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Frank H. REED
Frank H. Reed, a Tulsa lawyer who has won notable success in the oil
industry, is the owner of a large number of oil producing tracts in the
various oil fields of Oklahoma and has become widely known as a producer
and investor. He was born in Geneva, Indiana, on the 20th of
January, 1880, his parents being W. M. and Hannah (Tederick) Reed, the
former a native of Indiana, while the latter was born in Ohio. The
father during his active business career gained most favorable
recognition as an editor and publisher. Mr. Reed's parents are both in
Tulsa and are consistent and devoted members of the Methodist Episcopal
church. To them were born five children, one of whom has passed away.
Frank H. Reed obtained his education in the public and high schools of
Morris, Illinois, where the family home had been established when he
was a lad of nine years. Inheriting a tendency toward newspaper work, Mr.
Reed started as a newsboy, then became a printer's devil in the
office of the Morris Daily Sentinel and learned the printing trade, at
the same time continuing his school work. At the age of nineteen he
became identified with journalistic work as a writer for Chicago papers
and as reporter on the Morris Daily Sentinel, soon rising to the
position of city editor of that paper, which position he held for three
years. It was his desire, however, to become a member of the legal
profession and with that end in view he devoted three years to the study
of law at night, being admitted to the Illinois bar in February,
1902, when but twenty-two years of age. He was the youngest member of a
class of seventy who were examined for two days by the Illinois supreme
court.
He began active practice at Morris, Illinois, where he remained until
August, 1905, when he made his way to Wewoka, Indian Territory, a
town which was then a typical frontier village but which later became the
county seat of Seminole county, Oklahoma. Mr. Reed practiced his
profession at Wewoka for nearly twelve years, and, although he limited
his activities to Indian titles and their many complications, he soon
built up a law practice of vast proportions. The versatile character of
Mr. Reed is well illustrated by the fact that he gained a splendid
knowledge of the language spoken by the Seminole Indians, and through his
ability to converse with them in their own language and his
straightforward business methods, he endeared himself to the Indian
citizens to such an extent that he became the sole attorney of hundreds
of them and confidential adviser to many of the leading members and
officials of the Seminole tribe. After moving to Tulsa, Mr. Reed
abandoned his law practice and has devoted all of his time to his oil
interests and the care of his extensive landholdings. He is a typical
American product, having climbed the ladder from newsboy to wealth, being
one of the largest landowners in Oklahoma. His holdings are
located in ten different counties and the number of his broad acres runs
far into five figures. Besides his handsomely furnished oil
offices in Tulsa, he maintains an office in Wewoka, Oklahoma, through
which most of his land interests are handled.
In 1904 Mr. Reed was united in marriage to Miss Isabelle Steep, of
Morris, Illinois, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Steep. They now
have two children: Edward, who was born April 26th, 1907; and Margaret,
whose birth occurred June 9, 1918. They have a beautiful home at 1526 South
Madison boulevard.
Mr. Reed is versatile, pleasant, agreeable, a good story-teller, a
golf enthusiast and a popular member of the Country Club, the City Club
and the Kiwanis Club. He is independent in politics and has never sought
nor held public office. Fraternally he is identified with the
Masons, having taken all the degrees, of both the York and Scottish Rite
bodies. He is a member of Akdar Temple of the Mystic Shrine. Mr.
Reed and his family are attendants of the Christian Science church.
Being public-spirited, Mr. Reed's name has become known in connection
with philanthropic work of a varied character. He was the
first man in Tulsa to suggest that the wealthy men of the city should
build memorials by placing conveniences and equipment in the city
parks, he having erected the Frank H. Reed wading pools for children in
Locust Park and in Admiral Park. A young man of splendid executive
ability, forceful, resourceful and enterprising, he well deserves the
prosperity which has crowned his efforts and which places him among the
leading and influential .citizens of Tulsa and the state of Oklahoma.
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