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ARTHUR Y. BOSWELL
Vol. 3, p. 1266-1267

Behind any successful business is a personality, and not
infrequently a story of hard struggles to attain an ideal. One of the
most conspicuous mercantile establishment in Tulsa serves as an
illustration of this fact.

From Sulphur Springs, Arkansas, Arthur Y. Boswell 1894 came to
Fairland, then Indian Territory, and has since demonstrated what a
live man can accomplish. He opened a small shop as jeweler. He worked
steadily and relied upon business-like methods to gain the confidence
and the patronage of the public. His business continued to increase
until in May 1907, just at the time Tulsa commenced to grow, he was
one of the largest enthusiasts, as well as contributors, for the
benefit of Tulsa's growth, on several occasions giving liberally to
railroad bonuses before ever having any real estate. In 1903 he
opened one of the finest stores of its kind to be found in the
Southwest. The building and lot cost him $25,000, and his fixtures
cost $10,000, being of solid mahogany and glass. The building is
located in the best shopping section of the city, is three stories
high, and in this ample establishment he carries a stock valued at
between $40,000, to $70,000. It is conceded that his is the largest
jewelry establishment, complete in all departments, to be found
anywhere in Oklahoma. He also does the largest general jewelry repair
business, and has a complete department for manufacturing jewelry
goods and employs expert gold and silversmiths. Almost any order for
custom made jewelry can be filled in the Boswell establishment. the
store has an equipment of the handsomest pictures and furnishings
that money could buy or the skill of craftsmen could furnish. His
show windows are the pride of local citizens, and his displays of
merchandise are as attractive as those shown in the great
metropolitan jewelry stores. On the opening day, May 3, 1907, more
than 8,000 visitors were received by Mr. Boswell in his store and to
each one was given a handsome souvenir of the occasion. Mr. Boswell
also operates another fine jewelry store at No. 3 Third Street, known
as the American Jewelry Company.

Born in Dade County, Missouri, November 18, 1874, he is a son of
John Henry and Mahala (HUDSON) Boswell. His father was born in Ohio
in 1848 and his mother in Greene County Missouri, in 1846. There were
seven children, six of whom are living, Arthur being the second. In
1850 John H. Boswell was taken by his parents to Indiana, and in 1869
he removed to Missouri, where for a number of years he was engaged in
stock raising and farming in Dade County. In 1880 he removed to
Northwestern Arkansas, locating in Washington County, where he turned
his attention to fruit raising and the nursery business. For a great
many years now he has been one of the prominent fruit men of the
country and was one of the pioneers of that industry in the famous
fruit belt of Northwestern Arkansas. He finally removed to St Cloud,
Osceola County, Florida, where he continues business as a truck
farmer, having done much to develop that industry in the Florida
Peninsula. He is a democrat in politics.

Arthur Y. Boswell gained his early education in the district schools
of Arkansas. As a boy he started to learn the jewelry trade at
Springdale, Arkansas, under G.W. KENNAN, and after making himself
proficient in the trade as jeweler, engaged in business for himself
with a very modest capital at Sulphur Springs, Arkansas. until
January, 1893. He next moved to Fairland, Indian Territory, and there
conducted a small shop until January 1, 1903. That was the date of
his coming to Tulsa, the prospects of which town had already
attracted his attention, and there he found the opportunities which
ten years of preparation had made him capable of utilizing.

Mr. Boswell is affiliated with Tulsa Lodge Np 71, A. F. & A. T.;
Tulsa Chapter No 52, R. A. M.; Trinity Commandery, K. T.; Oklahoma
Consistory No. 1 of the thirty-second degree Scottish Rite; Akdar
Temple of the mystic Shrine at Tulsa; also Tulsa Lodge No. 964 of the
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and of the Knights of
Pythias. He is an active member of the Commercial Club and the
Merchants Association, and stands especially high in the organization
of his special line of business in the Southwest. He helped to
organize and served as the first president of the Optical Association
of Oklahoma and for two years served as the first president of the
Retail Jewelers Association. In politics he is a democrat.

On November 11, 1894, while he was still struggling to get a footing
as a business man, Mr. Boswell married Miss Mattie J. FRANCIS, who
was born in Texas, and who has been his helpful companion for more
than twenty years. They became parents of two sons: Alvie Y. is now
assistant manager of the store at Tulsa; Hoyt was accidentally killed
at the age of eleven years. Besides the large mercantile concern
which has grown up under his management, Mr. Boswell has invested
judiciously in many pieces of property in Tulsa County, and is one of
the large taxpayers of that County.

Typed for OKGenWeb by Jean Owens October 22, 1998.