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CHESTER R. O'NEAL
Vol. 3, p. 1033-1034

Recent investments and explorations in the mountain section of
McCurtain County of a New York syndicate indicate that the lead and
zinc belt that has been extensively developed in Northeast Oklahoma
extends into the Choctaw country. This syndicate's operations have
been in the Hochatown vicinity and have attracted capitalists here
from France and England who have made explorations in several
sections of the Kiamichi Mountains. Granite, asphalt and limestone
are found in the mountains, probably in paying quantities at certain
points. There is no longer a great timber reservation in McCurtain
County. The surplus lands of the Choctaws that once were segregated
in a large body are being sold by the Department of the Interior to
settlers and this has occasioned the attraction here of men from
various parts of the world to investigate probable rich natural
resources that for generations have been hidden under department
regulations. One of the original miners of McCurtain County was one
Calvin HOWELL, who claimed to be a Choctaw of one thirty-second blood
and who many years ago established a ranch near Hochatown. He was
looked upon by his people as being a dreamer and crank and made
little development. Recent activities, however, made in the
neighborhood of his ranch indicate the dreams at which his friends
laughed may come true. Expert geologists who have visited McCurtain
County in recent years have been convinced that there are evidences
here of the presence of important pockets of oil and gas, and
development has commenced along those lines. The Garvin Oklahoma Oil
Company is drilling a well near Garvin, and the McCurtain County Oil
Company is procuring leases preparatory to development.

One of the leading real estate and loan dealers of Idabel, a man who
has had considerable to do with the development of the county during
the past few years, and one of those most heavily interested in the
oil and gas projects of this part of the state, is Chester R. O'Neal.
Mr. O'Neal came to Idabel in 1907, in time to witness the pulling of
stumps out of the original business streets of the town. For several
years he had been gaining practical and helpful experience in the
real estate business of Texarkana, Arkansas, and upon coming here
entered the real estate business on his own account. It is an
interesting fact of local history that he procured the approval of
the Department of the Interior of the first deed to Indian land sold
in McCurtain County. He laid out the second addition to Idabel, known
as the Choctaw addition, and sold all the lots. When he came here it
was only three blocks from the business section to a dense forest, a
portion of which became the Oklahoma Addition, and in it Mr. O'Neal
built his permanent home. In eight years he has loaned more than
$150,000, on real estate in the county and this has contributed
greatly to the agricultural development of the county.

An illustration of the peculiarities of the Indian and of the nature
of the activities of the white man who has divested the Indian of
much of his substance, is among the recollections of Mr. O'Neal of
earlier years here. Ephiraham MCKINNEY, a Choctaw, stout, robust and
apparently in the best of health and with his family the owner of
1,000 acres of fine land, was stricken with quick consumption. A
physician who visited him in company with Mr. O'Neal said he had but
a few days to live. Illness had emaciated him to a mere shadow and he
lay on a dirty quilt in an open and unfurnished house in the country.
He asked for soda pop, which his attendants provided, and then the
physician injected a drug that temporarily revived him. It was
learned then that he was hungry, penniless and friendless. "I'm going
to die pretty soon," he whispered to Mr. O'Neal, "and I want you to
take care of my family." Mr. O'Neal promised to give them as much
attention as he could. The Indian, possessor of 1,000 acres, died in
want. The property lay in Carter County, in the region now embraced
by the great Healdton oil field, and it was out of his reach and out
of his control.

Chester R. O'Neal was born in Shelby County, Missouri, in 1879, and
is a son of Thomas E. and Jennie L. (QUIGLEY) O'Neal. His father and
mother now live in Idabel, where Thomas E. O'Neal is engaged in the
timber and lumber business, an enterprise which he had followed for a
number of years in Texarkana, to which place he had removed from
Missouri. There were two sons in the family, one, Walter W. O'Neal,
being connected with the International Creosoting Construction
Company of Texarkana. After leaving the public schools, Chester R.
O'Neal became engaged in business with his father, but subsequently
entered the employ at Texarkana of the R.E. Company, with which
concern he remained for fourteen years, or until, as before stated,
he came to Idabel.

Mr. O'Neal was married in Missouri, in 1900, to Miss Anna M. EATON,
and they have three children; Lillian, born in 1902; and Chester R.
Jr., and Marguerite, twins, born in 1906. Mr. And Mrs. O'Neal are
members of the Baptist Church. His fraternal affiliations are with
the lodges of the Masons and the Modern Woodmen of America.

Typed for OKGenWeb by Kathy Bridges, August 1999.