Woodward Co. OK - History John R. Wallace

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Submitted by: Nancy Thomson   nancy@funnybusiness.com
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I don't know if this information will be of any use to the Woodward Co.
GenWeb site but I'll pass it along. I am researching a family member,
John R. Wallace, who headed up the land office in Woodward, Oklahoma, in
1907. The newspaper articles below from North Manchester, Indiana, are
literally ALL I know about his time in Guthrie and Perry, Oklahoma, then
later in Woodward, Oklahoma. I have written the City Clerks Office in
Woodward to see if there's any record of his burial in Woodward Co. I
suspect, though I don't know for a fact, that he died in Woodward
County. He was about 70 years old in 1907.
Of course, I would welcome any information that anyone else may have
about him or the activities of the Woodward Co. land office.
Nancy Thomson
nancy@funnybusiness.com

Listed in the 1890 Oklahoma Territory Directory (The Lands Opened by the
Run of April 22, 1889) for Guthrie:
Wallace, Frank, residence Noble bet Division
Wallace, JR, clk Gov Land Office, residence Noble bet Div and 1st e
Wallace, Maude, residence Noble bet Division and 1st e

North Manchester Journal 9-21-1893:
"A letter from J.R. Wallace, of Guthrie, Oklahoma, received last week by
his son Frank, contains a business card of a firm of land attorney of
which Mr. Wallace is a member. The firm is entitled Overstreet, Wallace
& Filson and their place of business is Perry, which has been intended
to be the principal town in the Cherokee strip opened to settlers last
Saturday...."

>From the North Manchester Journal, 10-19-1893:
In the Cherokee Strip
Capt. J.R. Wallace, now of Perry, Oklahoma, in the Cherokee strip, was
called home the first of the week by the serious sickness of his wife
who has been in poor health for a long time. Cap. is one of the "early
settlers" in the strip, having gone in on the opening day, September
16th. He left Guthrie on the fourth crowded train that day and was
fortunate that he got on the train. He says he never saw in all his life
such a wild scramble for anything as there was for the land in the
"strip."....Mr. Wallace...in company with two other gentlemen, has
opened an attorney's office for land practice in the town of Perry. He
says they are doing well and will build up a good practice as disputes
and quarrels are plenty as fiddlers are reputed to be in the warmest
country every heard of. Perry, which on the morning of September 16th
was a waste prairie, is now a city of 4,000....Owing to the delicate
condition of his wife's health he will remain at home several weeks."

>From The Journal, North Manchester, 14 February 1907:
The journal is in receipt of a letter from Capt. J.R. Wallace formerly a
well known resident of this city, renewing his supscription. It has been
about twenty years since Mr. Wallace left this city and went to
Oklahoma. He has been connected with the government land offices ever
since and now has change of the office at Woodward, Oklahoma. His
friends will be pleased to know that he is doing quite well.