L. R. Kershaw
Leroy Kershaw (1880-1969), was an American attorney, banker, businessman, cattleman and political candidate. He is considered one of the pioneers of the Muskogee, Oklahoma area and the founder of Morris, Oklahoma in 1904. Kershaw was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1924, and was later a candidate for the Governor of Oklahoma in 1930.
Kershaw was a founder of the Eastern Oklahoma Electric Traction Company, and a pure-bred Aberdeen Angus breeder, with over 500 head of cattle. His prize-winning herd of black angus cattle brought buyers from all over the country to his 4,000 acre (16 km²) farm south of Muskogee. His herd was the second largest herd in the country, and the largest herd in Oklahoma.
Personal
L.R. Kershaw, also known as Leroy Kershaw, was born in Elmwood, Illinois on December 6, 1880, to David R. Kershaw and Jennie M. (Cole) Kershaw.[1][2] He was an outstanding athlete in high school, as an accomplished running back in football and as a champion discus thrower in track & field events.
Early Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory Development
In 1904, Kershaw graduated from the University of Illinois with a law degree[1][2] by working his way through college waiting tables, selling nursery stock and selling real estate. Professionally, he first became an Immigrant Agent for the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway, also known as the Frisco railroad, selling land to farmers for farms along the wide railroad right-of way in Northeastern Oklahoma. He bought many farms along the way, and in 1904 moved to Oklahoma himself. He was one of the founders of the Farmer's State Bank and the First National Bank of Morris, (Indian Territory) Oklahoma and, with the connections he had established with the railroad, he platted the town site of Morris, Oklahoma. The town of Morris was named after H. E. Morris,[3] a railroad executive with the Frisco railroad. The railroad went through the center of town, between Ft. Smith, Arkansas and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The town of Morris was founded in 1904, before statehood. Oklahoma became a state in November, 1907.
In Morris, Oklahoma, many of the street names were named after towns Kershaw was familiar with in Illinois, such as Elmwood, his place of birth, along with Pekin and Peoria. Hughes Street, the main street of Morris was named in honor of the General Immigration Agent for the Frisco Railroad, and President of the Frisco System Land & Immigration Association, Samuel A. Hughes. He also named a short street Frisco, after the railroad which brought him to Oklahoma, and streets were named after several Presidents, including Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Jackson as well as one after Benjamin Franklin, one of the early leaders of the United States.
Kershaw always maintained strong financial ties to Muskogee, including his appointment in 1910 as an agent for the Bartholomew Motor Company, of Peoria, Illinois, representing the Muskogee area. The Bartholomew Company produced the Glide Car, an entry-level 4 to 7 passenger touring car. Kershaw used one of these touring cars to transport potential buyers interested in buying farms in the area.
Career in cattle
In 1912, Kershaw began a long career as a cattleman, with the initial purchase of a herd of registered Aberdeen Angus cattle from the Gatewood herd of Texas and the Nicholas herd in Iowa.[4] He recognized the potential of raising high-quality show and breeding stock of a breed of cattle which were well-suited for the short grass of Oklahoma and the long, dry summers. Angus cattle could be cross-bred with the Texas longhorn, and the product would be a hornless breed of cattle. Angus bulls were popular with cattle breeders for their first cow because the calves would be small, and easy to deliver for the new cows. In 1917, one of Kershaw's prize bulls, winner of 19 championships, Ben Hur of Lone Dell, was featured on the cover of the Breeder's Gazette, the leading publication in the country at the time, advocating pedigreed cattle stock.
In 1918, one of his award-winning show steers, Muskogee Boy was offered for sale in a public auction held in the lobby of the Lee-Huckins Hotel in downtown Oklahoma City for the benefit of the American Red Cross. (The Lee-Huckins Hotel served as the State Capitol from 1910 to 1917). The auction brought $3.16 a pound for the steer, for a total of $5,940 for the Red Cross Fund. This sale price set a new world record for the sale of a champion steer. This was in the middle of World War I and the funds were used to help American soldiers. The coat from the steer was made into an overcoat for President Woodrow Wilson and the meat was processed for General "Blackjack" Pershing's staff in France. Later that year, Kershaw was elected President of the Southwest American Livestock Show, one of the premier livestock shows in the Southwest.
In 1919, Kershaw won the Grand Champion Steer trophy at the Southwest American Livestock Show in Oklahoma City. That same year, one of his prize bulls, Plowman, won the Grand Champion Bull trophy at the American Royal Livestock Show in Kansas City, MO and also at the State Fair of Texas in Dallas.
As President of the Southwest Livestock Show, he recognized the need for a new facility to show cattle in Oklahoma City, which was founded in 1889. He convinced officials with the Armour and Company packing house in Chicago to contribute $200,000 charged to advertising to go towards the construction of a Livestock Pavilion at the Oklahoma City stockyards. The fund raising began in 1920 and the new facility was completed in 1922.
He held a dispersion sale of his herd at his ranch south of Muskogee in 1920 and buyers came from all over the country to bid on some of Kershaw's prize stock. There has never been another herd of cattle that has shown over as wide an area of country and won so many premiums as that belonging to Kershaw. In this sale was included Plowman, one of the champion bulls in his herd, the champion of champions, with 53 championships to his credit, more than any other bull, living or dead; and Twin Burn Pride (V), crowned champion cow with 37 championships to her credit. The herd had won 266 grand championships, 685 first place rankings, 370 second-place, 186 third-place, 79 fourth-place and 43 fifth-place rankings, within a period of six years, bringing to the owner innumerable cups and silver trophies. Plowman was sold for the unheard of price of $40,000 which set a new world price paid for a champion bull. He had intended to sell his complete herd at this sale, but instead held back one of his prize bulls and started all over with new cattle.
He continued to raise show and breeding cattle through 1948. In the 1920's, 1930's and 1940's he served in various leadership capacities within the Oklahoma Aberdeen Angus Breeder's Association and the American Aberdeen Angus Breeder's Association, serving as President and Director. At one time his herd was the second-largest registered and accredited Aberdeen Angus herd in the country. During the many years he raised and sold cattle, a number of luminaries would travel to his farm to bid on his prized cattle. They included James Cash Penney, the founder of the J. C. Penney stores; Tom Slick, a world-renown oil man; C. R. Anthony, the founder of Anthony's stores; Armand Hammer, the Chairman of Occidental Petroleum and Robert S. Kerr, U. S. Senator from Oklahoma, the "uncrowned King of the Senate" from Oklahoma, and co-founder of the Kerr-McGee Company. Kershaw's herd has been recognized as one of the Pioneer Herds of North America by the American Angus Association.[5]
Public and Political Service
As a public servant and as a business leader in his hometown of Muskogee, Oklahoma, Mr. Kershaw was a member of the Council of Defense during World War I. The Council responsibilities included the prevention of price gouging by farmers and merchants during commodities shortages, and to allow all consumers equal protection against profiteering. In the 1920's he was the Muskogee County Republican Party Chairman. In 1924, he was appointed as a delegate to the Republican National Convention held in Cleveland, Ohio. He was instrumental in having the Puerto Rico delegation recognized in a convention that nominated Calvin Coolidge for the Presidency of the United States.[6] While it is notable that Oklahoma was one of the few southern states that did not carry the Republican ticket, this election was the last one in modern history that New York City voted Republican, the first convention in history to be broadcast by nationwide radio and the first GOP convention to provide for equal representation by women.
That same year, he married Clara Amanda Harrison, of Princeton, Indiana. Their first child, Patricia Ann was born the next year, in 1925. In 1927 they produced their first set of twins, Robert Eugene and Elizabeth "Betty" Kershaw and in 1933 they produced a second set of twins, Jean Mary and Joan Mary Kershaw. While Mr. Kershaw never served in the American military, his wife Clara could trace her ancestry back to the American Revolution, in which one of her ancestors served as a Revolutionery War soldier. She was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, United Daughters of the Confederacy and Daughters of the Colonists.
In 1930, Kershaw was a Republican candidate for the governor of the state of Oklahoma.[6] He withdrew early in the race when he observed that the populist Democratic candidate for governor, William "Alfalfa Bill" Murray would easily be elected in the heavily-Democratic Oklahoma. He was mentioned as a potential appointee to a number of other offices during that period, including the US Congress for the 2nd District in Oklahoma, for the State of Oklahoma Highway Commission, and for the Agricultural Credit Corporation during the Great Depression in the 1930's.
Bank Receiver for OCC, Homebuilding and Development
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Kershaw served as a Director of the American Aberdeen-Angus Breeder's Association from 1916 through 1920.[5] During the Great Depression he was appointed by the Comptroller of the Currency, the lead regulator for National Banks at the time, as the receiver for a number of national and state banks, located in three states. These banks included the Security National Bank of Muskogee,[4] the Muskogee National Bank, Central State Bank of Muskogee, the McAlester Trust Company, Producer's National Bank in Tulsa, Exchange National Bank of Tulsa, the First National Bank of Barnsdall (formerly known as the Bank of Bigheart), the Central National Bank of Bartlesville, OK, the First National Bank of Oktaha, OK, the First National Bank of Hutchings, the Commercial National Bank of Independence, Kansas,[7] the Security National Bank of Independence, Kansas, the Montgomery County National Bank, in Cherryvale, Kansas, [1]the First National Bank of Siloam Springs, Arkansas and a number of others. At one time, he was receiver for 13 banks during the depression. In 1930, he was appointed as Director of the Independent Petroleum Producer's Association.
During World War II he recognized the need to provide housing for the many returning veterans wishing to establish a home in Muskogee and he began platting residential subdivisions on the north and west side of Muskogee, to allow them to buy their first home a start raising a family. He financed many of these homes with his own capital, offering many first-time home buyers the opportunity to own their own home. These additions included Kershaw Heights, Kershaw Circle, Kershaw Acres, East Park Place, Ridge Crest Addition, Home Acres 1st and 2nd Additions, Lincoln Park and Carver's First Addition. In East Park Place and in Ridge Crest Addition he named streets after Aberdeen, Avondale and Oxford after regions in England and Scotland where the Aberdeen Angus cattle originated, and named Elmwood and Illinois streets after his Illinois hometown.
Historic Home
In 1943 he bought the former home of banker A. W. Patterson, and he continued to live there as his 5 children and many grandchildren grew up around a huge lot in the middle of town. The home had 5 bedrooms on the second floor and a large outdoor deck surrounded with rough-hewn Carthage stone quarried in Missouri. The home was built with a full basement with windows on 3 sides of the house, and had a complete finished attic. In later years, the home was equipped with an electric elevator which served passengers between the ground floor and the second floor of the home.
Built in 1906, (before Oklahoma statehood) at 1320 West Okmulgee, the former A. W. Patterson House in the City of Muskogee, Muskogee County, Oklahoma is one of the city’s most prominent homes. Located at the intersection of 14th Street and West Okmulgee, it is situated at the crest of a hill near the western edge of the downtown Muskogee neighborhood.
The home features several Richardsonian Romanesque qualities including the limestone rock coursed ashlar wall finish, the round arched entryway and round arched window surrounds, and the low-pitched red clay tile-covered hip roof with cross gables in front. The home was designed by McKibban & McKibban, an architectural firm which designed many of Muskogee’s early commercial buildings. It was built with three (3) covered porches, including the main south entry, the north side entry from the detached garage, and two interior covered porches, one which spreads the entire width of the home on the east side, overlooking downtown Muskogee to the east. There is also a covered porch on second floor of the south side. The open covered porch on the east side of the home had its own source of water supply and was large enough to accommodate a full-size hammock.
The home has a full walkout basement, with several separate rooms. The large foyer entry way inside the main entry door on the south side has dual sidelight clear lead-glass windows with beveled panes behind carved stone benches which straddle the front porch. This porch, with nearly a dozen steps up to the front door is the scene of many historical family photos and group photos for civic and social organizations within the city. Large and prominent stained glass windows were featured in this grand stately home, with the most prominent one, more than 9 feet high and more than 12 feet wide, at the mid-point stair landing visible only from the back yard and driveway on the north side of the home, away from the main street.
The residence was the home of two prominent Muskogee businessmen. A. W. Patterson was co-founder of the Bank of Muskogee in 1901 which later was re-named the Muskogee National Bank and he served as its president until 1918. Patterson was the driving force in promoting the Arkansas River as a navigable body of water and was the instrumental figure in the construction of Muskogee’s Convention Hall which was the site of the Trans-Mississippi Commercial Congress held in 1907. Patterson lived in the home until the 1920’s. There were intervening owners between the 1920’s and the 1940’s, but in 1943, the home was purchased by Kershaw, one of Muskogee’s outstanding community leaders.
Kershaw lived in the family home until his death in 1969 at the age of 88. The home remained in the Kershaw family until 1973, or four years after the death of L. R. Kershaw. The home was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, by the National Park Service in 1984 as property #84003322.
Many of his children and his 28 grandchildren continue to live in the Muskogee area and have served or continue to serve the community in the health care professions, law enforcement, the military, banking and public accounting.
Notes
- ^ a b Alumni Record, University of Illinois
- ^ a b Alumni Records, University of Illinois, Student ID 2136
- ^ Origin of town name, Morris, Oklahoma
- ^ a b Lawsuit citation, as Bank Receiver
- ^ a b Herd Record, American Angus Association
- ^ a b Outline bio details, The Political Graveyard
- ^ Lyman Underwood Humphrey Papers, 1834-1944. Lyman U. Humphrey
References
- Harlow's Weekly, March 22,1930, A Republican Made to Order
- Bio at The Political Graveyard
- Historical Homes of Muskogee, National Park Service
- Muskogee Daily Phoenix, February 14, 1982
- Muskogee Daily Phoenix, May 22, 2007
- Oklahoma Supreme Court Network
- The Angus Journal, St. Joseph, MO
- Legal records
- The History of Aberdeen Angus Cattle
- Genealogy records at rootsweb.com
- Genealogy records at accessgenealogy.com
- [2] National Register of Historic Places, Department of Interior, National Park Service