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JOHN N. SHEPLER
Vol. 3, p. 1217

John N. SHEPLER is a veteran newspaper man and has been identified
with this profession for about a quarter of a century. His home has
been in Oklahoma for the past ten years, and through the Lawton
Constitution, of which he is proprietor and editor, he exercises a
wide influence on public opinion throughout Southwestern Oklahoma.

John N. SHEPLER was born in Milan, Missouri, November 27, 1865. His
father, Peter SHEPLER, who was born in Ohio in 1834, and is now
living at the age of eighty-one is a retired farmer with home at
Green Castle, in Sullivan County, Missouri. Peter Shepler married
Rachel BICKEL, who was born in Ohio and died at Milan, Missouri.

John N. SHEPLER spent his early life on a farm in Northern Missouri,
attending the public schools at Milan, and graduating from high
school. In 1885, after completing a course in the Kirksville State
Normal School he became a teacher in Sullivan County and followed the
profession until 1888. In that year he bought the Milan Standard, and
continued to edit it until 1902. With a large experience in the
handling of a newspaper, gained during seventeen years of residence
in Missouri, Mr. SHEPLER in 1902 removed to Pawnee, Oklahoma,
purchasing the Pawnee Courier-Dispatch. He subsequently sold this
paper and was in the employ of the state government two years. On
December 31, 1910, he came to Lawton and bought the Lawton
Constitution, of which he is now proprietor and editor. This paper is
the oldest in Comanche County, having been established in 1901, the
year of the opening. It is a democratic organ, and has a large
circulation and influence throughout Comanche, Stephens, Jefferson
and neighboring counties, and also is mailed to a large number of
subscribers in other states. The officers and plant are situated at
409 C Avenue.

Mr. SHEPLER is himself a democrat, and at different times has been
active in party affairs. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce at
Lawton, and has affiliations with Lawton Lodge No. 183, Ancient Free
and Accepted Masons, with Pawnee Chapter, Royal arch Masons; with
Pawnee Commandery, Knights Templar; with India Temple of the Nobles
of the Mystic Shrine of Oklahoma City; and with the Lawton lodges of
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, the
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Modern Woodmen of
America.

On May 14, 1888, at Milan, Missouri, Mr. SHEPLER married Miss
Georgia BUTLER, daughter of Judge John P. BUTLER. Her father, who
died in 1914, was for sixteen years a district judge in Sullivan
County. To their marriage have been born two children: Fred, a
graduate of the University of Oklahoma; and Ned, who is in the senior
class of the university.

Typed for OKGenWeb by Jacque Hopkins Wolski on November 4, 1998.