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Biographies
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Soam J. Castleman
The name of Castleman is well known in England, and Americans bearing the name easily trace their ancestry to that country. Soam J. Castleman's early American ancestors came to these shores in Colonial days and took a creditable part in the long war for American independence. They pioneered into Kentucky in the early days of its settlement, and there many of the name will be found today. Soam J. Castleman was born in Audrain County, Missouri, on May 13, 1867, and he is the son of Dr. James L. Castleman, who was born in Kentucky in 1830, and who died in Wise County, Texas, in 1893. Doctor Castleman had his higher education in the St. Louis Medical College, returning to Kentucky to begin medical practice. From there he went to Mississippi, spent a short while there, and moved to Audrain County, Missouri. It was there the subject was born. In later years he moved to the Town of Pella, in Wise County, Texas. That was in 1875, and he continued there in practice until death claimed him. He was a talented man, prominent in his profession in whatever communities he found himself, and he was also an ordained minister in the Church of Christ. He was a veteran of the Civil war, serving the South as a member of a Mississippi regiment throughout the war. He was a democrat and in the later years of his life was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In Mississippi Doctor Castleman married Miss Nannie Vokum, born there in 1837, and she died in Wise County, Texas, in 1899, six years after the passing of her husband. They were the parents of eleven children. John L., the eldest, died in Noble, Oklahoma, when he was forty years old. He was a farmer and stock breeder there, prominent and prosperous, and a justice of the peace in his town at the time of his death. Georgia married and was living at Siloam Springs, Arkansas. She died while en route from that place to the old home in Texas. Her husband was Laurence Davis, also deceased. Jennie married John Deering, a farming man of Cook County, Texas. Steve F. is a minister in the Church of Christ, and is now in charge of a pastorate at Calvin, Oklahoma. Jefferson, a dealer in stock, dropped dead in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1907. He was the twin brother of Mississippi Belle, who married Prof. L. F. Bullock, an instructor in the Eastland (Texas) High School, now deceased. She is living in Gypaw, Texas, at this writing. Sallie M. married A. C. Kidd, a rancher in Cook County, Texas. James E. is engaged in the oil business in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Soam J. of this review was the ninth child. Ira Emmett is a farmer in Colorado. Nannie Catherine, generally called Kate, is the wife of John B. Wilson, a well-to-do farmer and ranchman in Lone Wolf, Oklahoma, where they live. Jesse La Rue died in infancy. Soam J. Castleman attended the common schools in Pella, Texas, as a boy, and from 1887 to 1892 he was employed in the railroad service. In 1892 he was injured in an accident, a circumstance that brought a sudden termination to his career in that field. He then turned his attention to the matter of furthering his education, and he spent the ensuing year in attendance at the Pella High School, after which he went to Thorndale, Milan County, Texas, and read law in the office of Nat Tracy. In 1898 he was admitted to the bar, and he initiated the practice of his profession in the Town of Cameron, in Texas. He remained there until 1902, when he came to Lawton, Oklahoma, and for fourteen months was engaged in practice. From then to the time when he located in New Wilson in May, 1914, he made a good many changes of location. He moved from Lawton to Snyder, Oklahoma, staying in the latter place two years. From Snyder he went to Comanche, Oklahoma, remaining there two years. Thence to Tucumcari, New Mexico, where he spent something like nine months in practice, and then on to Altus, Oklahoma, in which place he was occupied for five years. In September, 1913, he settled in Cornish, Oklahoma, and in May, 1914, he came to New Wilson. Ho is now permanently established, and is conducting a civil and criminal practice with excellent success. In the years of Mr. Castleman's practice he has defended about 300 criminal cases, and of that number only seventeen have received sentences. He has a splendid reputation before the bar as a pleading lawyer, and his standing in the profession is most creditable. Mr. Castleman is a democrat, and when a resident of Snyder, Oklahoma, he served as city attorney. After a two years' residence in Altus, Oklahoma, he ran for the office of county attorney, but was beaten by a narrow margin of seventy-five votes. He is a member of the County, State and National Bar associations, and fraternally is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Wilson Lodge No. 417. He and his family are members of the Church of Christ. Mr. Castleman has been twice married. He was first married in 1882 in Milan County, Texas, to Miss Nannie Crow, daughter of James Crow, a prominent farmer of that place, now deceased. She died in 1902, leaving two children—William August, a mechanic now living in Wilson, Oklahoma, and Ira, attending the New Wilson High School. In 1904 Mr. Castleman married Miss Lida Keithley, in Lawton, Oklahoma, the daughter of Judge Marion Keithley of Missouri, now deceased. Four children have been born to them. They are LeRoy Bates, Francis Marion, Jessie Jennings, and Albert Castleman. All of them are attending the local schools. The family enjoys a good deal of social prominence, and they are well known in the city and county, though their residence in New Wilson has been a brief one thus far.
[Source: A Standard History of Oklahoma Volume 4 By Joseph Bradfield Thoburn - Submitted by Barb Ziegenmeyer]
JAMES J. CAVINESS, M. D.
Among the younger generation of professional men of Jackson County, one who is rapidly winning success and positions is Dr. James J. Caviness, physician and surgeon, who since 1912 has been engaged in practice at Headrick. During this time his skill in diagnosis and his successful treatment of complicated and long standing cases have created a gratifying demand for his services and laid the foundation of what promises to be a career of exceptional breadth and usefulness.
Doctor Caviness was born at Danville, Yell County, Arkansas, July 13, 1889, and is a son of R. S. and Margaret (Costen) Caviness. The Caviness family is of Scotch-Irish extraction and its members have been pioneers of several states in the Union, notably those of Oklahoma and Texas. R. S. Caviness was born at Paris, the county seat of Lamar County, Texas in 1860, and was there reared and educated. When still a young man he went to Danville, Arkansas, where he embarked in business as a merchant, and continued to be so occupied successfully until 1904, in which year he returned to Texas and settled at Memphis, where he followed stock raising for four years. Mr. Caviness came to Oklahoma in 1908, when he took up his residence at Eldorado, and since that time has been proprietor of a pharmacy. Mr. Caviness has shown versatility in his business ventures, and in each has won a satisfying measure of success through the exertion of energy and enterprise, good management and foresight. In political matters he is a stanch democrat, and in each of the communities in which he has resided has taken an active port in political and civic matters, although rather as an influence than as a seeker for the honors and emoluments of public office. Throughout his life he has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in the work of which he has taken a helpful part, and at the present time is a member of the official board of the church at Eldorado. He is well known in Masonry, belonging to Eldorado Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; Eldorado Chapter, royal Arch Masons; Eldorado Commandery, Knights Templar, and Consistory No. 1, Valley of Guthrie, of the thirty-second degree. While residing at Danville, Arkansas, Mr Caviness was united in marriage with Miss Margaret Costen, who was born in 1870, in Georgia, and they have been the parents of five children, as follows: C. A., who resides at Eldorado, and is associated with his father in the conduct of the drug business; Dr. James J., of this review; Ruth, who is the wife of C. A. Hatch, a practicing attorney at Eldorado; Naomi, who is the wife of Earl Messersmith, proprietor of a general merchandise store at Eldorado; and Baxter, who resides with his parents and is a student in the Eldorado High School.
James J. Caviness received the early part of this education in the public schools of Danville, Arkansas, and when fifteen years of age went with the family to Memphis, Texas, where he completed the studies of the primary grades. He was graduated from the Memphis High School in the class of 1907, and following this began preparing for the medical profession which he had chosen in his youth as his life work. He eventually entered Vanderbilt University, of Nashville, Tennessee, where he pursued a full course of study and was duly graduated from the medical department with the class of 1912, and with his newly acquired degree of Doctor of Medicine settled down to practice at Eldorado, whence the family had moved. After three months of practice at that place, Doctor Caviness decided better opportunities awaited him at Headrick, where he settled September 18, 1912, and where he has since remained in practice, having offices in the Headrick Drug Store. Doctor Caviness is thoroughly at home in all branches of his calling, and carries on a general practice in both medicine and surgery. To a thorough professional equipment, he adds a kindly and sympathetic manner, a genuine liking for his calling and a ready adaptation to its multitudinous and exacting demands. He has never ceased to be a student, passing much of his time in personal research and investigation, and maintaining membership in the Jackson County Medical Society, the Oklahoma State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. While he is a stanch democrat in politics, he has confined his activities in that direction to casting his vote, although always eager to add his name to the list of supporters of any good and progressive movement. Fraternally, the Doctor is affiliated with Headrick Lodge No. 311, Free and Accepted Masons, and Headrick Camp No. 128, Woodmen of the World.
On June 17, 1913, at Nashville, Tennessee, Doctor Caviness was married to Miss Mary Moore, daughter of J. T. Moore, who resides at College Grove, Tennessee, and is a prosperous farmer and stockraiser. One child has been born to this union: James J., Jr. Doctor and Mrs. Caviness are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church and are general favorites in social circles of their home community. Doctor Caviness expects to locate in Altus about July 1, 1916. [Source: "A Standard History of Oklahoma’ by Joseph B. Thoburn, published 1916 -- Transcribed by Jan Stypula]
LUCIEN ALBERT PELLEY
Since 1908 Mr. Pelley has been a resident of Altus, has been an active and successful member of the Jackson County bar for the past four years and even for a longer time has been a very influential figure in the political life of Jackson County.
Born in Casey County, Kentucky, April 25, 1881, he was reared from the age of seven principally on his father’s farm in Bates County, Missouri, and while there had the benefit of country schools. He also finished the junior year in the State Normal School At Warensburg, and subsequently took a business course at Sedalia, Missouri. He has had to pick and choose his own opportunities for the most part, and with an ambition to become a lawyer, went through considerable practice and experience before reaching that goal. Mr. Pelley came to Altus, Oklahoma, in 1908, and during 1909 was deputy county clerk of Jackson County. He finally accumulated a sufficient sum to put him through law school, and in 1911 was graduated LL. B. from the law department of Cumberland University at Lebanon, Tennessee. Returning to Oklahoma, he was admitted to the bar in the same year, and is now well established in his profession, looking after a large and growing civil and criminal practice, and his offices are in the courthouse of Altus.
He represents an old southern family, and his forefathers were prominent farmers and stock breeders in Kentucky. It was his great-great-grandfather who emigrated from England and established this branch of the Pelley family in Verginia, and out of that state his great-grandfather moved into Casey County, Kentucky, where he was numbered among the poineer settlers. Mr. Pelley’s grandfather was widely known over his section of Kentucky as Doc Pelley, was born and reared and spent all his life in Casey County, where he was well known as a stock raiser, and for fifty years owned and operated the largest mill in that section of the state. His death occurred before the Altus attorney was born. The latter’s father is Z. T. Pelley, who was born in Casey County, Kentucky, in 1853 and is now in business in Kansas City, Missouri. He moved from Casey County to Bates County, Missouri, in 1888, and since 1912 has lived in Kansas City. His career has been largely that of a farmer and stock raiser, but after selling his place in Bates County, Missouri, he spent several years as a traveling salesman. He is an active member of the Christian Church, and for many years has held some official position in his home church. Z. T. Pelley married Miss Dolly Ermine Mayes, who was born in Casey County, Kentucky, in 1863. Lucien A. is the oldest of their five children. Wilma, the next in age, is the wife of James M. Dillard, who is an attorney and formerly served as county attorney of Jackson County and is now living at Carlsbad, New Mexico. Zula T. is a deputy county clerk of Jackson County, Oklahoma. Carl Estel is a rancher at Craig, Colorado, and the next younger brother, Cecil Alton, is associated with him in that industry.
Lucien A. Pelley is a democrat in politics, is a deacon in the Christian Church at Altus, is a member of Altus Lodge No. 62, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and is past grand of Altus Lodge No. 134, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is also past chief patriarch of the local encampment of Odd Fellows. He also belongs to Altus Lodge No. 1226 of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Professionally he is a member of the County and State Bar Association, and takes much interest in the work of the local Commercial Club, and is a member of the large Cumberland Alumni Association found in the State of Oklahoma. As a democrat he is a member of the Young Men’s Democratic Club, has regularly attended the County and State Democratic conventions of recents years, and is a candidate for the office of county attorney of Jackson County. [Source: "A Standard History of Oklahoma’ by Joseph B. Thoburn, published 1916 -- Transcribed by Jan Stypula]
THOMAS I. TRUSCOTT
The roll of men who have taken an active and helpful part in the development of the various communities of Jackson County would be incomplete did it not contain the name of Thomas I. Truscott, who since his arrival in 1898 has played an important part in the business, financial and civic life Olustee. When he first came to this community it was as the proprietor of a cotton gin, but soon he entered the grocery business in which he has continued to be engaged, and subsequently became vice president of the First National Bank. In 1913 his worth as a citizen and his capacity for public service were recognized when he was appointed postmaster, an office in which he has efficiently served to the present.
Mr. Truscott is an Illinoisan by nativity, born at the Village of Kane, in the southern part of Greene County, August 12, 1853, a son of J. J. and Elize (Kirkland) Truscott. His grandfather, Thomas Truscott, came to the United States from England in 1821 and soon settled as an early pioneered in Greene County, Illinois, where he was engaged in farming until the discovery of gold in California, in 1849, when he made the long and dangerous trip across the plains to the gold fields. He was one of the fortunate miners who secured valuable claims and subsequently passed his life in the West, where he became a prominent capitalist. J. J. Truscott was born in Greene County, Illinois, in 1832, and some years after his marriage there went to Arkansas, continuing to make his home in that state until 1879, when he went to Thorpe Springs, Hood County, Texas, as a pioneer. An attorney by profession, he was engaged in practice at various places in Texas and held a high position in his vocation, being elected county judge of Knox County, Texas, an office in which he served for nine years. After retiring, in 1900, Mr. Truscott came to Olustee, Oklahoma, and in 1911 went to Maud, Oklahoma, where he is now living quietly in his comfortable home. He has been a democrat all his life and has always taken an active part in political and civic affairs, while his fraternal connection is with the Masons. Mrs. Truscott, who was born in Greene County, Illinois, in 1835, died at Thorpe Springs, Texas, in 1874. They were the parents of five children, as follows: Thomas I.; George E., who is engaged in merchandising at Maud, Oklahoma; Addie, of Frederick, Oklahoma, who is the widow of W. W. Rogers, a mechanic; Estella, who is the wife of Hon. D. F. Gaus, an attorney at Seymour, Texas, and a member of the Texas State Senate; and Lucien K., M. D., who is a practicing physician and surgeon of Oklahoma.
Thomas I. Truscott attended school at Kane, Illinois, in Arkansas, and at Thorpe Springs, Texas, and in 1875 was graduated from the Texas Christian University, receiving a diploma in higher mathematics. Following this, for four years, he was principal of a school in Rockwall County, Texas, and at the end of this period bought a school property at Seymour, Baylor County, Texas, which he owned and operated for eight years. His next venture was in the handling of cattle, an enterprise in which he was engaged for eight years in Knox County, Texas, and during this time also taught school, but in 1898 disposed of his Texas interests and came to Olustee, Oklahoma, where he erected a cotton gin. Selling this one year later, he embarked in the grocery business, and from a modest beginning has built up an enterprise that is now considered one of the substantial business concerns of the city. Almost from the time of its inception, Mr. Truscott has been vice president of the First National Bank and has taken a leading part in shaping its policies and directing it to success. When he came to Olustee he interested himself almost immediately in civic affairs, and as a friend of education was made a member of the school board, on which he acted almost continuously until 1913. He also displayed his ability and integrity as a member of the village council for six years, and June 17, 1913, was appointed postmaster of Olustee by President Wilson and has continued to discharge the duties of that position in an expeditious, efficient and courteous manner to the present time. With his family, Mr. Truscott belongs to the Christian Church. He is a member of the lodge and encampment of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he is deservedly popular. His political beliefs have made him a democrat from the time of attaining his majority.
Mr. Truscott was married in 1883 in Rockwall County, Texas, to Miss Zona Polly, who died at Seymour, Texas, in 1897, the mother of four children, namely; Edith, who is the wife of F. A. Edwards, who is engaged in the insurance business in Texas; Margaret, who is the wife of H. A. Armstrong, of Dallas, Texas, connected with the Holland Magazine; Mida, who is the wife of Miles Bivins, a well-to-do cattleman of Amarillo, Texas; and Gwendoline, who married J. P. Chase, a pharmacist of Helena, Montana. Mr Truscott was again married, in 1904, at Olustee, Oklahoma, when united with Mrs. Stella (Crockett) Carter, widow of the late T. B. Carter, who was a farmer of Quanah, Texas. Two children have been born to this marriage: Dorothy and Barbara Tom, who are attending the Olustee public schools. [Source: "A Standard History of Oklahoma’ by Joseph B. Thoburn, published 1916 -- Transcribed by Jan Stypula]
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