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CAPT. JAMES A. STINE
Vol. 3, p. 1336-1337
Book has photo

The prominent banker of Alva was in the midst of the exciting scenes
attending the opening of the Cherokee Strip on September 16, 1893. He
is thus an Oklahoma pioneer, and in many ways has led the march of
improvement at Alva. His name has been associated in a helpful way
with probably every enterprise ever undertaken in that city and that
section of the state.

Though a native of Pennsylvania, Captain Stine is a typical western
American, and for many years he breathed the atmosphere and
participated in the activities of the frontier. He was born June 12,
1842, at McVeytown, Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, and acquired a
common school education and also attended Mount Dempsey Academy and
Kishacoquillis Seminary. When a young man he learned telegraphy and
was an instructor in a Philadelphia college until 1869.

In that year he located in Osage County, Arkansas and for five years
was a cattle man. He then turned his capital to a venture which for a
time was very profitable and for several years, owned and operated a
line of steamboats on the Missouri River, when that river was
navigable and when a large share of the commerce of the Middle West
was carried on its waters. He may have had extensive ambitions to
control and direct a large river transportation traffic, but when
four of his boats went down in rapid succession, each one with full
cargo, he was left very close to the bottom of the financial ladder,
and he abandoned boating as a very certain enterprise. After that he
became a retail merchant and by frugality and industry had soon
rehabilitated his fortune. He was also in the stock business in
Kansas during 1881 and 1882, spent several years at Burlingame,
Kansas, and for a number of years preceding the opening of the
Cherokee Strip was in business at Harper, Kansas. He made himself a
very important factor in the upbuilding of the Town of Harper and is
kindly and gratefully remembered by the citizens of that place. He
also extended his enterprise to Amarillo, Texas, where in 1890 he
helped organize the Amarillo National Bank, of which he became a
director.

On locating at Alva, Mr. Stine organized what is now First National
Bank of Alva, and has served as president continuously for twenty-
three years. His operations as a financier have extended all over the
western section of Oklahoma and he is now at the head of an important
chain of banks, including the First National of Alva, the First
National of Woodward, the First National Bank of Waynoka, the Bank of
Capron, Bank of Ingersoll and the Bank of Supply. He is president of
all these institutions, and as a financier he did much to conserve
the important interests in this section of the state.

However, his hand has not been withheld from any public enterprise.
He served as mayor of Alva and became the first president of the Alva
Commercial Club in 1896, and was head of that live organization for
many years. As much as any other man he deserves credit or securing
the establishment of the State Normal School at Alva. He was given
the privilege of driving first stakes that marked the location and he
also officiated in the Masonic ceremony of laying the corner one of
this splendid state educational institution, which year has been the
pride of Alva. Captain Stine is serving as a member of the board of
control of the Supply State Hospital for the Insane. Politically he
is a democrat, but confesses to only a modest participation in state
politics, though his counsel has been frequently sought by party
leaders. Captain Stine is a thirty-second degree Mason, a member of
the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of Pythias,
and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and his church is the
Presbyterian. The most modern business block in Alva bears the name
Stine chiseled on its front, and this structure stands as a fitting
monument to the life of one the founders and builders of the city.

In 1863, Captain Stine married Miss Emma N. LANICH of Pennsylvania.
Mrs. Stine was born September 10, 1843, and died November 14, 1913,
at Alva. There are two children. The son, Lenn Leonard, is now
cashier of the First National Bank of Woodward, and the daughter,
Lena, is the wife of George E. NICKEL, reference to whom is found on
other pages.

Typed for OKGenWeb by Nelda Rowland, November 12, 1998.