social circles of the city their position is a most enviable one. The life record of Mr. Dent indicates what can be accomplished through individual effort, when energy and ambition lead the way. Moreover, his record proves that success and an honored name may be won simultaneously.

Mrs. Minxette Hedges

Mrs. Minnette Hedges, county superintendent of schools in Tulsa county, whose recognized ability in the educational field brings her heavy responsibilities in this connection, owing to the very rapid growth in attendance at the Tulsa county schools, is a native of Bloomington, Illinois, and a daughter of Julius C. and Romaine (Harford) Miller. Her father was a building contractor, who was born in Zanesville, Ohio, and is now living retired, making his home with his daughter, Mrs. Hedges. He is a veteran of the Civil war, having served with the Sixty-sixth Illinois Infantry and for ten months he was incarcerated in Andersonville prison. His birth occurred September 22, 1845, so that he has now passed the seventy-fifth milestone on life's journey. He belongs to the Masonic fraternity and also to the Methodist Episcopal church. His wife was born in Washington, Pennsylvania, and is also living. Their family numbered five children, three of whorh survive.

In the acquirement of her education Mrs. Hedges attended the Central high school of Kansas City, Missouri, was also a student at Normal, Illinois, and at the State Normal School at Emporia, Kansas. She early took up the profession of teaching in Kansas and thirteen years ago came to Tulsa, arriving here in 1908. She was married in Garnett, Kansas, to Rufus H. Hedges, who was born at Whitehall, Michigan, and was a railroad man. Theirs was a happy married life, but death terminated the relationship in 1909, when Mr. Hedges was called to his final rest, passing away soon after the removal to Tulsa.

Becoming identified with the educational interests of Tulsa county Mrs. Hedges made a splendid record as assistant county superintendent and was then called to the position of county superintendent of schools. There are three hundred and fifty teachers in the country schools of Tulsa county and she visits each school at least twice a year and some as many as four or five times yearly. Very high salaries are paid to teachers in this county and the schools are of superior grade. Mrs. Hedges has introduced many improved methods and is constantly assisting teachers by her helpful suggestions and practical ideas. She has been very prominent in church, club and social circles and was one of the charter members of the Tulsa Women's Club. She belongs to the First Methodist Episcopal church, has aided in Sunday school work and has been treasurer of the Ladies' Aid Society of the church for the past thirteen years. She was also county chairman for women in the Victory loan campaign and was a member of the Tulsa county fuel board, chairman of the junior Red Cross chapter and chairman for the county in the War Savings Stamps drive in the schools. Thus she did everything in her power to assist in the war activities, whereby the home defenses were maintained for the support of the soldiers in camp and field. Her influence has been a potent force for good along many lines of development in Tulsa and at all times she holds to the InVhest ideals.

James E. Webb. M. D.

Dr. James E. Webb, engaged in the practice of medicine in Tulsa, is a native of Higginsville, Missouri, and a son of William C. and Helen M. (Jones) Webb, the former born in Orange county, Virginia, while the mother's birth occurred in Rappahannock county, of the same state. In early manhood William C. Webb prepared for the practice of medicine and became a field surgeon in the Confederate army during the Civil war and was also private physician to General Joe Shelby. He served with the rank of captain for a time and later was promoted to major. He was afterward with Dr. Poe and one other physician, the three composing the medical board west of the Mississippi river. It was in 1837 that he became a resident of Missouri, casting in his lot with the pioneer settlers of that section of the country. His father was John V. Webb, who served as a captain in the Mexican war and who was a representative of a prominent family of Virginia. With the removal of Dr. W. C. Webb to Missouri he established his home at Higginsville and became a large land owner there. His professional training was received in the University of Kentucky, from which he was graduated and in the University of Pennsylvania where he also pursued a course in the medical department, thus winning his professional degree. He was one of those splendid country doctors of the old school, never hesitating to perform a professional service no matter how much personal discomfort and sacrifice might be involved therein. A courtly old gentleman, he commanded the highest respect and confidence of all who knew him to the time of his death, which occurred in Higginsville, February 4, 1S96. His widow survived him for about four years, passing away in 1900.

Their son. James E. Webb, attended the public schools of his native town and afterward became a student in the collegiate department of the University of Missouri. He then began preparation for his professional career as a student in the Ohio Medical College, where he completed his course in 1881, after which he practiced at Corder, Missouri, until 1884. He then removed to Hartville, Missouri, where he remained for eleven years or until 1895 and through the succeeding period of five years he practiced successfully in Norwood, Missouri, but the opportunities afforded by the rapid and substantial growth of Tulsa called him to this field at the beginning of the century and here he has lived while Tulsa has grown by leaps and bounds from a town of eleven hundred into a great metropolitan city of more than seventy-two thousand. Dr. Webb was serving as a member of the city council when Oakland cemetery was purchased at twenty dollars per acre, then considered a fabulous price. Such has been the growth of Tulsa that the cemetery is today situated in the center of the city. Throughout the intervening years Dr. Webb has continued in practice, becoming the loved family physician in many a household and he has also filled the position of superintendent of public health. A lover of children, he has been particularly successful in treating children's diseases, for he easily wins the confidence of the young who not only like him, but look forward to his visits as a pleasurable occasion in their lives. Dr. Webb also became one of the original stockholders and first directors of the old First National Bank of Tulsa.

In this city Dr. Webb was married to Miss Lyda Brummett, a daughter of Thomas E. Brummett, one of the pioneer grocers of this city. By a former marriage he had one son, William R. Dr. Webb turns, to hunting and fishing for recreation. His political endorsement has always been given to the democratic party and he has ever kept well informed on the vital questions and issues of the day. Along strictly professional lines he is connected with the Tulsa, the Oklahoma State and the American Medical Associations and through the proceedings of these bodies keeps in touch with the trend of modern professional thought and progress. He has by reading and study developed his ability and his practice has increased with the rapid growth of Tulsa, so that heavy demands are now made upon his time and energy.

Charles Townsend Kirk

Among the oil geologists whose activities are based upon thorough scientific knowledge and broad practical experience is Charles Townsend Kirk, who maintains an office in Tulsa and practices his profession in this section of the southwest. He is a native of Indiana, his birth having occurred in Francisco, Gibson county, June 22, 1876. His father, David Henry Kirk, was born in Indiana, in 1836 and was of Scotch descent, the ancestral line being traced back to one who landed at Jamestown, Virginia, in the early colonization of the new world. David H. Kirk devoted his entire life to the occupation of farming, save for the period of his service as a soldier of the Civil war. He became corporal of Company F, Thirty-Third Indiana Volunteer Infantry and was on duty from 1861 until 1865, also acting as assistant civil engineer in his brigade. He wedded Martha Jane Townsend, who was also a native of Indiana and came of Xew England ancestry. She was born in 1840. In the year 1890 Mr. and Mrs. Kirk removed to Oklahoma county, Oklahoma, where the father had homesteaded the previous year. The mother passed away in 1893, the father surviving for fifteen years or until 1908. They were the parents of four children, Ulysses D. ; Nana E., the wife of W. R. Burton of Hutchinson, Kansas; Nellie G. and Charles Townsend.

The last named, after acquiring a public school education in Gibson county, Indiana, became a student in the University of Oklahoma, following the establishment of the family home in this state, and won his Bachelor of Science degree in 1904, and his Master of Arts degree in 1905. Later he continued his education in the University of Wisconsin, which in ion conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. lie won all degrees in geologic majors, with minors in chemistry. For ten years he devoted his attention to the teaching of geology, being connected successively with the School of Mines at Butte, Montana; with the correspondence department of the University of Wisconsin: with Hunter College of New York city and with the University of Xew Mexico at Albuquerque. During those years he also served as junior geologist on the United States geological survey at Washington, D. C, and as assistant geologist on the Oklahoma geologic survey at Norman, Oklahoma. Gradually in his teaching connection he rose from the position of laboratory assistant to the rank of full professor, and during the four years spent in the University of New Mexico he was also state geologist of New Mexico. He came to Tulsa in 1917 as consulting geologist and has since practiced his profession here. He is interested in a few operation companies in the mid-continent and Texas oil fields, and also has certain mining interests in the northwestern part of the United States.

In Oklahoma City, on the 22d of August, 1906, Mr. Kirk was married to Miss Bessie Keller, a daughter of Martin and Mary Jane (Thompson) Keller, both natives of Indiana, and now residents of Wichita, Kansas. They were early homesteaders in Oklahoma, and Mr. Keller had a military record as a soldier of the Union army during the Civil war. To Mr. and Mrs. Kirk have been born the following named: Ora Jane, Betty Clare, David Keller, and Florence Nell, whose ages range respectively from fourteen to seven years.

Mr. and Mrs. Kirk are members of the First Christian church of Tulsa. He belongs to the Rotary Club of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and fraternally is a Mason, while politically he is a democrat. Along professional lines his membership is with the Geological Society of America, the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers and the American Association of Petroleum Geologists. His business activity has always centered in one line and since 1917 he has been a member of the firm of Kirk & Hoover, geologists with offices in the Lynch building in Tulsa. He is fond of reading English and Spanish works, which largely constitutes his source of recreation, and for diversion he turns to hunting large and small game, having indulged in this pursuit both in the Rocky mountains and in the Andes.

Dr. Charles M. Hickey. oculist, aurist. laryngologist and rhinologist. whose success in his profession is based upon thorough preliminary study and broad experience, is now enjoying an extensive practice in Tulsa, to which city he came from the Keystone state. His birth occurred in Allentown, Pennsylvania, May 14, 1872, his parents being Charles and Margaret (Sullivan) Hickey, who were likewise natives of Pennsylvania. The father conducted business as a wholesale dealer in cordials in Allentown and in New York.