Beaver County Oklahoma
Biographies
Beaver, once the capital of No-Man’s Land, is mourning the loss of one of its
most distinguished citizens,
Thomas P.
Braidwood, a resident of
this vicinity for over
forty-two
years, and who has
perhaps
had more to do with
the
history of No-Man’s
Land than any other person, died
at
Beaver, January 3rd,
1929, a victim
of the flu
epidemic.
With his wife,
Mr. Braidwood moved to
No-Man’s
Land
in 1877, coming from
Leavenworth, Kansas, to make a
home in the
neutral strip
that was
given then
without Government of
any
form. One of
his
first public
spirited acts was
to
assist in
having this county put under a
lawful form of
government. As a
result of this
effort, Cimarron Territory was
organized,
and Mr. Braidwood was
elected
Secretary of
State. Besides
this unique
distinction, he
was also
Beaver’s first provisional mayor. Upon the
organization
of
the county in 1889
he was the
first County Clerk and he has held several
county offices
since that time. He
was a member of the
Seventh
Territorial
Legislature and
was
instrumental in
securing needed
legislation for the
Panhandle. For
twenty-five
years,
Mr. Braidwood has been United States
Commissioner at
Beaver and for
a number of years he has
held the
position
of
City Treasurer. Along
with his
other
duties, he has
maintained an Abstract
Office, at which
business he was
engaged at the time
of his death. It is
interesting
to note that
Thomas P. Braidwood was
active in
the
building of the
Presbyterian Church,
at Beaver, the
oldest White Man’s church in Oklahoma
Territory. Mr.
Braidwood was a
thirty-second degree Mason, and at the time of
his death
was Secretary of the local
Masonic Lodge. He was
a member
of
the
Knights
of Pythias Lodge for over fifty
years and an officer of
the Grand Lodge
of that order when
death claimed
him. He was affilated
with the Pythian Sisters
and was an
ardent member of the
Eastern Star.
Upon the
organization
of the
Pioneer’s Club in Beaver
County
about
a year ago, Mr. Braidwood was elected
treasurer. Mr.
Braidwood was a
typical Scot, being descended from an old line of
Scotch
Presbyterians. He enjoyed the
best of health up
until his
recent
illness
and was very proud of the fact
that
he had never spent a day in bed from
illness, nor
been attended by a
physician, since
he was a boy. He was but 73
years of age
when he died. He is
survived by an
only son
Thomas C.
Braidwood,
who with his wife and
small son
Thomas P., named for his grandfather, reside
near Beaver.
The untimly passing of
"Uncle Tom Braidwood," is a loss indeed to
the little
community of which he has
been an honored part
for so long
a
time.
His
contribution to the development of
No-Man’s Land, as well
as to the State of
Oklahoma, is no
small consideration.
He was
steeped with the lore of early
pioneer days and his
wonderful
memory and ready wit made
him an interesting
character with
whom to converse. He has
indeed been a man of the people
and the
history of
No-Man’s hand
will always
be associated with Thomas P. Braidwood
for
the one is
incomplete without
the
other. Services for Mr.
Braidwood
were held at
the historic old
Presbyterian
Church which he helped to build and interment
made
in the
Beaver cemetery, January
4th,
1929.
EXTUS LEROY GAY was born in Ohio the year 1862, during the
troublous days of
the Civil War. His
death occurred
October
28,
1928, at
his
home in Pawhuska,
Oklahoma. In
1891
Mr. Gay was
married to
Miss Alice Crawmer in Wichita,
Kansas,
moving shortly
afterwards to
El Reno, Oklahoma,
where he established the El Reno
Democrat. He first
came to
Oklahoma in 1889, locating in
No
Man’s Land, the
Oklahoma Pan
Handle,
now Beaver
County.
He served during
the first
and
second
Territorial
Legislature as
chief clerk. During
his residence in
the state of
Oklahoma
he had
control of several
Democratic papers
at
different
times, all of
which were
strong
advocates of
democracy.
Mr. Gay was a useful citizen
of the
state and
community, always
actively
engaged in the
interest of affairs looking
to the
betterment of conditions
generally.
Mr. Gay is
survived by
his
wife and
one daughter,
Miss
Leah, two
sons, Thurman of
Wichita, Kansas;
and Elgin, of
Oklahoma
City,
Oklahoma. Funeral
services
were
conducted from the
Johnson Chapel
Sunday
afternoon at three o’clock,
Rev.
Robert Lehew,
former
pastor of
the local
Methodist Church, assisted
by
Rev. W. A. Erwin.
Born in a prairie dugout near Beaver, Oklahoma, on July
5, 1892, and known as Ross,
Rizley
was
the son of
Robert M. and
Arabella Narcissus McCown Rizley.
Educated in the Beaver public schools, the
future U.S.
Representative then took
courses at the summer normal school also at
Beaver. After
he received his
teacher's certificate,
Rizley taught
in
the rural
schools of Beaver
County
in
1909 and 1910. In 1911 he
attended Hill's Business
College
in
Oklahoma City. After a
brief stint as deputy registrar of
deeds of
Beaver County
in 1912, he
moved to
Kansas City, Missouri,
to
attend the
Kansas
City School of Law
from which
he
received an LL.B. on
June 1915. Admitted to the
Oklahoma
bar in 1915, he began his
practice
of law in Beaver in a partnership
with R. H.
Loofbourrow. The
following year he
married Ruby
Seal, also
of Beaver.
The couple had seven
children. In
1918, he became county attorney of Beaver
County, a
position he held until
1920 when he moved to Guymon in Texas County.
Over the
next several years he
practiced law and was very
active in
Guymon civic
affairs. Not only did
he serve as
Guymon city attorney, he
was a member of the
school board
and
chamber of
commerce, helped organize the Lions Club, and
participated
in various fraternal
organizations. A
lifelong
Republican,
Rizley
was elected to
the Oklahoma
Senate in 1930. Although serving but
one term, he
had
achieved some
distinction in
public service in the state. By the late
1930s
the
Republican Party in
Oklahoma was
on the verge of
collapse.
Indeed, he
supported abandonment of the party in
favor of a "grass roots" coalition of all
anti-New
Dealers. The Republicans,
nevertheless, rallied and nominated him as
their
gubernatorial candidate in
1938. Although defeated,
he
rebounded two years
later and
won
election to the U.S.
House of
Representatives from
Oklahoma's
Eighth District.
He held
this
congressional seat for four
terms. During his
eight years
in
Congress he served on
various committees,
including
Agriculture,
Rules, and Expenditures
in the
Executive Department. As a member of this last
committee,
he chaired the
Subcommittee on Surplus Property and was instrumental
in
exposing the waste and disorder
in the disposal of
government
property
following World
War II. His
pioneer
work with this subcommittee ultimately
led
to the
establishment of the
General
Services Administration. In his last term he
also
chaired the Special Committee
to Investigate Campaign
Expenditures. In 1948
he made
an
unsuccessful bid for the
U.S.
Senate seat being vacated by
Edward H.
Moore.
Robert S. Kerr,
the former
Oklahoma governor who was
the Democratic candidate,
launched a
partisan attack on the congressman and charged
that he was
both a military and
economic isolationist. Following his
defeat, Rizley resumed private law
practice. With the
Republican
victory in the presidential election of 1952, he
again
entered public service. From
March to December 1953
the
former
congressman
served as a solicitor for the Post
Office Department, from December 1953 to
December 1954 as
assistant secretary
of agriculture, from December 1954 to
February 1955
as special
assistant to the postmaster
general,
and from
February
1955 to April 1956
as a
member
of the Civil Aeronautics
Board. While with the
CAB, he was
named to the Oklahoma
Hall of Fame.
In 1956 he resigned his CAB post
to become
judge of the U.S. District
Court for
the Western
District
of
Oklahoma,
thus becoming one of the
few people
to serve in all three branches of the
federal government.
Interestingly,
Kerr made the motion for Rizley's
confirmation in
the Senate.
Rizley served as a federal
judge
until his
death in
Oklahoma City on
March 4,
1969.
He was interred at
Elmhurst Cemetery in
Guymon.
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Lynn Scott was born June 23, 1977 in Turpin, Oklahoma. Lynn was a three-time NAIA All-America at Northwestern Oklahoma. As a senior, he was also named All-Central States Football League Defensive Player of the Year after totaling 72 tackles, nine passes defensed and four interceptions and returning 26 punts for a school-record 595 yards (22.9 avg.) and four touchdowns. As a junior, he totaled 87 stops and five picks while returning 16 punts for 197 yards (12.3) and a score. He tallied 49 tackles and two interceptions while returning 12 punts for 337 yards (28.1) and two scores to lead the nation as a sophomore. As a freshman, Scott totaled 90 stops and two picks while returning 17 punts for 208 yards. His 1,337 career punt return yards is a NOU record. He is a former American football safety for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League. He was signed by the Cowboys in 2001 as an undrafted free agent out of Northwestern Oklahoma State University. Lynn Scott impressed coaches in the 2001 preseason with his bone-jarring hits and smart special teams play, earning a roster spot as a rookie free agent. He has continued his hard hitting and playmaking on special teams. As a rookie, he was a member of the Cowboys inaugural "Rookie Club," a program designed to introduce rookies to community service. Throughout the season, the rookies made visits to and spent time with children at Children's Medical Center of Dallas, Oak Cliff Boys and Girls Clubs, The Salvation Army and its Christmas Distribution Center. Scott holds a bachelor's degree in education. After earning a roster spot with his play on special teams in the preseason, Scott went on to finish third on the team with 15 special teams tackles during the regular season. In the season opener against Tampa Bay (9/9), Scott made his NFL debut as a safety in the nickel package and recorded one tackle. At Philadelphia (9/30), he finished second on the team with two special teams tackles and recovered a fumble on the opening kickoff that set up a Cowboys field goal. He led the team with four special teams stops at Oakland (10/7) and then logged one tackle at safety and one on special teams against Philadelphia (11/18). At Washington (12/2), he logged one special teams tackle. At Seattle (12/16), Scott saw brief action in place of Darren Woodson at strong safety, recording one tackle while adding another on special teams. He was a game-day deactivation against San Francisco (12/30) and at Detroit (1/6/02). Scott returned for his sophomore campaign and saw action on defense right off the bat as he filled in at strong safety for Tony Dixon (hamstring) against Tennessee (9/15). He ended the day with a career-high four stops. At St. Louis (9/29), Scott saw considerable action in the nickel package and tallied three tackles. Against the N.Y. Giants (10/6), he posted a tackle and a special teams stop before spraining his right great toe and missing the entire second half. He was inactive against Carolina (10/13) and at Arizona (10/20) with the toe injury, then returned to action and posted two tackles and a team-high three special teams stops against Seattle (10/27). He batted down a pass working the slot at the N.Y. Giants (12/15). He tallied two stops against Philadelphia (12/21) before adding two more in the season finale at Washington (12/29). He was released at the end of the 2004 season, but was re-signed in late 2005. Scott, along with Patrick Crayton, is one of only two players from Northwestern Oklahoma State University in the NFL. Scott was declared a free agent on March 11, 2006. He is now is a Volunteer Coach at Turpin High School, at his hometown in Turpin, OK. |
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