PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF OKLAHOMA 1901
Biographies on this page:
Foster, George D.
Roche, F. J.
Armantrout, W. O.
Robb, J. C.
Weimer, J. J.
Wick, John J.
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GEORGE D. FOSTER,
an enterprising farmer of Banner township, Kingfisher county, resides upon a well-improved homestead in section 25. He is well entitled to the prosperity which he now enjoys, for with fortitude and determination he endured the years of pioneer struggling, and by his own energy amassed a competence.
Born in Butler county, Iowa, in 1866, George D. Foster is a son of Wallace and Ruth S. (Cowdery) Foster, natives of Orange county, Vt. The latter, who is a lady of remarkable force of character and excellent education, comes from fine old New England stock, some of her ancestors dating back there to the time of the Mayflower. Her parents, David W. and Clarissa (Tarbell) Cowdery, natives of the same county as herself, spent their entire lives in that locality. He was a very successful business man, dealing chiefly in cattle and horses, and during the Civil war purchased horses for the government. He also was president of a bank and was prominent in political circles, his opinion having great weight with his own (the Democratic) party. His long and useful life came to a close in 1891, when he was in his eighty-first year. His parents were Elihu and Hannah (Fifield) Cowdery, the latter a daughter of a wealthy farmer of New Hampshire. Elihu Cowdery, who was quite a society man in his youth, and who attended numerous balls, chose a pretty schoolteacher for his wife. He lived to be almost four-score years old and she died at about sixty. Elihu Cowdery was the youngest son of Dr. and Ruth (Wick-ham) Cowdery, natives of Massachusetts. The former ran away from home when he was a lad, and enlisted in the colonial army during the Revolution. He formed the acquaintance of Colonel Wickham, and subsequently married the officer's daughter. The doctor enjoyed a large and paying practice, both in the Bay state and in Vermont, where he finally located. Mrs. Ruth S. (Cowdery) Foster, ks previously mentioned, possesses fine native talents and culture. She completed her higher education in Randolph Academy and in South Royalton, qualifying herself for a career as a teacher. Prior to her marriage, in 1856, she had demonstrated her peculiar fitness for the fask of instructing the young, and of late years she has returned to her early calling to some extent, and to the satisfaction of the public. For nearly three decades her lot was cast with the inhabitants of Butler
county, Iowa, and in 1885 she removed, with her family, to Sumner county, Kans., whence they later came to Oklahoma.
George D. Foster received excellent educational opportunities in Iowa, and, guided by his mother's example and wide experience, he quite naturally adopted the same vocation, teaching. In 1885 and for some years succeeding that, both taught schools in the vicinity of Mayfield, Kans., and in Comanche county, same state. In April, 1889, when the territory of Oklahoma was thrown open to white settlers, they made the race into this region, coming from the western boundary line. Accompanying them were Jonathan Morgan and daughter, and each of the four located claims. They crossed Cimarron river west and north of Kingfisher creek, thus covering a distance of fifteen miles. The claims which they selected and reached at one-thirty in the afternoon, have been each and all developed in a business-like manner, doing credit to the owners. Mrs. Foster was once alone in her 10x12 log cabin for three weeks, though there were no doors or windows in her tiny home for protection.
George D. Foster brought seven cows and three ponies from Kansas, but, aside from this stock, had little means. Industry and perseverance, however, are the most important factors in success, and many improvements were at once instituted by him. He planted an orchard and vineyard, and has made a specialty of raising wheat, for which his land is well adapted. Today he owns five hundred acres of desirable land. and keeps from seventy-five to one hundred head of cattle, besides horses and hogs. For several years he taught school during the winter term, thus acquiring funds for needed improvements on his property. He is a highly esteemed citizl* . and was a charter member and secretary of If f Farmers' Alliance. Politically, he is independent. In all of his pioneer labors he has found an able helpmate in his wife—formerly Miss Cansadie Morgan—the young lady mentioned above. They were married nine years ago, and have two promising sons, Don and Fred.
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F. J. ROCHE.
Grant township, Kingfisher county, is peopled, for the most part, with thoroughly enterprising, representative citizens, and one of the most progressive agriculturists is the gentleman of whom this sketch is penned. He comes from a family of whom he has just reason to be proud, owing to the important place taken by some of its members in by-gone days. The name, originally De la Roche, was placed in the lists of French nobility a few generations ago, and our subject's grandfather, Joseph Roche, with two brothers, Peter and Francis, were gallant soldiers in the army of Napoleon Bonaparte. Peter Roche was frozen while crossing the Alps with that great general.
John B., father of F. J. Roche, was a hero of the battle of Waterloo and many others of importance. He was born in 1798 in a portion of France which now is included within the boundaries of Belgium. In 1837 he emigrated to the United States, going to New Orleans and thence up the Mississippi and Ohio rivers to Louisville, Ky. Settling in the new, county of Harrison, in Indiana, he energetically began the development of his land, and at length was the possessor of eight hundred acres of excellent farm property. At the ripe age of eighty-three years he passed to the silent land, loved and mourned by a large circle of sincere friends. In his journey to America he was accompanied by his devoted wife, whose maiden name was Anne Catherine Strenchard, and who, likewise, was a native of France. Of their nine children four are deceased, and the others comprise: Francis and John N., of Illinois; Emanuel, of Indiana; Theresa, widow of J. J. Coffinett, and F. J., of this article. The mother, who lived until 1898, was ninety years old at the time of her death.
F. J. Roche was born in Harrison county, Ind., in 1848, and grew to manhood in that locality, attending parochial schools, and completing his education in the University of Bloomington, Ind. At eighteen he located upon a part of his father's homestead, which he continued to cultivate until 1872, when he went to Shelby county, Ill. He speaks French, German and English fluently, and is well posted upon a large variety
of subjects. For a period, while a resident of Windsor, Ill., he owned and carried on a drug business, in which he was successful also. From 1884 until April, 1889, he was numbered among the citizens of Rice county, Kans., but the superior natural advantages of Oklahoma led him to seek a home here as soon as possible.
Starting from the western boundary of this territory April 22nd, Mr. Roche, mounted on an old mule, arrived at the site of his present home, now known as the Fairview stock farm, and filed his claim to the same on the 1st of the following May. On this place, situated in the northeastern corner of section 29, Grant township, he at once erected a small house, the first one put up on the main road between Guthrie and Kingfisher. One hundred and ten acres are now devoted to the raising of wheat and corn, for which the land seems specially adapted. Among the numerous improvements which the owner has made upon his farm are the orchard, well and reservoir, which add so much to the value of this model country-seat.
In 1881 Mr. Roche married Elizabeth Garvin of Shelby county. Ill., daughter of Shem Garvin, who was born near Baltimore, Md., and accompanied his parents to the prairie state in its pioneer days. He was noted as a hunter, and often went on long trips with the Indians in quest of game. For years he owned a flour mill at Windsor, Ill., which was the first one erected between St. Louis, Mo., and Terre Haute, Ind. The Garvins trace their line back to four brothers who came to this country from Scotland at an early day, one settling in Pennsylvania, two in Ohio, and the other in Maryland. On the maternal side, Mrs. Roche traces her ancestry back to the Wolfe family, from which General Wolfe, of London Lane fame, sprang. Mrs. Roche possesses considerable artistic talent, as a number of beautiful landscapes painted by her abundantly testify. Among them are views of Niagara Falls and one of the old "Skeleton Ranch," on Skeleton creek, and one of the spots where the old Chisholm trail crosses Cimarron river. Also of a literary turn of mind, she is a member of the Lithia Springs Chautauqua organization, makes a point of attending its sessions and has contributed papers on different subjects several years at these convocations.
In his political convictions Mr. Roche has been a "Greenbacker" for a number of years. While a resident of Indiana he served for one term as deputy county treasurer, and also was deputy sheriff for one term. In Illinois he was clerk of Richland township for two years, and was a member of the city council of Windsor for a period. Fraternally he is an Odd Fellow and retains his membership in Sterling Lodge No. 131, of Rice county, Kans.
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W. O. ARMANTROUT.
To the somewhat aggressive spirit of commercialism nessarily keen in all newly developed sections of the country, is added here and there a touch of the refining and elevating, by the occupations introduced along artistic lines. In these days of materialistic tendency, a practical art is more readily appreciated than the art of the aimless dreamer, and no one familiar with its progress during the last dozen years doubts that photography may be made a combination of the practical, the ideal, and the artistic. To the consideration of the various phases Of his work Mr. Armantrout brings a continually increasing knowledge, and keeps in touch with the progress
in other parts of the world, as well as in his own painstaking country. In the matter of posing, artistic effect, and the manipulation of lights and shadows—the chairo-scuro of Rembrandt—he is perhaps without an equal for many miles around. His studio is one of the finest in the county—one might almost say in the territory—and he commands the appreciation and patronage of all true lovers of conscientiously rendered work.
Of German descent, Mr. Armantrout was born in Wabash county, Ind., in 1870, and is a son of Henry and Margaret (Wiles) Armantrout, natives of Indiana. Henry Armantrout was a farmer in Wabash county during the earlier years of his activity, and during the Civil war served in an Indiana regiment. In 1878 he removed to Kent county, Mich., and engaged in the lumber business for seven years, going later to White county, Ind., where he is living at the present time. Margaret Armantrout was a daughter of Frederick Wiles, a native of Pennsylvania, and of German descent, who settled in Indiana about 1843, conducting a farm in Miami county. Mrs. Armantrout died in Indiana, in 1884. During the last century, the paternal great-grandfather came from Germany to America with his brother, the former settling in Pennsylvania am the latter in Virginia. On his father's farm in Pennsylvania was born the grandfather of W. O., who was named Jeremiah, and who settled in Miami county, Ind., and after serving in the Civil war, changed his location to Cheboygan county, Mich. Upon a homestead claim he engaged in general farming for the remainder of his useful life, and died in 1894, at the age of four-score years.
W. O. Armantrout was one of five children, of whom four are living: Michael is a photographer in Guthrie, Okla.; W. O. follows the sail occupation in Hennessey, the two studios being operated under the name of Armantrout Bros.; Nellie is the wife of Mr. VanDusen, of Wabash county, Ind.; and Ada also lives in Wabash county. After sixteen years of life on the home farm in Indiana and Michigan, during which time he studied diligently at the public schools and availed himself of opportunities at hand. W. O. Armantrout went, in 1886, to Indiana, where he attained independence by working on the farms, of the surrounding agriculturists. A change of occupation was begun in 1889, by accepting a clerkship in Kingman, Kans., and continuing the same in Anthony, Kans., in 1890. While in the latter place he began to study photography under the able instruction of his brother, with whom he worked until 1892, when he started in business for himself in Kiowa, Kans. After two years he opened a studio in Joplin, Mo., going thence to Caldwell, Kans., and in 1898 opened the place of business in Hennessey which has since been the scene of his painstaking efforts.
June 13, 1894, occurred, in Anthony, the marriage of Mr. Armantrout and Ruth Fain, a native of Tennessee, and a daughter of Capt. J. S. Fain, a farmer near Dandridge. During the Civil war he served in the Union army, as captain of Company A, Ninth Tennessee Cavalry, and for two years served as a scout, piloting the army through the mountains to Kentucky. Later he accomplished the feat of destroying the saltpeter works in Tennessee. After the war, Mr. Fain engaged in farming in Tennessee, and in 1884 came to Kansas and located on a farm near Anthony, where he has retired from active participation in the affairs of business. His wife, formerly Jennie Mitchell, was also a native of Tennessee, and a daughter of Wylie Mitchell, a farmer and county officer. The great-grandfather, Mitchell, was a member of the constitutional convention of Tennessee, held at the end of the war, and was a prominent man in the affairs of his state. Mrs. Armantrout is one of nine children, five of whom are living. The others are: J. P., in Anthony, Kans.; F. H.; Eliza.; Myrtle, and Ruth. To Mr. and Mrs. Armantrout has been born one child, Gertrude. Mr. Armantrout is a member of the Oklahoma Photographers' Association. In political affiliation he is connected with the Democratic party, but has no political aspirations. Fraternally, he is associated with the Ancient Order of United Workmen and of the Home Forum. With his family, he is a devoted member of the Presbyterian Church, and contributes generously towards its support.
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J. C. ROBB.
The history of this popular and well-known business man of Kingfisher will be of interest to many of his fellow-citizens. Just in the prime of early manhood, he has achieved much for one of his years, and dates his prosperity from the time when he cast in his lot with the inhabitants of this territory.
His paternal grandfather, William Henderson Robb, was born in Ohio, and was of Scotch descent. At a very early day he settled in Illinois, and thenceforth was numbered among its agricultural class. He died at Prairie City, Ill., in 1875, aged seventy years. He volunteered as a soldier in the war of 1812 and served with the rank of captain. His son, W. H., father of J. C. Robb, was born at Oquawka, Ill., and, having been admitted to the bar, was for many years engaged in practice at Leon, Iowa, meeting with marked success. He served as prosecuting attorney for the county, and subsequently acted in the same capacity in Edwards county, Kans.
for three terms. From 1881 to 1885 he was special deputy agent to the Indians, traveling in different parts of the west, and made the large settlement or payment to the Wisconsin tribes. At the close of that service he removed to Kinsley, Kans., and in 1892 came to Kingfisher. The following year he located upon a farm near Enid, and is engaged in practice in that town.
Fifteen years ago the death of our subject's mother occurred in Leon, Iowa. Prior to her marriage she bore the name of Mary Harrah, her father being John N. Harrah, who was a native of Virginia, and of English descent. He was a pioneer of Ohio, and of Bushnell, Ill., and died in that town in 1897, in his ninety-third year. Mrs. Mary Robb was born near Bushnell, and passed her life in Illinois and Iowa. Of her ten children four are deceased. One son, William H., an expert mechanic, has been in the United States navy for several years, serving on the monitor, "Monadnock," much of the time, and at present is in the navy yards at San Francisco, Cal.
The birthplace of J. C. Robb is in Leon, Iowa, and the date of his birth is April 30, 1866. He received excellent educational advantages in the grammar and high schools and subsequent to his graduation he entered Drake University, at Des Moines, where he pursued his studies for two years. In 1884 he took a position as commissary clerk at Quapaw, I. T., under his father, and discharged his duties very creditably. At the end of eighteen months, in 1885, he went to Kinsley, Kans., where he occupied a clerkship in the postoffice for a year. His next experience was in the railroad business, as he was placed in charge of the passengers' ticket office of the Santa Fe road at Colorado Springs, and later served in the interests of that company in Denver. Having acquired an excellent reputation for ability and reliability, he then received greater honors and trusts, in all of which he acquitted himself with credit.
On the opening day in Oklahoma Mr. Robb came to Kingfisher as local representative of the Santa Fe, the cross stage line, and the Wells-Fargo Express Company. In addition to this, he served as assistant to the postmaster, J. W. Mills, and in September, 1890, was made chief deputy of the United States marshal, William Grimes, Guthrie being his headquarters. On the igth of April, 1892, he located a claim on Cooper creek, ten miles northwest of Kingfisher, and m September resigned his positions, in order to improve his property. In 1895 he was appointed under-sheriff by B. W. Burchett, and served in that capacity for two years. Politically he is a stanch Republican.
In July, 1897, Mr. Robb embarked in the grain business in Kingfisher, and in the following year erected the elevator known by his name. It has a capacity of twenty-five thousand bushels, and is operated by steam power. Within such a short time, the trade which Mr. Robb has built up in this locality is really wonderful, and rapidly increasing in volume. In January, 1900, he handled over twenty-two cars a week at his elevator, shipments being chiefly to southern and coast ports. He is a charter member of the Grain Dealers' Association of Oklahoma and Indian Territories, and in the winter of 1899-1900 was its secretary. In 1898 he opened a feed and seed store in the courthouse block, in Kingfisher. This is by far the largest place of the kind in the county, and besides doing a large wholesale and retail business in flour and feed, he deals extensively in' all kinds of seeds, including broom corn.
In 1890 Air. Robb married one of Kingfisher's popular young ladies, Miss Sally Belle Cleaver, daughter of Nathan B. Cleaver, a police justice of this city. She was born in Lebanon, Ohio, and received a liberal education. Her father was a prominent citizen of Lebanon, and served as sheriff of Warren county for some time. A little daughter, Helen, graces the home of Mr. and Mrs. Robb.
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J. J. WEIMER,
whose pleasant home is situated in section 21, Cimarron township, Kingfisher county, came to this locality from Sumner county, Kans., on the 22nd of April, 1889, and has been actively associated with the upbuilding of this territory, which, at no distant date, assuredly will be admitted to the sisterhood of states.
Of German ancestry, the Weimer family has lived in Pennsylvania for several generations, contributing largely to the welfare of that prosperous state. They were numbered among the pioneers of Somerset county, Pa., and there occurred the births of our subject and his parents, Samuel and Prisclla (McKenzie) Weimer. The mother passed to her reward at the age of threescore years, but the father is yet living upon the old homestead in his native county, and of their ten surviving children only two are in the west, the other being a resident of Buena Vista county, Iowa.
J. J. Weimer was born in 1855, and spent his boyhood in the usual occupations of farmers' sons. For several years after his marriage he lived in Frostburg, Md., and in 1881 came to the west, believing that his fortunes would thereby be bettered. For eight years or more he was actively engaged in farming, and met with fair success in his undertaking, yet he was glad to avail himself of a chance to locate in Oklahoma. On the day that this land of promise was opened
to home-seekers he made the race from Buffalo Springs, on the north, and secured the claim which he has since been occupied in improving. At first a board hut, six by eight feet in dimensions, served as a shelter, and later, a substantial dug-out, twelve by twenty feet, made a comfortable home for three winters. In time, this was supplanted by a better one, twenty by twenty-lour feet in dimensions, and thus, step by step, the proprietor has advanced, prudently keeping out of debt, and providing for his family as well as his means would permit. He reserves only' enough land for his orchard and pastures, planting the rest with wheat and corn. Three excellent wells and two hundred bearing trees are among the improvements which he has made on the place, and thus a sufficiency of pure water and a variety of fruit are assured. He keeps a good grade of live stock and has made somewhat of a specialty of feeding hogs.
Politically, Mr. Weimer is a Democrat, and for five years has been a member of the township board of officials. That he has attained success may be seen from a glance backward of eleven years, when he arrived in this territory $200 in debt, and a glance at his desirable farm, which stands as a monument to his good management. In the fall of 1900 Mr. Weimer built a handsome residence, 18x31 feet, two stories in height. For several years he has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and both himself and wife have been specially interested in the work of the Sunday school, serving, respectively, as superintendent and teacher for years.
The marriage of Mr. Weimer and Miss Nancy Crow took place in Allegany county, Md. in 1881. Their eldest son, Reginald, is a resident of Cumberland, Md. and the others are at home, namely: Taney, Rellie, Benjamin, Myrtle Delia and Roy.
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JOHN G. WICK
has been a resident of Oklahoma since its opening, and during the first eighteen months here lived upon a claim, but in 1891 came to El Reno, where he engaged in his occupation as a blacksmith. He is a native of Baden, Herdhen, Germany, his birth having occurred January 2, 1852.
Frederick Wick, father of our subject, was a farmer and stock raiser, and died when the latter was a year old, and the mother, whose maiden name was Regina Steinegger died in Fredericksville, Ill. She had two sons: our subject, and Frederick, who resides in Fredericksville, Ill. J.G. Wick was a lad of twelve years when his mother brought her family to the United States. They sailed from Havre in the boat Munsey, the voyage occupying fifty-eight days. Landing in New York City, they went to Highland, Madison county, Ill., where our subject began attending school, and later in his youth, as he was busy learning his trade during the day, went to a night school. Beginning at nineteen years, he served an apprenticeship of three years to the blacksmith's trade in Highland, and from there went to Geneseo, Ill., where he had a shop of his own. However, he only remained there until 1874, when he went to Marshalltown, Iowa, and opened a shop, and a year later engaged in business at Fountainelle, at first as an employee, in 1883 he sold his shop, and, going to California, started in business at Los Angeles, where he continued two years. At the end of that period he returned east to Sterling, Kans., where he followed his trade. In 1889 he located on a claim at Kingfisher, Okla., but after spending eighteen months tilling the soil, sold his farm to return to his trade. Locating in El Reno, he went into partnership with a Mr. Dowell, the firm name being Dowell & Wicks, but at the end of two vears he bought out his partner, and has since been carrying on the business alone. His shop is located on Wade street, and having a thorough knowledge of his business, he has built up a large arid lucrative trade. He owns his home, which he built on East Wade street.
Mr. Wick has been twice married. His first wife was Miss Melscena Leach of Iowa, and they had three children: Spencer J., Fountainelle, and William Oscar. His second union was with Miss Henriette Allen, a native of Michigan, and this marriage has resulted in the birth of three children, namely: Harold George: John D., who died at the age of fourteen months; and Lela. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which he has served as noble grand, and is secretary of the Encampment. In politics he supports the Democrats. A member of the volunteer fire department of El Reno, Company No. 1, he has served as treasurer of the same for three terms; is one of the company's oldest members, and has attended many of the firemen's tournaments held in the territory.
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