The Overholser Family of Oklahoma City

CITY'S GREATEST TOWNBUILDER DIES ------- Henry Overholser, Father of Many, Succumbs to Four-Year Illness. -------- MANY ACHIEVEMENTS --------- Business Blocks, Frisco Railroad and State Fair Among Labors ------ Henry Overholser died at 12:05 o'clock Wednesday morning at his residence where he had been confined for four years.  Mrs. Overholser was born in Ohio, was 69 years of age, and had been a resident of Oklahoma City since the opening day, April 22, 1889.  A wife and three children survive:  Ed Overholser, mayor of Oklahoma City; Mrs. Queen Pirtle, who resides in Kansas, and Henry Ione, who resides at home.  Affectionately known as "Uncle Henry" to hundreds of the older residents of Oklahoma City, he had been one of the real town buildiners that caused Oklahoma City to develop into a metropolis.  At the time Oklahoma City was opened to settlement, twenty-six years ago, Mr. Overholser was one of the pioneer band that commenced at once to erect buildings, establish a government, plan for the health and comfort of the citizens, and continued with the same determination until that day in 1911 when he was stricken and was forced to retire from business activity.  As owner of the frame block of buildings that occupied the site on which the Colcord building now stands, Mr. Overholser achieved a record, since the material for the six buildings was brought to Oklahoma City in 1889 cut and trimmed, ready for assembling into buildings which formed an important part of the commercial center of Oklahoma City for two decades.  As owner of the row of buicks buildings that includes the Grand Avenue hotel property, and the several buildings on Grand avenue just east of Robinson avenue, Mr. Overholser aided largely in adding stability to the business section of Oklahoma City at a time when less aggressive town builders faltered. Secured Railroad to City During all of his life until he was compelled to retire from business, Henry Overholser was one of the leading factors in laying the municipal foundation upon which is now built the capital city of Oklahoma.  As chief factor in building the Frisco railroad from Sapulpa into Oklahoma City.  Mr. Overholser opened up a new traffic line which was the forerunner of railroad development in Oklahoma that is principally responsible for the Oklahoma City of the present day.  The magniturde of the Oklahoma State Fair is due to the support given by Mr. Overholser.  Soon after the organization of the State Fair, when financial distress threatened an abandonment of the enterprise, Mr. Overholser supplied a large sum and made it possible to erect new buildings, enlarge the plant, and to his efforts are due the substantial fair and exposition now viewed as one of the state's chief assets.  In every public movement in the history of Oklahoma City Henry Overholser's support was always for the right and forever against the wrong.  Of rugged disposition, he lent his forceful character to the upbuilding of the Oklahoma City of the present. Publication:  The Oklahoman Date August 25, 1915 Front Page

PROCLAMATION TO THE PEOPLE OF OKLAHOMA CITY: Mr. Henry Overholser, father of our honored mayor, and one of our most distinguished citizens, has been claimed by death.  His life for the past twenty-six years is so important a factor in the growth and development of our city that it cannot be separated therefrom.  His greatest pride was shown in doing something which would benefit the entire city and no man in our city felt a deeper satisfaction in seeing a magnificent city where once was the crude village.  Oklahoma City's growth and achievements are due in no small degree to the sacrifice, energy and determination of her citizenship.  It is therefore with heavy hearts that we bow to the will of omnipolence where such distinguished citizens as Mr. Overholser are taken.  Therefore, as a token of the city's appreciation of this noble life, this unselfish city builder, and friend of all, I, J. G. Street, mayor pro tem of Oklahoma City, do set apart Friday, August 27, 1915, the day of his funeral, as a day in which all city offices shall be closed, and I most respectfully request all offices and business houses to close from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. on said day, the hour of the funera. J.G. Street, Mayor Pro Tem, City Hall, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, August 26, 1915 Publication: The Oklahoman Date: August 27, 1915, Front Page

Henry Overholser; An Appreciation (Editors Note--The following sketch of the character of Henry Overholsesr and the part of his life's work which was devoted to the furthering of Oklahoma City's interest, was written by Dr. Angela C. Scott, prominent as an educator and for many years a warm personal friend of Mr. Overholser.  The "Appreciation" was originally written for and placed in the Century Chest, which contains the life sketches of Oklahoma City's foremost builders, and is to be opened and read nearly a century hence.  Therefore only a portion of Mr. Overholser's life story follows.)       The story of the settlement and growth of Oklahoma reads like a romance, and there is a name in it which was so essential a part of the dream that it can never be omitted from any adequate recital of the pioneeer days of our commonwealth.  That name is Henry Overholser.       Mr. Overholser's courage and sacrifice, his wisdom and insight, and his genius for public and social service have been largely instrumental in laying the foundation of the municipal prosperity we are now enjoying; they have contributed, step by step, in the position of material development we have now attained indeed, the writer of this sketch-Mr. Overholser's friend for nearly a quarter of a century has long been regarded him our foremost citizen, sagacious, keenly discriminative, sound of judgement, possessing almost unerring power to read men and their motives, a positive character, a masterful mind.  All these qualities make him a natural leader of men, and from the beginning his leadership has been accepted unquestionsably.   Drew Many Friends       As in business and politics, so also has Mr. Overholser been in the forefront socially, drawing around him the best and most gifted for his closest friends, yet in feeling altogether democratic in that his heart is ever large and kind to all who need his help, a help given with instant generosity, whether of money or advice or sympathy.      Since this sketch is intended for his descendants who may well have pride in their ancestry it will not be our of taste to state that his handsome and distinguished appearance would make him a marked man in any assembly.     It is inevitable that so highly endowed a personality should make Henry Overholsesr the one man whose influence is most closely and indelibly impressed upon Oklahoma City today.  He is one of the very few men who came to Oklahoma on the eventual twenty-second of April, 1889, with a considerable sum of money.  At that time Mr. Overholser possessed a snug fortune accumulated in a business career, upon which he entered when a lad of 16, in mercantile and real estate lines in Ohio and later in Wisconsin. Began Building Early     He arrived in Oklahoma bringing with him ten carloads of lumber and when others were driving tent stakes he was erecting substantial two-story frame structures; and this is symbolical of the subsequent twenty years of his career as chief city builder. When others had reached the wooden stage he was at work on a three-story brick block.  When the families of the pioneers came, and the town needed other forms of amusement than fate and roulette, he built an opera house which for years remained the most pretentious one in the new territory.  When the time was ripe for a theater, Mr. Overholser built it--a fine example of the modern playhouse--in whose comfort and convenience visiting actors and actresses delight.  Among those who have been presented to the public in the Overholser theater are Sarah Barnhardt, Olga Nethersole, Nazimova, Maude Adams, David Warfield, Walker Whiteside, and such world-wide known musicians as Walter Damrosch, with his New York Symphony orchestra, Emma Eamea, Nordica, Schumann, Heinck, Gorgaza, Bonet, Kubelik, and Maude Powell.  Is it any wonder that the cultivated people of Oklahoma City gathered here from all sections of our country regard Mr. Overholser as a benefactor. City's Interests at Heart     In his building operations, always his vision has been large and always he has built with an eve single in the city's interests.  Constantly he built more and larger that his own interest demanded in order to stimulate others.  Even when he erected his fine home, he said his chief purpose was to stimulate others to strive to outdo him.      In regard to civic betterment, Mr. Overholserdaring determination his tenscity, and his perservering industry have accomplished wonderful things.  It was he who organized the forces which gave to Oklahoma City the first waterwork system in the territory.  It was he who headed the committee for procuring the funds to secure the Choctaw railroad--now a part of the Rock Insland system--and in ppresuring the Frisco he also took a leading part.  He has been in the thick of all the capital fights whose final battle has been to locate the seat of government permanently in the city he has served so well. State Fair An Achievement     Perhaps his crowning achievement has been the successful resuscitation of the State Fair after it had almost collapsed in other hands, and his building it into a great business enterprise and an invaluable public benefit.  Mr. Overholser's private fortune has stood back of it from the moment he took it in hand, and it was his unremitting attention and great administrative ability that made it the great institution it now is.  His close appreciation to the interests associated ???? and change, and accordingly he and his wife and little daughter traveled extensively in Europe in 1911.     To those who come after him, the personality of Henry Overholser, master builder, pulicist, foremost citizen, and loyal friend, may well be the incentive to noble living. ----- SERVICES WILL BE PUBLIC ----- All Friends of Late Henry Overholser invited to Pay Last Respects     All friends of the late Henry Overholser are invited to attend the funeral services which will be conducted at the home at 405 West Fifteenth street Friday afternoon.  The services will be opened at 2 o'clock by Rev. H. E. VanHorn, pastor of the First Christian church. Source: The Oklahoman, August 27, 1915 on the Front Page

Mrs. Henry Overholser Rites for Mrs. Henry Overholser, 60 years old, '89er and prominent community and social leader who died early Monday at St. Anthony hospita, will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday at her residence, 405 Northwest Fifteenth street.  Burial will be in the family vault at Fairlawn cemetery, under direction of the Street and Draper funeral home.  Mrs. Overholser was the daughter of Samuel Murphy, first territorial treasurer.  Her late husband, a city pioneer, was one of the city's most prominent builders. Source: THe Oklahoman April 30, 1940 Page 17

City Is Silent At Rites For Overholser While the city paused in silent tribute to Ed Overholser Thursday, nearly 2,000 of his friends fathered in the St. Luke's Methodist church, Eighth street and Robinson Avenue where the fallen city builder was eulogized by Rev. Forney Hutchinson and Rev. E. C. Mobley.  Overholser died on the eve of his city's forty-second anniversary, following a long illness.  As the words of the Lord's prayer issued from the lips of Mr. Hutchinson, the city's whistles sounded a last requiem for the pioneer, who served his city during the last nine years of his life as president of the Chamber of Commerce.  Mr. Hutchinson and Mr. Mobley shared the rostrum, which was blanketed solidly with floral tributes.  The lower floor of the auditorium was fille with friends whom Overholser had drawn to him in life, and who came to honor him in death.  Nearly the entire balcony was occupied.  "He has left a bendiction with the city." Mr.  Hutchinson said, "He always said his city had a soul. He preached the gospel of city building in Oklahoma and in bordering states.  He realized the church kept the city's soul alive.  He was a pioneer, and his heart was in Oklahoma, yet, because he wanted church interest kept strong in the minds of his fellow citizens, he did not go into the dark without God."  Rather it was as if he wrapped the draperies of his couch about him and lay down in plasant dreams. The state has lost a great citizen; the city has lost a great leader--and we have lost a friend.  As a pioneer and city builder he smoothed out the rough places for those who were to follow him.  The picture of the aged man, who bridged a chasm after he had safely crossed so youth would not find the crossing hard, is the picture of Overholser.  Mr. Mobley said: "We come to praise him, not to bury him.  He drew his friends from a strange crosssection of life.  Wealth and poverty alike found his friendship all embracing.  He was unique in his human realism.  It was his great joy to be with people.  He saw things as they were, and he saw all sides of them.  He was not deluded.  He was unique in his idealism yet his dreams were practical.  He always contended his city had a soul and that it would never be greater than the soul of its people,  He was unique as a civic-minded statesman" Chamber Work Praised "As a civic leader he had no equal.  His was a constructive mind.  He made a lasting contribution to his city and had a place apart in the United States as a Chamber of Commerce worker.  He created in Oklahoma City a Chamber of Commerce outstanding the nation.  "He was unique as a man among men.  When he talked, men listened.  And big men followed him.  He was a born strategist and his mass psychology was superb.  He knew how to handle crowds.  His repartee was brillant.  A great man and builder has fallen."  Both Mr. Hutchinson and Mr. Mobley emphasized the four pillars of city building espoused by Overholser.  They were the home, the church, the school and recreational facilities. Asked for Prayer "It was the great gratification," Mr. Hutchinson said, "that I saw the emphasis he placed upon the church.  He told me as I knelt at his bedside in the hours of his last illness that he was not afraid, that he was ready to go.  He asked me to kneelfrom humbles atations in life, emphasizing Mr. Mobley's assertion that Overholser drew his friends from a great cross-section of life."  Members of the city council attended, headed by Mayor Blinn. Col. R. A. Sneed, venerable patriarch of the capitol, headed a group of state officials.  County officers, headed by Sheriff Stanley Rogers, were present.  Clarence Hurt, acting chief or police, let a large group of city officers to the service, and a large group of firemen was lef by Chief George Goff.  Chamber of Commerce directors and past presidents formed another group.  The chamber and courthouse were closed Thursday afternoon. Honored by Railroad Rock Island locomotive whistles joined in the requiem for Overholser, a bulletin ordering the observance having been issued by company officials.  Speaking of the incident, W. A. Smith, 212 East Fifth street, yard engineer, who has been with the Rock Island 30 years said, "We were glad to honor him.  He was a fine man, and in spite of controversy over trackage, we of the Rock Island mourn and miss him."  Many persons from out of the city attented the serice.  Among them were members of the facilites of the University of Oklahoma and the Oklahoma A. and M.college, J. S. Bridwell, past president of the Wichita Falls, Texas, chamber of commerce; John Boswell, manager of the Wichita Falls chamber; Robert P. Hall, manager of the Electra, Texas, chamber, and D. B. Burns, manager of the Chickasha chamber.  Boswell said, "We feel he belonged as much to us as he did to you.  We, too, mourn his passing." Friends Are Bearers Bearers were John R. Boardman, Tom Braniff, A. O. Campbell, C. F. Colcord, Dr. Walter H. Dersch, Walter C. Dean, Stanley Draper, R. J. Edwards, E. K. Gaylord, Hubert Hudson, Ed Kelly of El Reno, Carl C. Magee, G. A. Nichols, J. P. Owens, Jack Tolbert, Ed S. Vaught, and Lew Wentz.  A light rain was falling when Overholser's casket was borne from the church.  Pavement, which, when Overholser came, has been prairie grass and dust, glistened under the moisture.  It seemed even the Oklahoma skies were weeping at the passing of a noble son.  A few blocks to the southward, giant skyscrapers reared their dark towers, symbols of a life's work well done.  And the the corteue slowly formed. Source:  The Oklahoman, April 24, 1931 Front Page and Page 5

Daughter of City Pioneers Is Dead Mrs. David Jay Perry, wife of Oklahoma's state executive secretary to Sen. Mike Monroney and daughter of Mrs. and Mrs. Henry Overholser, died Sunday at Wesley hospital.  Services will be at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday in Hahn-Cook funeral home with burial in Fairlawn cemetery.  She is burvived by her husband.  Mrs. Perry would have observed her 54th birthday March 13.  She had been ill since early January.  The namesake and only child of a couple ranking high among Oklahoma City founders, Henry Ione Overholser was the last direct link with the man whose name dominates every account of pioneer civic development. She Was Born in 1905 She was born in 1905, in the home at 405 NW 15 where she was to live all her life.  The residence was opened in 1904 as a genuine territorial showplace, and remained a center of social life for decades.  Overholser had arrived here from Wisonsin on the day of the April 22, 1889 "run".  Literally and figuratively, "Uncle Henry" built the town, starting with the 10 Santa Fe carloads of lumber that arrived for him next day.  Exactly a month later, he helped organize and accepted presidency of the Board of Trade, the chamber of commerce forerunner.  Overholser erected the first block of business buildings extending west on Grand from Robinson, the first opera house, and some of the earliest brick landmarks.  Petitioned to run as second provisional mayor, he lost a hot election by 14 votes. Early Schooling Here Mrs. Perry's other heritage came from Annie Ione Murphy, who arrived on opening day with her father, Arkansan Samuel Murphy, later the first territorial treasurer.  Her marriage to Overholser in 1890 was the town's first big wedding.  The little girl grew up in a home overflowing with civic, business, and cultural leaders who eddied around the handsome couple.  She saw a living legend first hand, as Overholser lent his wealth and horse-sense to meet town crises and challenges.  As a gradeschool child, she romped with small guests in the third floor ballrooom while immense parties progressed downstairs.  By this time, the city was edging across alfalfa fields toward the Overholser mansion "way out in the country."Henry Ione attended local schools through the eighth grade, and completed her education at Oaksmere school, Manaroneck, N. J.  She was married to Perry 33 years ago.  An insurance man and civic worker, Perry became Sen. Monroney's exective secretary for Oklahoma in 1953. Home Preserved Widowed in 1915, Mrs. Overholser continued a busy round of entertaining, and maintaned a lively interest in many clubs until her death in 1940.  She had founded several of the earliest groups.  Among her special favorites was the Chafing Dish club, Mrs. Perry, who was irequently hostess with her mother, has also retained membership in the weekly luncheon group throught the years.  She was also a Junion League member.  Mrs. Perry was a member of the Fifth Church of Christ, Scientist.  Remembered as an "independent girl" all her life, the trim, dark-haired woman devoted much time to gardening, and to her husbands interest, including horses and aviation.  In later years, she used a precision telescope to develop an astronomy hobby.  A major interet was preserving the family home as an historic heritage.  Mrs. Perry has ket the huge, 16-room house open, repaired and gleaming in its original period elegance. Details Inspected Daily From Louis XV furniture and wall paneling to Belgian lace curtains and antique art objects, the formal rooms are appointed exactly as they were on the night of the opening reception.  Mrs. Perry toured all rooms daily to inspect details.  With Mrs. Perry's death, the Overholser family tradition passes to Henry's grandson, Edward II*.  Overholser, of Edmond, and his daughter, Miss Maggie Overholser, Oklahoma State University student.  Edward is the son of the late Edward G. M. Overholser.  Henry Overholser's son by an earlier marriage.  Ed Overholser had matched his father's public service career in many respects and surpassed it in one, by serving as city mayor (1915-1919).  Lake Overholser was named for Ed, and remains a a permanent memorial to the pioneering pair. Source: The Oklahoman February 9, 1959 Front Page

David Jay Perry David Jay, 88, of OKC. He was born in Fauport, Missouri December 2, 1902.  Mr. Perry died on September 3, 1991 after a brief illness.  He was married to Henry Ione Overholser until her death in 1959.  He leaves behind a wife, Louise.  Private family graveside services will be held.  Memorial services will be held Friday, September 6, 1991 at the Westminister Presbyterian Church at 10:30 a.m.  In lieu of flowers, memorials may be amde to Mercy Hospice, Free to Live, or a favorite charity. Source:  The Oklahoman September 4, 1991 Page 95

Edward Graham McLain Overholser Jr. Edward Overholser Jr., 81, Edmond.  Services 10:30 a.m. Tues. at Baggerly Memorial Chapel in Edmond.  Burial under director of Baggerly Funeral Home will be in the Fairlawn Cemetery in Okla. City.  He was born May 4, 1908 in Oklahoma City and was a 50 year resident of Edmond.  Overholser attended Darmouth University and the University of Oklahoma where he lettered in tennis.  He was active in tennis, badminton and handball.  Overholser Annual Handball Tournament at the Oklaoma City YMCA.  He was also retired from the Oklahoma Corporation Commission.  He was preceded in death by his wife, Ethel Margaret Overholser on Jan. 6, 1970.  Survivors include his daughter and son-in-law, Maggie and Scott Russell of Altus; 2 granddaughters, Megan Holleyman and Kristen Josey of Stillwater and 2 great granddaughter, Daireth Holleyman of Stillwater.  Memorials may be made to the charity of the donors choice. Source:  The Oklahoman May 15, 1989 Page 19

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