PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF OKLAHOMA 1901
Biographies on this page:
Jensen, Thomas
Jones, J. E.
Kellogg, H. H.
Cusey, Henry Clay
Humphrey, E. A.
Kern, Fred
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
HON. THOMAS JENSEN,
a prominent real estate dealer, was one of the founders of the city of El Reno, and always has been most active in furthering the interests of that city and Canadian county.
Mr. Jensen was born in Husum, Germany, November 26, 1845, and is a son of Carsten and Katherine (Kuhl) Jensen. His father also was born there, and served in the Danish army in the war against Germany in 1848, in which Denmark was the victor. He followed the pursuits of an agriculturist, as did his father. He was a member of the Lutheran Church, and died at the age of sixty-five years. He married Katherine Kuhl, who was born in that country, and was a daughter of Thomas Kuhl, a farmer by vocation. All of the five children born to them grew to maturity, namely: Jens, who is located at Ponca Agency, O. T.; Thomas; John, a farmer of El Reno township; Peter, who lives in Tama
county, Iowa; and Mary, who also resides in Tama county, Iowa.
Thomas Jensen was reared in Germany and received an excellent education in the public schools of that country. In 1864, with his brother John, he came to America by way of Hamburg and New York City. His brother. Jens, had come to the United States in 1861 and fought in a Wisconsin regiment during the Civil war. He located in Davenport, Iowa, and engaged in farming in that vicinity, and in 1865. after his father had located on a farm in Scott county, went to live with him. In the fall of 1867 he went to Lincoln, Neb., which had just been laid out, and located on a farm in Butler on the Blue river, to the northwest of Lincoln. He had two sections of raw prairie land, which he converted into an improved farm, and engaged in cattle raising and shipping, sending to the Chicago market. He also engaged in the grain business at Octavia, Neb., and at Surprise on the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway. Selling out, on April 22, 1889, he located a quarter section of land in Oklahoma, and that summer helped to lay out El Reno, giving a portion of his land, as did Mr. Foreman and Mr. Thompson. The next winter the railroad came through. and he engaged in the real estate business. The southeastern part of the town being located on his quarter section, he has since continued in this business with good success.
Mr. Jensen was united in marriage in Butler county, Neb., with Sarah Chamberlin, who was born in Pennsylvania,, and is a daughter of Christian Chamberlin, one of the pioneers of Butler county. They have five children: Nellie, a graduate of the El Reno high school, is the wife of Henry Hicks, of El Reno; Thomas and Frank, twins, entered upon their business career at the age of twelve years. The former is assistant treasurer of the Fort Worth Division of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway, and the latter is in the auditor's office at Fort Worth. Harry is living at home, and Mabel is the wife of Horace Humphrey, proprietor of Kingfisher hotel.
Mr. Jensen was appointed by Governor Steel to the board of county commissioners to organize the county and actively participated in the county-seat fight between El Reno and Frisco. In Nebraska, he was elected to the Legislature in 1880, on the Republican ticket, and was a member of the session in 1881 which elected Van Wyck. He was again chosen for the same office in 1882, and in the session of 1883 aided in the election of Manderson. He refused to run for a third term. Fraternally, he is a member of El Reno Lodge No. 7, A. F. & A. M., and also belongs to the chapter. His wife is an active member of the Methodist Church, and he is a Lutheran in his religious belief. He is a Republican in politics, and is a member of the El Reno Club.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
JONES, J. E.
The history of the subject of this article, of his father and brothers, possesses many points of interest and inspiration to young men of ambition, just starting out upon independent careers. His home for the past seven years has been in El Reno, where his influence has been constantly used for the upbuilding and permanent welfare of the place.
In tracing the history of J. E. Jones it is learned that he was born in Monmouthshire, England, and that his father, David, and his grandfather, Thomas Jones, were natives of Glamorganshire. Both were successful farmers and the father was extensively connected with the stock raising business during his residence in Monmouthshire. He was the proprietor of a large sheep farm, and at the time of his death, in his fifty-fifth year, left a goodly fortune. His wife, a native of Breconshire, Wales, was Gwenfred, daughter of Walter Edwards. He, also, was of the agricultural class of his country, and his age at the time of his death was eighty-four years. Mrs. Jones accompanied her children to America after the death of her husband and her demise occurred in the vicinity of Topeka, Kans. Of her eight children, only one, Edward, has passed to the silent land, his death having taken place in Leadville, Colo. Thomas, David, Joseph and John are extensively engaged in the cattle business in Texas. They are wealthy and highly respected in their several communities. Thomas and John Jones are ranked among the finest financiers and leading cattlemen of the Panhandle region, and the other brothers are about equally prominent at Hansford, Tex. The sisters are Mrs. Annie Duffy. of Topeka, Kans., and Mrs. Cecelia Wright, of Canadian, Tex.
Born July 11, 1851, in the town of Pont-y-pool, England, J. E. Jones spent his boyhood in that locality, and received a good education in the public schools. In 1868 he set his family an example which they subsequently followed, coming to America, where he rightly believed that a young man stands a better chance to make his way in the business world. After working in the coal mines of Pennsylvania and Maryland for about a year he returned to England on a visit and in the fall, when he again sailed for this country, his family accompanied him. He went to Shawnee county, Kans., and carried on a farm in that locality for about five years. After his marriage, December 21, 1873, he removed to the neighborhood of Boulder, Colo., where he opened and operated a coal mine, the town of Davidson being the nearest base of supplies. In
1880 he disposed of his property there, and locating in the Panhandle, in Texas, settled upon what was known as the "J. E. J. Ranch," which was gradually enlarged until it comprised some five sections. Beautifully situated on the banks of the Sweetwater, it afforded splendid pasturage for cattle, and the owner embarked in the cattle business extensively. The first section of land on which he placed fences, and all of his first expenditures were extremely high, as it cost him over a thousand dollars to fence the land, wire being fourteen cents a pound, and the first one-hundred-and-forty-pound-sack of corn, bought in Mobeetie, cost five dollars and sixty cents. Altogether he fenced about thirty thousand acres of land—some seventy-five miles of fencing, and the average cost was seventy-five dollars per mile. In the early part of the '80s Mr. Jones often had to pay fifty cents a pound for butter and one dollar for a dozen of eggs, other necessaries being in proportion. At the end of thirteen years he sold all but one section of the ranch and took up his abode in El Reno. He was one of the first men to introduce fine blooded stock into the Panhandle region, and his high grade Durhams have commanded the best market prices at all times, his special brand, "J. E. J.," on the left side, always being a guarantee of superiority. From 1893 to 1896 he was occupied in furnishing beef to the United States troops and to the Indians, on government contracts, having four markets, El Reno, Darlington, Fort Supply and Fort Reno. For the past four years he has been engaged in managing his one hundred and sixty acre ranch, which adjoins El Reno on the northern boundary. He makes a specialty of feeding about two hundred cattle for the market each year, and is prospering in this enterprise.
While a resident of Wheeler county, Tex., Mr. Jones served as a county commissioner several terms, and for many years, or until he left that state, was a member of the Northwestern Texas Live Stock Association. Since that time he has been affiliated with the Territorial Cattlemen's Association. Since the spring of 1894 he has been one of the school directors from the third ward of El Reno, and largely to his energy and public spirit the present facilities, buildings and fine svstem of education here must be attributed. Fraternally, he is a member of the Woodmen of the World and of El Reno Lodge No. 7, A. F. & A. M., while in his political faith he is a zealous Republican.
The marriage of Mr. Jones and Miss Ella Kibbe took place in Shawnee county, Kans., in 1873. She was born in Ohio, and resided in that state until she was fifteen years of age, when she removed to Kansas. Roy, the eldest child of Mr. and Mrs. Jones, is an enterprising young business man, now engaged in managing a meat market in El Reno. Cecelia, who possesses marked musical ability, is employed as a stenographer by the firm of Blake & Blake, of this city. Clyde is a high school student, and the younger sons are named respectively, Ira and Verne. Mrs. Jones is a member of the Congregational Church, and the whole family is held in the highest regard by this community.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PROF. H. H. KELLOGG,
superintendent of schools of Canadian county, is one of the foremost educators of Oklahoma and has made a record for efficient work in connection with the progress of the common schools. He was first elected to this office in the fall of 1896 and entered upon his duties in January, 1897. In 1898 he was re-elected on the Republican ticket, against the fusion candidate. The legislature having extended the term of office, he will retain his position until July, 1901. Under his able supervision many changes have been made in the management of the county schools. The standard of instruction has been raised greatly, salaries have been advanced about $12 per month, and the grades have been changed so that now a public school graduate is entitled to admission, with examination, to any high school and also to the preparatory department of the University of Oklahoma, the Territorial Normal School and the Agricultural and Mechanical College. The diploma used by the territorial board for grammar school graduates is the product of his own pen, the design being original with him. In December, 1897, he began the publication of the School Visitor, which has since been changed from a monthly to a quarterly, and is published in El Reno, in the interests of the public-school teachers. He has been an instructor and lecturer in every institute held by the territory, and the value of his work in this connection cannot be overestimated. In addition to his duties as superintendent, he is ex-officio president of the board of health of Canadian county, whose jurisdiction extends beyond this county and includes all of the Wichita, Kiowa, Comanche and Apache reservations.
In a very early day Benjamin Kellogg, the professor's grandfather, removed from near Saratoga, N. Y., to Pekin, Ill., settling on a farm, During the Black Hawk war he rendered active service. His son, John J., a native of Pekin, and a carpenter and builder in that town, removed from there to a farm near Hawley, Ill., and afterward was chief bookkeeper to the Hawley coal mines. For four years he was a member of Company B, One Hundred and Eighth Illinois Infantry. He was four times wounded, the last being the most serious. This was in the battle of Guntown, when a ball passed through both of his hips. He was captured by the Confederates and for seven months lay at Andersonville, suffering untold agonies, and sustained only by his determination and will power. For years after he had left the army he suffered from this wound. He also suffered from another wound, caused by the bursting of a spent shell, which broke three ribs and for some years after formed an abscess that no treatment was able to relieve. It was this wound, coupled with the effects of his hip wound, that caused his death in 1891. Altogether he received eight gunshot wounds and to the day of his death he carried in his body three rebel bullets. After the war he worked as superintendent of the Hawley mine until the fall of 1869, when he removed to Vernon county, Mo., and engaged in farming there until he died. He was an active Republican and a Grand Army man. Seven days after his death his wife passed away. She was, in maidenhood, Jennie S. Stewart, and was born near Pekin, being the daughter of an eastern family, of Scotch descent.
The only child of his parents, H. H. Kellogg was born in Pekin, Ill., December 10, 1862. He was reared near Nevada, Mo. From the time he was eleven years of age he had charge of the home farm, his father's health preventing him from doing manual work. He had no advantages in boyhood. Indeed, there seemed little prospect of his gaining an education. However, he had inherited his father's determination and would not allow adverse circumstances to daunt him. He taught school for a year and with the money thus earned entered upon a three years' course in the Western Normal College at Shenandoah, Iowa. In 1885 he graduated with the first honors of the class. While there he took a special course in penmanship and became known for his superiority in that line. After graduating he taught penmanship and commercial branches in a business college in Minnesota, at the same time taking the regular course in the college, from which he graduated in 1887. Next he accepted a position as principal of the Mountain City Business College at Chattanooga. Tenn., where he remained until 1890. His father's illness then called him home and he looked after the farm until his parents died. In the fall of 1891 he went to Columbus, Ohio, and took a post-graduate course in the Zaneria Art College. In the fall of 1892 he accented the principalship of the commercial department in the Afton (Iowa) Normal College, of which in 1893 he was elected president. Resigning that position at the close of the school year in 1895 he came to Oklahoma, and settled on the southeast quarter of section 24, township 12, range 8 west. This place he improved and has since operated.
In the fall of 1895 he accepted a position as teacher at Union City, and drove back and forth, a distance of twenty-one miles, each day. He was occupied in this way at the time of his nomination for county superintendent of schools, He is a member of the Territorial Teachers' Association, and has served on its executive committee. The meetings of the association have had the advantage of his assistance and counsel, and lie has been in charge of the summer institutes. Any plan for the advancement of the schools receives his earnest consideration and. when once convinced of its utility, he spares no effort to secure its adoption in his own county. While his attention is very closely given to educational work, he finds a pleasant relaxation from official duties in the management of his farm, which he still superintends personally and on which he is engaged in breeding high grade and full-blooded Short-horn Durham cattle. In politics he is a stanch Republican; in religion, is connected with the Methodist Episcopal Church. Fraternally, he is identified with the Woodmen of the World, the Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen. In Iowa, in 1889, he married Artie E. Hardman, who was born near Columbus, Ohio, and is the daughter of a minister in the Christian Church. They are the parents of two children, Myron M. and Anita Pearl.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
HENRY CLAY CUSEY.
This honored veteran of the Civil war is in charge of the agency farm maintained by the government in the interests of the Cheyenne and Arapahoe Indians of Darlington and vicinity. He is justly esteemed by all with whom he has dealings, for he carries into every transaction the same spirit of fairness and justice which has animated him throughout his life. The following facts which have been gleaned in regard to him will be perused with great interest by his multitudes of friends here and elsewhere.
His great-grandfather, John Cusey, was the younger son of an old, wealthy family in England. Rebelling against the time-honored custom of giving estates and the major portion of the family riches to the first-born son, and cordially disliking the army life to which he was unwillingly consigned, he deserted the British forces with sixty other comrades and joined the brave little band of Americans who were fighting for independence. He loyally supported their cause under General Washington's leadership for six years and seven months, or until victory perched on the patriots' banners. He participated in a great many hard fought battles, and at last was shot through one lung. Thenceforth, until his death in 1796, he suffered terribly, but bravely took up the regular duties of life when his adopted country no longer needed his services. His son, Job Cusey, born in 1794, near Ellicott's Mills, Md., was reared by Ezekiel Weeks, a farmer, and a former comrade of the elder Cusey during the Revolution. Job Cusey possessed the same patriotic spirit that had animated his father before him, and when the second war with England broke out he enlisted, and though he was small for his age, he was employed as a teamster. At the close of the war he went to the Western Reserve, in Ohio, and there reared his family. In 1836 the Cuseys removed to McLean county, Ill., and representatives of the family are now to be found in various parts of the west.
Job, father of Henry Clay Cusey, was a native of Richland county, Md. ' He married Sarah Ford, who came of a respected family. Her brother, Thomas H. Ford, once acted in the capacity of lieutenant-governor of Ohio; in 1861 had charge of the public printing of that state, and for a period was the partner of Hon. John Sherman, late secretary of state. The eldest son of Job and Sarah Cusey, Hon. John Cusey, occupied an important place in his prime, as he was a member of the state board of education and a representative from McLean county to the Illinois legislature. Another son, James C. Cusey, was nominated on the Reform ticket for the office of governor of Kansas, and lacked but a few votes of being elected. He now is engaged in stock-raising on a ranch near Medicine Lodge, Kans.
Henry Clay Cusey was born in Bloomington, Ill., in 1843, and was only three years old when death deprived him of his father. At the age of twelve he accompanied his mother to Humboldt county, Iowa, where he lived upon a farm. His educational advantages were slight, but he was ambitious and about the time that the Civil war broke out he had paid his tuition for five years of instruction at the Mount Vernon (Iowa) Academy.
Possessing the same patriotism for which his forefathers had been noted, H. C. Cusey offered himself to his country and enlisted in Company I, Thirty-second Iowa Infantry, August 22,1862. Assigned to the department of the Mississippi he served under Generals Sherman and Grant and took part in numerous important campaigns. He was actively engaged in the battles of the Red river region, his leader being Gen. A. J. Smith, and after moving against General Price, who was making a raid in Missouri, he returned with his regiment to Nashville. Later he accompanied the Federal troops in the famous operations in Alabama, including the battles of Spanish Fort and Blakely. Though he was in the thickest of many a fight.and had his clothes riddled with bullets on numerous battle-fields, he went through the war without receiving a wound or being captured. He was acting as an orderly one day when his horse was shot under him and killed, and at Eastport, Miss., while he was occupied in unloading a transport, he fell and so badly sprained his ankle that he has suffered great inconvenience with it ever since. He was granted an honorable discharge from the service August 24, 1865.
Mr. Cusey married Mary E. Atkinson in Humboldt county, Iowa, November 22, 1867. She was born and reared in Macoupin county, Ill., and on the 4th of July, 1894, she was summoned to the silent land. Her body was interred in the cemetery at Arkansas City, Kans. Three children are left to mourn her loss, namely: Jennie L., Ollie and Ruth. Ollie, who is a graduate of the Olathe (Kans.) schools, is employed as a clerk in El Reno. Ruth is a member of the El Reno high school class of 1901.
From 1868 to 1898 Mr. Cusey dwelt in Olathe, Kans., his time for a score of years being devoted to the improvement and cultivation of a farm of three hundred and twenty acres, which he owned. In 1888 he embarked in the hardware business in the same town, and for a decade was engaged in that venture, which proved to be disastrous in the end, though for five years it was a success. Mr. Cusey, unfortunately, lost most of his hardly-won fortune, but he conscientiously met every obligation to the last farthing.
While still a resident of Humboldt county Mr. Cusey was elected to the office of sheriff on the Republican ticket and as such he served until he removed to Kansas. In 1872 he was appointed deputy United States marshal for western Kansas, but refused to qualify. On one occasion, when he was ill, and entirely without his sanction or knowledge, he was nominated as county commissioner of Johnson county, but this honor he also declined. In 1890 he was appointed farmer at the Indian school at. Chilocco, Okla., and at the end of three and a half years the change of the administration saw a Democrat installed in the office. Later he was appointed assistant superintendent of that agency, but politics again intervened. Soon after President McKinley's election he was appointed to supervise the agency farm of the Navajo Indians at Fort Defiance, Ariz., and March 20, 1898, he was transferred to the Darlington agency, where he has since been situated. One of his important duties consists in the inspection of all cattle issued to the Cheyennes and Arapahoes at this agency, and he has won an enviable reputation for efficiency and fidelity.
Forty-seven years ago Mr. Cusey became a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and during this long period he has officiated in nearly all of the positions of the several congregations with which he has been connected. For years he served as one of the trustees of the church.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
E. A. HUMPHREY,
a leading merchant and prosperous business man of Okarchc, came to Oklahoma at the opening of the Cheyenne and Arapahoe reservation, in 1892. He is a native of Fulton county, Ohio, and is a son of R. S. and Cornelia (Emerick) Humphrey. natives of New York. The father was born in Rensselaer county,that state, and at an early day removed to Fulton county, Ohio, where he engaged in merchandising for forty years, and also built the first flour and saw mill, which now is operated by his former partner. He died while on a visit in Kansas, at the age of sixty-three years, but his wife is still living at the old homestead in Ohio. Although seventy-eight years of age, she is still well preserved. Of their thirteen children, nine are living. Our subject's paternal grandfather, one of the early settlers of New York, was a native of Connecticut, and a representative of an old New England family. E. A. Humphrey was educated in the common schools of Fayette, Ohio, and remained under the parental roof until he attained his majority. When a young man he learned telegraphy, and was employed as an operator by a railroad company five years. In 1886 he went to western Kansas and took up land in Stevens county, where he made his home for six years, being engaged in the banking business at Hugoton. and serving as postmaster under President Harrison three years, and as deputy county treasurer two years. At the opening up of the Cheyenne and Arapahoe reservation, April 19, 1892, he came to what is now Okarche, bought a lot and erected thereon a good business block, being practically the first to open a general store at that place. Although he began business in a small way, he has steadily enlarged his stock to meet the growing demands of his trade, and now carries a stock valued at $15,000. Besides his store-in Okarche he operates a branch house at Independence, Custer county, Okla., and is interested in raising a good grade of white-faced cattle.
In his native county, Mr. Humphrey married Miss Maude Donaldson, and to them have been born two children, Nina and Helen. The family is identified with the Congregational Church. and Mr. Humphrey affiliates with the Masonic Lodge at Kingfisher and the Knights of Pythias at El Reno. By his ballot he supports the men and measures of the Republican party, and takes an active interest in everything pertaining to the upbuilding and advancement of his town and county. He is what the world terms a self-made man, for his success in life is due entirely to,his own well-directed and energetic efforts.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FRED N. KERN,
who has conducted a tailoring establishment in El Reno since 1891, is one of the mo(st enterprising and successful business men here. Born in the village of Steinmark, Bavaria, Germany, December 7, 1852, he is a son of Peter and Catherine (Pfennig) Kern. His grandfather, Peter Kern, came to America and settled in New York. In 1849 he went west to the gold fields of California, and died there in Kern county, which takes its name from him. Peter Kern, the father of our subject, was born in Bavaria, Germany, and has served on the police force all of his life. He was in the German Army, and now resides in that country, at the advanced age of eighty-six years. He married Catherine Pfennig, who also was born in Bavaria, Germany, and died there when our subject was but seven years of age. Eight children were born to them, as follows: Adam, who served in the German army during the war of 1870-1871, and lives at the old home; Andrew, now a conductor on the railroad in that country; John Peter, who served in the German army nine years, and now is a tailor in Illinois; F. N., whose name heads this sketch; two sons who died in the German army; and two children, who died when young.
Fred N. Kern was reared in Steinmark and attended the public schools. At the age of fourteen he was apprenticed to a tailor for three years, and thoroughly learned the trade. The next five years were spent in traveling in Bavaria, Baden, Wurtemberg, Alsace-Lorraine and Switzerland. Then sailing from Bremen, on the steamer Rhine, he landed in Boston July 3. 1875, the trip consuming thirteen and one-eighth days. Following his trade in that city for eighteen months, then for a similar period in the city of Cincinnati, Ohio, he next located at Chicago, then in Freeport, 111., where he engaged in merchant tailoring for a period of nine years, with much success. In February, 1885, he went to Coldwater, Comanche county, where his brother had located before, and there they engaged in tailoring together. In December, 1891, they came to El Reno, and started in business under the firm name of Kern Brothers. J. P. Kern, who served two years in the council at El Reno, continued as a partner until 1899, when the firm was dissolved, and our subject has since continued in business alone. He is the oldest tailor of the city and has the largest business. He built a comfortable home on Barker avenue.
Mr. Kern was united in marriage February 26, 1880, with Mary Bruwo, who was born in Brandenburg, Germany, and came to America with her parents, who located in Illinois. They are the parents of five children: Emma, Edward, Fred K., Grover and Bessie, who died at the age of six years. Fraternally, he is a member of the Sons of Herman, of which he is treasurer; has been a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen for twenty years; the Knights of the Maccabees, of which he is commander; the Independent Order of Odd Fellows; the Encampment; and Order of Rebekahs. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church, although his parents were Lutherans. In politics he is a Democrat and has served as a committeeman and delegate to various conventions.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
JAMES E. KELSO,
one of the oldest and most highly respected merchants of El Reno, O. T., has become prominent as a business man through fair dealing and persevering industry and today occupies a high position as a citizen. A son of J. B. Kelso and grandson of William Kelso, he was born February 2, 1862, in Albion, Noble county, Ind.
William Kelso was born near Kelso, Scotland, and was the founder of the family in America. Locating in Pennsylvania, he engaged in farming there during the remainder of his days. He was a prominent Presbyterian. J. B. Kelso was born in Pennsylvania, but during his early manhood, located in Noble county, Ind., where he engaged in contracting and building. About 1868 or 1869 he went to Bloomfield, Iowa, where he still resides, and has served as one of the city officials. He married Miss Bonner, who died in Indiana, and of their two daughters and two sons, one son died.
Mr. Kelso was a lad of five years when his father moved to Bloomfield, Iowa, and there he received his early schooling. When eleven years of age he began clerking in a grocery store, and in 1881 went to McPherson, Kans., where he was employed as a clerk for five years in a dry-goods store. At the end of that time, he went to Hartland, Kearney county, Kans.. and opened a general merchandise store. He continued there until the fall of '90, when he came to Oklahoma territory, and in the spring of the following year he started his present dry-goods and grocery store in El Reno. His store is 50x108 ft. in dimensions, and he carries one of the best lines of goods in the town. By giving his entire attention to his business, in which he is thoroughly posted, and being a man of strict integrity and perseverance, he has met with merited success. Enterprising and public spirited, he lends his assistance in the promotion of the general welfare of his adopted community.
Mr. Kelso was married in El Reno to Miss Rosa Goenawein, a native of Dearborn county, Ind. She is a member of the Methodist Church of El Reno. Our subject is an active member of the following orders: the Knights of Pythias, in which he has served as past chancellor; Uniformed Rank, Knights of Pythias; I. O. O. F., in which he has served as past grand noble; and the Encampment. In politics he is a stanch Republican, has been chairman and secretary of conventions, and has served in the city council. He belongs to the El Reno Club. Mr. Kelso was at one time a stock-holder in the Exchange National Bank, but, as he could not give the position the proper amount of attention, he withdrew from the same.