PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF OKLAHOMA 1901
Biographies on this page:
Faris, Hon. J. M.
Forrest, Randolph B.
Gillett, Hon. F. E.
Mosteller, Martin S., M. D.
Reid, Hon. Thomas R.
Shuff, John R.
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HON. J. M. FARIS.
The welfare of the village of Yukon, Canadian county, has been conserved largely by the enthusiasm and intelligence of such men as Mr. Faris. On the opening of Oklahoma, in April, 1889, he came to the territory. This, however, was not his first
glimpse of the newly opened strip, for he had spent some years previous in the country and was aware of its wonderful possibilities of growth and development. Arriving here as a permanent settler, he turned his attention to the practice of law, in which, in connection with the loan business, he has since engaged. From the first he has stood stanchly for improvements that would benefit his village and county. He has favored measures of a progressive nature and has himself contributed to their advancement. A pioneer of Yukon, he erected the first store building here and was the first man to hold the office of postmaster. In 1892 he was honored by election to the territorial legislature, in which he served with credit to himself; he has the distinction of having been the only Republican ever elected to the legislature from this district, which usually gives large Democratic majorities. During his term of service, he was appointed by Governor Steele as chairman of the board of aid. He was the first citizen of his county to offer a resolution, in favor of the gold standard, to be added to the Republican platform, and it was largely due to his influence that the prevailing sentiment favoring the silver cause was changed to a stanch and sturdy support of gold.
Mr. Faris was born in Jackson county, Ill., in 1852, a son of Edward and Sarah (Tignor) Faris, natives, respectively, of Tennessee and Illinois. When he was a child his parents settled in Missouri, and there his father followed cabinet-making until the opening of the Civil war. He then enlisted in the army, in which he served with credit until he fell in battle, in 1863. The mother was left with the care of five sons, and to her self-sacrificing efforts, no less than the earnest efforts of the boys themselves, their success in after years was due.
During the years of his youth Mr. Faris worked in lead mines in Missouri. When he was twenty he began the study of medicine, and two years later commenced to practice. For fifteen subsequent years he engaged in professional work in Missouri, Arkansas and the Indian Territory, but since his settlement in Oklahoma he has given his attention principally to the law.
While living in Missouri, he married Miss Lenora Messick, whose parents had moved to that state from Illinois when she was a child.
In fraternal relations, he is connected with the Masons and Odd Fellows. To the credit of Mr. Faris it may be said that no enterprise has been inaugurated for the benefit of his home town in which his sympathies have not been enlisted and his active support gained. He has proved himself public-spirited, and his progressive and enterprising disposition has enabled him to actively promote movements of a most helpful nature.
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RANDOLPH B. FORREST
a member of the El Reno bar, and a prominent factor in local judicial and legal matters, was born in Scioto county, Ohio, October 20, 1850. His parents, Joseph H. and Vanceline (Vance) Forrest, were natives respectively of Guernsey county and Belmont county, Ohio. Both the Forrests and the Vances were among the earliest settlers of Virginia. As civilization advanced they crowded to the front among the hardy frontiersmen who drove back the savages and converted the wilderness into harvest fields. The ancestry of the famous Confederate General Forrest, members of the same family, settled in Tennessee in 1808. Archibald Forrest, father of Joseph H. Forrest, settled in Guernsey county in 1809, where he was a successful farmer, and reared a family of children
who were a credit to themselves and the community in which they lived.
He was a soldier of the war of 1812. He was of Scotch-Presbyterian lineage. His death occurred in Guernsey county in 1857.
In 1851 Joseph H. Forrest settled in DeWitt county, Ill., of which he was a pioneer, in the vicinity of Waynesville, but later moved over the line to Logan county and made his home in Atlanta. During the Civil war he was a soldier on the side of the Union, his services continuing for three years. In his family, born to Vanceline Forrest, who died near Waynesville in 1853, there are now two children, R. B. and Mrs. Mary A. Stevenson, of Arkansas.
The childhood of R. B. Forrest was passed in Illinois on his father's farm, and was uneventful, being surrounded by the usual hardships and influences incident to the life of the average farmer's sons. More fortunate than many in his opportunities for acquiring an education, he studied diligently at the district schools, and the High School of Atlanta, after which he took a course in the Illinois State Normal School. For two years he taught school in Logan county, after which he engaged in newspaper work in Lincoln, editing and publishing the Logan County Journal, the name of which was afterward changed to The Times. During 1873-74 he was engaged in this enterprise, but discontinued it to enter upon the study of law under Beason & Blinn, of Lincoln.
In June 0f 1876, Mr, Forrest was admitted to the bar before the Supreme Court of Illinois, and at once began the practice of law at Lincoln, Ill., having as his partner Edmund Lynch, After an association of three years, he conducted an independent practice. In 1880 he had so far distinguished himself as to win the approval and appreciation of the community, and he was elected state's attorney on the Democratic ticket. This position he held for four years after which he resumed a general practice. In 1885 he changed his location to Minneapolis, Minn. In 1893 he came to El Reno, where he has been successful to a gratifying degree. In 1894-95 he was a member of the committee on statehood, representing the interests of Oklahoma at Washington.
The marriage of Mr. Forrest took place in Logan county, Ill., in 1872, and united him with Mary E. Randolph, of that county. Her father, W. H. Randolph, was born in 1819, and settled in Logan county in 1829. He was a member of an old Virginia family. He died at his home in Kenney, Ill., in November, 1899. To Mr. and Mrs. Forrest have been born three children: Gertrude, who is the wife of C. F. Trader, of Kenney, Ill.; Alma, who is married to S. A. Mann, of Salt Lake City; and Randolph J., a
member of the class of 1903, University of Oklahoma at Norman.
The political affiliations of Mr. Forrest are with the Democratic party. He is respected by his party associates for his loyalty to party interests. He regards fidelity as the highest of virtues, and its breach by an acknowledged friend is to him unpardonable. He has never sought political promotion, though he has twice been prominently mentioned as candidate for Congress. At the Democratic convention of 1900 he could easily have been nominated, but declined to make the race unless the Democratic party should name the candidate without going into a joint convention with the People's party.
Fraternally, he is associated with the Knights of Pythias and with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is connected with fte Territorial Bar Association. In his chosen profession, be has attained a degree of eminence at once praiseworthy and lucrative, as well as far-reaching in its influence, extending to the west and south, and embracing to a large extent the most important cases in the surrounding counties. In addition, he is esteemed for his many estimable traits of mind, character and attainment. He is the acknowledged Shakesperian reader of Oklahoma, and is famous for his familiarity with all the classics and general history. He has remarkable reserve forces, which always come into requisition on the highest occasions. He is also esteemed for an unselfish interest manifested ia all of the intelligent movements for the upbuilding of Oklahoma and the improvement of his place of residence.
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HON. F. E. GILLETT,
a well-known and prominent citizen of El Reno, occupies a fine position among the successful lawyers of Oklahoma, and as the head of the firm of Gillett & Libby is carrying on a substantial practice.
A native of Ashtabula county, Ohio, he was born January 7, 1848, a son of Asa Gillett, Jr. His grandfather, Asa Gillett, Sr., was born in Connecticut, of English ancestry, the founder of the Gillett family having emigrated from England in colonial days, becoming one of the earliest settlers of that New England state. He was a young man of enterprise and ambition, who followed the tide of emigration westward as far as Ohio, and in Ashtabula county preempted a tract of forest-covered land, from which he literally hewed out a homestead, and there he was engaged in tilling the soil until his death, at the age of four-score years.
Asa Gillett, Jr., was born and reared on the parental homestead in Ohio, living there until 1861, when he removed with his family to Emporia, Kans., and was, to the close of the war of the Rebellion, engaged as an employee of the commissary of the west, and stationed at Olathe, Kans. After the war he engaged in the wholesale grocery business, and later in the hardware business at Emporia, Kans., from thence going to Cottonwood Falls, Kans., where, until his death, he became interested in the hardware business. He married Cornelia Fisk, who was born in Ashtabula county, Ohio, a daughter of Zedekiah Fisk, who was a pioneer farmer of Ashtabula county, removing there from New York, the state of his birth. She died in Emporia, Kans. Of the children born of their union, five grew to years of maturity, and one daughter and three sons are living, the sons being as follows: Frank E., the subject of this sketch; Judge Preston B., residing in Kingman, Kans., an attorney, and judge of the twenty-eighth judicial district; and Guy, residing in Hennessey, and now with the Dawes Commission in Indian Territory.
Frank E. Gillett attended the public schools of his native town until May, 1861, when, a boy of thirteen years, he accompanied his parents to Emporia, Kans. From 1863 until the close of the war he served as orderly on the staff of Colonel Plum. On returning home he was one of the seventeen students to organize and establish the normal school at Emporia. Being desirous of entering the legal profession, he read law under Samuel N. Wood, of Cottonwood Falls, and under Judge L. Houk, of Hutchinson, Kans., being admitted to the bar in the latter place in 1876, and afterward practicing there for two years. In 1878 he located in Kingman, Kans., where he continued to practice until coming to El Reno in July, 1892. He took a very active part in political affairs in Kansas, having been elected to the house of representatives, on the Republican ticket, in 1882, re-elected in 1884 and in 1886. In the sessions of 1883, 1885, the special session of 1886, and the session of 1888 he served as chairman of the judiciary committee of the house. In 1888 he was elected state senator from the Hutchinson district, and served until 1892, being chairman of the judiciary committee during the entire four years. While in the senate he was delegate to the convention composed of members of the legislatures of several states, which met in St. Louis, Mo., and was there elected chairman of the convention.
Since coming to El Rend, in 1892, Mr. Gillett has been very successful, and has won an enviable reputation for his legal ability and skill. Among his other varied undertakings may be mentioned his connection with the organization of the Oklahoma Farmers' Mutual Indemnity Association, of which he has been secretary since its inception in March, 1899, Politically, he is prominently identified with the Republican party. Fraternally, he is associated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which lodge he is past grand master, and he is also a Knight of Pythias. As a member of the Commercial Club, he has wielded an extended influence, and as one of its founders foresaw its benefit in promulgating sound business principles.
January 7, 1870, in Kansas, occurred the marriage of Mr. Gillett to Miss Anna F. Brown, a native of Dublin, Ireland, and who was educated and grew to womanhood in Lawrence, Kans. Her adopted father. Rev. J. S. Brown, was an early settler in Lawrence, where he now resides, deserving the distinction of being the oldest resident in that part of the state.
To Mr.
and Mrs. Gillett have been born five children: Cornelia, wife of M. D. Libby, of the firm of Gillett & Libby; Mary, who is now Mrs. Engle, of El Reno; Charles, of El Reno; Frank, who is in business in Oklahoma City; and Fred, who is a member of the junior class at the Agricultural and Mechanical College, at Stillwater, Okla. Mrs. Gillett is a member of the Congregational Church.
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MARTIN S. MOSTELLER, M. D.
The bracing, healthful air and surroundings of Oklahoma have attracted a large share of its population, and among those who are being greatly benefited is included the honored subject of this article. He takes an earnest interest in the welfare of this section of the Union, and in every possible manner seeks to promote its permanent prosperity.
The paternal grandfather of Dr. Mosteller, who bore the same Christian name, was a native of Germany, but his wife, Phoebe Sackett, was born in Ohio. They lived in Ohio for many years during its early settlement, and there the doctor's father, Thomas Mosteller, first saw the light of day. He was an agriculturist by occupation, and when he was a young man he decided to seek his fortune in the then frontier state of Illinois. He was one of the first white settlers of the central portion of the state, and his experiences, were full of hardships and privations for a number of years. His faithful helpmate and devoted wife was Miss Charlotte Morris in her girlhood, and Tennessee was her birthplace.
Martin S. Mosteller was born upon the pioneer farm owned by his father in Illinois, and there he early mastered the details of agriculture. With inherent energy and ambition he determined to acquire a thorough education, and when he had gleaned a fair knowledge of the common branches he commenced teaching local schools, thus obtaining the means for further advantages. Going to Cincinnati, Ohio, he pursued a course of study in the Eclectic Medical College, and finally�was graduated from that institution. Then, returning to his native state, he practiced medicine for two years in Mason county, after which he located in Sangamon county, same state, and for twelve years was successfully occupied in the duties �f his chosen field of usefulness. At length failing health led him to remove to Jackson county, Mo., and there, as formerly, he built up a large and lucrative practice. For ten years he assiduously gave his time and attention to the alleviation of suffering and illness in that locality. When Oklahoma was thrown open to general settlement he joined the multitudes of home-seekers and secured the fine claim where he now resides. It is the southeastern quarter of section 22, township 11, range 5, Canadian county. Here he first found his time fully occupied in making improvements and cultivating his land, but when his merits as a physician became known he was obliged to return to his old vocation. Today he combines the free, healthful outdoor life of the tiller of the soil and that of the physician and surgeon, and is enjoying his existence better than ever before.
Prior to the years which he spent in the medical College in Cincinnati, Dr. Mosteller married Sarah Antle, a daughter of Leonard and Rachel (Spainhower) Antle, all early inhabitants of Illinois. The only daughter of the doctor and wife is Maud M., who is the wife of Francis Woods, of the Cheyenne and Arapahoe country. Fred F. and Albert A. are enterprising young men, and the youngest of the family, Bert B., is attending college.
A man of liberal education and general information, Dr. Mosteller heartily supports schools and churches and all movements which he believes to be beneficial to the country. For some five years he has been a director on the school board, giving his influence toward the maintenance of good educational facilities for the young. Politically he favors the Populists. Religiously he is a Methodist in belief.
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HON. THOMAS R. REID.
A successful lawyer of El Reno, an honorable business man, and one of the leading politicians of Oklahoma, Mr. Reid has been influential in the territorial domain, and as speaker of the house during the Fifth General Assembly has won a place of prominence among the foremost men of this section of the Union.
He was born July 16, 1864, in Shawneetown, Gallatin county, Ill., a son of Rev. Robert Reid, and comes of distinguished Scotch ancestry on both the maternal and paternal sides.
Robert Reid, the grandfather of Thomas R.,
was born in Scotland, where for many years of his earlier life he was engaged in silk manufacturing, but subsequently immigrated with his family to America, locating in Nova Scotia. He was a man of deep religious convictions, and a stern defender of the faith in which he was reared, having been a "Blue" Presbyterian of the deepest hue. Eventually all of his children settled in Illinois, and three of his sons rendered excellent service to the country of their adoption as soldiers in the late Civil war.
Rev. Robert Reid was born in Scotland, near Glasgow, where he lived until ten years of age, and then accompanied his parents to Nova Scotia. After his marriage he removed to Illinois, locating in Gallatin county, where he was engaged in the coal business for a number of years, operating quite extensively at Saline Mines. While thus engaged he began his labors as a preacher of the gospel, and for more than forty years he has been one of the faithful ministers of Gallatin county. Now, at the age of seventy-six years, he has charge of the church at Saline Mines. Although he has numerous outside interests, having for the past thirty years been superintendent of Saline County Mines, he never in any way neglects his parish, and for many years has not missed a meeting of the Presbytery. An earnest and fluent speaker, he conducts his church services without notes, and during the years that he has been engaged in preaching has made his influence felt throughout southern Illinois, having been instrumental in establishing at least half a dozen churches, freely paying his own expenses, giving gratuitous service to struggling parishes. In politics he was a Whig in his younger days, and since the formation of the Republican party has been one of its strongest advocates.
He married Elizabeth Campbell, who was born near Glasgow, Scotland, being of the old Argyll Clan Campbell, a lineal descendant of Sir Colin Campbell, knighted in 1286, and a grandniece of the Duke of Argyll, former Governor-General of Canada. She died in 1894, leaving nine children, of whom Thomas R., the sixth child in succession of birth, is the only one residing in Oklahoma.
Thomas R. Reid received his elementary education in the public schools of Gallatin county, Ill., and at the age of seventeen years began teaching in order to earn money enough to continue his studies at the Southern Illinois Normal University, at Carbondale. Leaving that university at the commencement of his senior year, in 1886, he began the study of law under Carl Roebel, of Shawneetown, with whom, after being admitted to the bar, in 1889, he formed a partnership, which continued until 1894. In 1890 Mr. Reid, who had already become known as a young man of whom much might be expected, was elected to the Illinois state legislature from the old forty-ninth district, the Republicans giving him a majority of eight hundred votes. In 1891, in the house, he served on the joint world's fair committee, and on its judiciary committee, and was engaged in the Oglesby and Palmer fight for the United States senatorship.
Early in 1894 Mr. Reid located in El Reno, where he has since established a large and lucrative law practice. At once identifying himself with the leading interests of the town and county, he was nominated on the Republican ticket as county attorney, and, having been elected by a majority of one vote, served one session or term. In 1896 he was nominated to the same office by acclamation, but by the fusion of that year was defeated by forty-seven votes. In 1898 he was nominated for the territorial legislature, and received a majority of more than two hundred votes against fusion, a compliment which he highly appreciated. He was elected speaker of the Fifth General Assembly in 1899, his elevation to the chair being a just recognition of his ability. One of the most important measures with which he has been actively connected is the grain inspection law of the territory, which he drew up, and was instrumental in having passed. This is of great import to the farmers and grain dealers of Oklahoma, as it prevents discrimination against them in favor of coast shippers, who, before the passage of the law, often had undue advantage over the farmers and local grain shippers.
Politically, Mr. Reid is a strong supporter of the principles promulgated by the Republican party, and a faithful worker in its ranks. Fraternally, he belongs to the Shawneetown, (Ill.) Lodge, A. F. & A. M.; El Reno Chapter, R. A. M.; is likewise a member and past chancellor of the Knights of Pythias, and a member of the El Reno Commercial Club. His business office is in Masonic block.
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JOHN R. SHUFF.
Sixty-three years ago the birth of John R. Shuff, of Canadian county, occurred in Morgan county, Ill., the date being September 18, 1837. He grew to maturity upon the homestead owned by his parents, John and Angelina (Lindsay) Shuff, who early inculcated in their son the upright principles of conduct which always have animated him in all of life's vicissitudes. He is sincerely esteemed and looked Up to by every one who knows him, and his earnest desire to aid and uplift his fellow-men has been a great mfluence for good wherever he has dwelt.
After completing his public-school course, it was the privilege of our subject to attend a college at Jacksonville, Ill., for three years, after
which he pursued higher studies in Bethany College, in Virginia. He was there at the time the Civil war broke out, and as his health was poor, he could not respond to Lincoln's call for troops, though he had supported him by his ballot, and was in thorough sympathy with the Federals. Therefore he returned to his native state, and engaged in teaching school in Sangamon and Morgan counties for several terms.
On the 24th of December, 1863, Mr. Shuff married Elizabeth Ann Artt, whom he had known for a number of years. She was born near Georgetown, Ky., and went to Morgan county, Ill., when she was young. In 1868 the young couple went to Nodaway county, Mo., where they purchased a farm, but within a few years a financial loss was sustained which necessitated the sale of the property. Then for a period Mr. Shuff cultivated a rented farm in Holt and Nodaway counties, and finally bought a farm in Montgomery county, Iowa. After residing there but a year, he went to Taylor county, same state, and subsequently the family dwelt in western Kansas for a few years.
The large expenses incident to the rearing ot several children, added to the reverses which he had suffered frequently by the failure of crops and the uncertain markets, at length decided Mr. Shuff in the question of removal to Oklahoma whenever it should be opened to settlement, as it seemed a veritable "promised land" to those who were acquainted with its resources. August 17, 1889, he came to Canadian county, and filed a claim to his present property, and in December he moved his family here. They were sheltered in a sod house for several years, but later better accommodations came as the result of indefatigable labor. The farm is situated on section 34, township 14, range 6, Mathewson being the postoffice. Mrs. Shuff inherited some money from a relative and invested a portion of it in a quarter-section of land adjoining the property belonging to our subject.
Ervin A., their eldest son, is unmarried and assists his father in the work of the farm. Eva E., who died when seven years of age, rests in the cemetery near the old family home in Nodaway county. John Artt, who is married and has two children, is a farmer of Rice county, Kans. D. Edwin is engaged in farming in Reno county, Kans., and James W. is similarly occupied in Coffey county, Kans. Lizzie L. is the wife of Charles J. Hunter, of this county. Her twin, Jesse R., died when in his third year. Mollie A. died when twenty-four years old, and with the youngest member of the family, Laura Euzetta, who died when in her thirteenth year, was buried in the Mathewson cemetery. Harvey O. is a student in the normal school at Edmond, Okla., and Benjamin F. resides in Reno county, Kans.,
while Armilda Ann is living with her parents and is engaged in teaching.
John R. Shuff, when he was in his seventeenth year, became identified with The Church of Christ in Illinois, his parents having previously become members also. He early was called upon to occupy pulpits, and for a great many years has preached the gospel. Politically, he was a Republican until 1884, when he espoused the cause of the Union Labor party and at one time was its nominee for the position of probate judge of Hodgeman county, Kans., though he was not elected, and had not expected to win.
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