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HORACE NELSON SPOONER, JR.
Vol. 5, p. 1820

Horace Nelson Spooner, Jr., was sent to Behtel College,
Russellville, Kentucky, from which institution he was graduated in
1894, and in that same year entered a hardware store at Hillsboro,
Texas, in order to become familiar with the business.  There he
remained several years, mastering every detail of the trade, and in
1897 went to Whitney, Texas, where he was entrusted with the position
of buyer for the W. T. HERRICK Hardware Company, a capacity in which
he gained experience that was of the greatest value to him in later
years.  After eight years with that concern, he felt qualified to
embark upon a venture of  his own, and in January, 1905, came to
Hollis, Oklahoma, and established the Spooner Hardware Company, on
Broadway, which under his management soon became one of the largest
hardware concerns in the State of Oklahoma.  The establishment has a
floor space of 50 by 100 feet, with a basement of the same
dimensions, trade is drawn from all over Harmnon and Greer counties,
Oklahoma, and Collingsworth County, Texas, and the firm carries a
most complete line of shelf and heavy hardware, stoves, implements,
etc., all of the latest design and maufacture [sic]  Mr. Spooner at
the time of his death, which occurred May 19, 1910, was justly
accounted one of the foremost among the younger generation of
business men in this part of Oklahoma.  He had made his own way,
unaided, and had gained success solely through his own initiative and
resource.  At the time of his death he was president of the Hollis
Commercial Club, and enjoyed the friendship and confidence of the
leading and influential men of the city.  His fraternal connections
included membership in Hollis Lodge No. 219, Ancient Free and
Accepted Masons, and the various degrees up to the thirty-second, he
being a member of Consistory No. 1, Valley of Guthrie.  He was also a
Pythian and an Odd Fellow, and in social circles had many friends who
sincerely mourned his death.  He was a democrat, but not a
politician.  Always a faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, he was acting as steward and superintendent of Sunday school
when called away.  Though his presence is gone, he leaves behind him
as a monument to his integrity and ability a firmly-established
business, and an influence for good citizenship and high ideals that
will remain for years after his name has been forgotten.

SOURCE: Thoburn, Joseph B., A Standard History of Oklahoma, An
Authentic Narrative of its Development, 5 v. (Chicago, New York: The
American Historical Society, 1916)

Transcribed for OKGenWeb by Geraldine Olson King, July 1999.