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JOHN K. FAIN
Vol. 3 p. 1111-1112

There are two factors that have tended to retard the normal
development of Eastern Oklahoma--a general belief that the general
run of titles to lands in the former region of the Five Civilized
Tribes of Indians are clouded; and, second, the activities of land
dealers and speculators who sought to accumulate quick fortunes
through misrepresentation of values and conditions in the new state.
The former factor is being overcome by the process of gradual
education, and this is being furthered by a combined effort of
legitimate business men and railroad companies operating through
Eastern Oklahoma. Prosecutions have virtually terminated the
activities of unscrupulous land dealers, and the prospective buyers
from other states are exercising more care in making investments in
this section of Oklahoma. In answer to the complaint that titles to
lands in Eastern Oklahoma are insecurely based, it may be stated that
such reliable, enterprising and straightforward real-estate dealers
as Mr. Fain are doing all in their power to disseminate the truth,
and that is that Eastern Oklahoma land titles are not only simple and
authoritative but also that they come direct from the United States
Government. Congress has provided the methods by which the Indian
lands may be disposed of, and every title has the government's
guaranty. This movement is worthy of record in the history of
Oklahoma, for it marks the beginning of a new era in the development
of this region, and the men associated in it are assuredly pioneers
of their generation in the establishing of better financial and
industrial conditions in the state. This class of land dealers are
assisting also in the development of communities, by the sale of land
to men of ability and resources. Ten years of their activities have
produced a wonderful change in conditions, particularly, in the
former Choctaw Nation. Most of the men of this sterling class conduct
their real-estate business through the personal buying and selling of
land, rather than on the commission basis. This gives them a vital
interest in the character of the setters they are instrumental in
bringing in, for their theory is that one good purchaser-a man alive
to the agricultural and general industrial needs of the community-is
worth more than a dozen who have no other interest than speculation
or no other ambition than to plod along in the beaten paths that for
many years were never marked by any important phase of progress. An
illustration of the painstaking methods of Mr. Fain is found in the
fact that during the several years he has been engaged in the real-
estate and farm-loan business he has never had a foreclosure, which
means simply that he has been careful of investments for the
financial firms he represents and careful to conserve the interests
of the persons who borrow the money. And this is of distinctive value
to Oklahoma, even as it is complimentary to the individual, for it
betokens a business acumen that was necessarily brought into play to
eradicate slipshod methods and get-rich-quick schemes that not only
hindered the development of the state's splendid resources but also
gave the commonwealth an unsavory reputation abroad. The year 1913
marked a steady advance of these new and legitimate methods, and it
is of special significance that in that year the railroads saw the
necessity of aiding in the movement. Such men as Mr. Fain are
responsible for the inception of this important movement.

John Kelly Fain was born in Webster County, Missouri, on the 20th of
May, 1874, and is a son of Rev. Isaac R. and Catherine E. (BOWMAN)
Fain, the other surviving children of whom are three sons and three
daughters: Jesse F. is a farmer in Webster County, Missouri; Mrs.
Dora JONES is a resident of Miami, Oklahoma, where her husband is
identified with mining operations; Mrs. Anna A. BARNES is the wife of
a printer and publisher in Kansas City, Missouri; Mrs. Louise M.
SLATER resides in Kansas City and her husband is in the employ of the
Frisco Railroad Company; and Martin A., a painter by trade and
vocation, is a resident of Webb City, Missouri. Rev. Isaac R. Fain
was a native of Illinois, settled in Missouri in 1857, and labored
long and zealously as a clergyman of the Baptist Church. His marriage
was solemnized in Missouri, to which state the parents of his wife
removed from Tennessee.

After availing himself of the advantages of the public schools of
his native state, John K. Fain completed a course of higher study in
Pleasant Hope Academy, in Polk County, Missouri. After teaching
school three terms, in Polk and Greene counties, he became identified
with the newspaper business at Cartersville, that state, where, in
1889, he became associated with George N. Barnes and Thomas J.
Shelton in founding the Cartersville Daily Record. A few years later
he severed his association with this enterprise and turned his
attention to corresponding for the Mining World, of Chicago, as a
representative in the mining district of Missouri. At the same time
he corresponded also for the Joplin News Herald and other newspapers.

In 1906 Mr. Fain established his residence at Stonewall, Indian
Territory, and in this village, now in Pontotoc, County, Oklahoma, he
assisted in the organization of the Farmers & Merchants Bank, the
business of which was later liquidated, the assets being transferred
to Atoka, where they were utilized in connection with the
organization of the American National Bank, with which Mr. Fain
continued to be closely associated for several years. At Stonewall he
initiated his operations in the farm-loan business, and in this field
of enterprise he continued after his removal to Atoka, where he has
since maintained his home and where he has long controlled a large
and representative business in the handling of real-estate, the
extending of loans on approved farm securities and the general
underwriting of insurance. In the handling of capital invested in
farm mortgages in Oklahoma, Mr. Fain represents Robert E. Holmes, a
substantial capitalist of Winstead, Connecticut, and also the First
Trust Company of Wichita, Kansas, which succeeded to the business
established by L. W. CLAPP, the pioneer farm-loan man of Oklahoma.
The conservative business operations of such men as Mr. Fain have
brought about the development of agriculture in Atoka County from
five to twenty-five per cent, these figures representing the progress
of land cultivation within a period of a few years. In furthering the
development and progress of the county Mr. Fain is devoting
appreciable time and capital to improving two valuable farms,
consisting of more than 500 acres. This land he has reclaimed from
the timber and it is situated in one of the most fertile sections of
the county. On one of the farms he has introduced and is extensively
propagating Bermuda grass, for the purpose of developing the land for
grazing purposes and having in view the raising of high-grade cattle
and horses of thoroughbred strains. Mr. Fain is affiliated with the
Modern Woodmen of America and both he and his wife are zealous
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in which he has
served as steward and trustee of the church at Atoka.

On the 15th of December, 1891, at Carthage, Missouri, was solemnized
the marriage of Mr. Fain to Miss Julia N. HOBBS, and they have two
children -- Mabel Louise and John Kelly, Jr.

Typed for OKGenWeb by: Earline Sparks Barger, November 2, 1998.