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Note: Henry James STEPHENSON changed the spelling of his family name to STEVENSON upon entering the photography business. His parents, and
siblings retained the STEPHENSON spelling of the name.
BIOGRAPHY FORM
WORKS PROGRESS ADMINISTRATION
Indian-Pioneer History Project for Oklahoma
Form A-(S-149)
STEVENSON, HENRY J. INTERVIEW #10268
Field Worker's name Mrs. Nora L. Lorrin, El Reno, Oklahoma
This report made on (date) March 18, 1938
1. Name Mr. Henry J. Stevenson
2. Post Office Address El Reno, Oklahoma
3. Residence Address (or location) Route E Box 1
4. DATE OF BIRTH: Month February Day 13 Year 1864
5. Place of Birth Ohio
6. Name of Father Benjamin Franklin Stevenson Place of birth Ohio about
1832 Other information about father Died in about 1880 7. Name of Mother Mary Lavina (Jenkins) Stevenson Place of birth
Missouri, 1842 Other information about mother Died in 1873. Notes or complete narrative by the field worker dealing with the life and
story of the person interviewed. Refer to Manual for suggested subjects
and questions. Continue on blank sheets if necessary and attach firmly
to this form. Number of sheets attached _________________________.
STEVENSON, HENRY J. INTERVIEW #10268
Interview with Henry J. Stevenson
El Reno, Oklahoma
Investigator - Nora L. Lorrin
Indian-Pioneer History, S-149
March 18, 1938
"Henry J. Stevenson was born three and one half miles northwest of Salineville, Ohio, February 13, 1864. His father, Benjamin Franklin
Stevenson [Stephenson], was born in Ohio, near Salineville, though not in
the same place as his son Henry, in 1832 and he died on a farm near the
same town in about 1880. His mother, Mary Lavina (Jenkins) Stevenson
[Stephenson], was born near St. Louis, Missouri, about 1842 and died in
1873. Mr. Stevenson lived in Ohio until he was fourteen years of age and
after that he spent his time roaming over the west. He was in Old Mexico
and worked back and forth from Old Mexico to British Columbia, working on
farms, in cow camps, and the various mines of Nevada. He was living in
Denver, Colorado, when he read about the opening of the Kickapoo lands,
that were located north and west of Shawnee, in 1895. He came with the
intention of getting a claim, coming on the train to Oklahoma City."
"They were building the old Choctaw railroad at that time, but had not gotten any farther than Shawnee with the rails but the grade extended
on west to Oklahoma City. Mr. Stevenson walked from Oklahoma City to
Shawnee, following the railroad grade all the way."
"After arriving and going to all that trouble to get to the scene of the run he decided against trying for a claim. He was on foot and was
unable to get a horse and there were at least ten men for every claim
available. There was only about 200,000 acres of land in the
reservation, much of it had been allotted to the Indians and about half
of it was reserved for schools. Henry figured that if he did stake a
claim he would probably have to fight for it so he watched the run and
passed up the opportunity and returned to Oklahoma City."
"He opened a photograph gallery on Broadway between Grand and Main Streets. There is a skyscraper now on the lot that he occupied and the
lot was offered to him at the time for $150.00 and they tried very hard
to sell it to him at that price. He turned the offer down, but ran the
gallery for about a year calling it "The Stevenson's Art Gallery." He
moved to El Reno on the first day of May, in 1896."
"He got a job from a fellow of the name of Wallace, who was running a studio on Bickford Avenue in the 200 block on the east side of the
street just south of the present Safeway Store that is located at 201
South Bickford. He worked for this man for quite awhile and then Mr.
Wallace had to leave on account of his wife's health and Mr. Stevenson
ran the studio for him for quite awhile after he went away, finally
buying it from Mr. Wallace."
"El Reno was pretty badly scattered when Mr. Stevenson first came here. There were little wooden buildings scattered all over town. A
very few were made of brick, among these were the Kerfoot Hotel and a
three story brick building at the corner of Bickford and Woodson
Streets. The building is still there and is now occupied on the ground
floor by the Blair's Drug Store at 101 South Bickford. Kerfoot Hotel is
here yet. The most of the business was on Choctaw Avenue. There was no
paving and no sewers and no city water and they hauled the water in
barrels. You put your own barrel out and a man would keep it filled for
so much a month. It cost Mr. Stevenson $1.00 per month for his water
because, being a photographer, he used a lot of water. His photograph
gallery was just next door south of Henry Schafer's saloon, which was
located on the corner at 201 South Bickford."
"After prohibition he bought the Schlitz Building at 115 South Bickford, and moved his gallery to the new location. He ran it from 1896
until eight years ago. His business was good all the time that he worked
at his trade. He had three competitors, but he figured that he had at
least two-thirds of the business in town until his eyes "went bad" on him
about eight years ago and he had to quit and take things easy. He nearly
always went out to the beef issues in order to get pictures of the old
Indians, who were always there by the dozens. But it wasn't easy to get
pictures of these old people for they were very superstitious about
having their pictures taken. They thought that every time they got their
pictures taken it took away some of their spirits. They would hide, shut
their eyes, lie down on the ground and cover up with their shawls or
blankets. In fact, would do anything they could think of to prevent
their pictures from being taken."
"Mr. Stevenson was out there at the Fort once and there were a lot of colorful and picturesque characters there who would make fine photos
but he could not get any of them to pose for him. He was getting
discouraged, when he ran into a young educated Indian who could talk good
English. Mr. Stevenson told him that if he would persuade some of those
old Indians to pose for him so that he could get some good pictures, he
would give this young man two-bits. He does not know just what the young
Indian told them or rather didn't until later, but the Indians all came
running, after the young Indian talked to them and Mr. Stevenson got some
good pictures. It developed after the pictures were taken that the
Indians had all thought that each one of them was to get a two-bit
piece. It would have "broke" him to have given them so much and so Mr.
Stevenson told the Indians that he was not sure whether he had gotten a
picture or not and they would have to wait until he had developed the
plates to see. The Indians were angry and followed Mr. Stevenson to
town. He paid two-bits to the young fellow whom he had promised to pay
but he had to tell each on of those Indians that he had not been
successful in getting a picture. One of the old Indians was smarter than
the rest and he did not believe what Mr. Stevenson said but was very
angry and he told them that they had been tricked and the Indians
palavered around for quite awhile. Some of the Indians laughed and took
it good naturedly but the one old Indian didn't like it a little bit but
they finally got tired and went away and on back to the Fort."
"When Mr. Stevenson first began to take pictures of the Indians he had to pay them to let him take them; later, he could get their pictures
just for giving them one of the prints and later still, his gallery was
over-run with Indians primping and using his comb to comb their dirty,
greasy hair. They would pay to have their pictures taken, just as white
people did but they had to be educated to it. Many times Mr. Stevenson's
photograph gallery has been so full of Indians, intent on having their
pictures taken that there was hardly room to turn around. They used his
comb and got him in trouble on account of it as they were not clean and
many of them had head lice. He got these head lice once and did not know
it until a barber, very untactfully tried to tell him about it when he
was in his shop one day, having a hair cut. Mr. Stevenson figured that
the barber should have taken him to one side and not have told him
outright. Anyway he did not catch on to what was meant until he got back
to the shop and started thinking about what the barber had said. It made
him so angry at this barber that he never patronized him again. It took
Mr. Stevenson and his wife a month to get the pests out of his hair. You
had to watch for things like that, however, as those old Indians knew
nothing about sanitation; they did not think it was any disgrace to have
head lice."
"Mr. Stevenson sold a hundred and fifty Indian pictures to the State Historical Society of Oklahoma City, about twenty-five years ago."
"He never personally saw the Indians using bows and arrows to kill the cattle at the beef issues, but he and a Reverend Grainger protested
to T. F. Hensley, the Mayor of El Reno, about 1898, when it was reported
that the Indians were going to be allowed to use their bows and arrows
for killing the cattle at a beef issue at that time. It seemed so
unnecessarily brutal and there was always so many men, women and children
out there, he was afraid that someone would be killed or badly hurt. He
and Reverend Grainger protested and whether what they said about it
caused it to be stopped, he doesn't know, but any way, it was no longer
permitted. The Government from then on furnished expert riflemen to kill
the poor beasts."
"In the saloon era, it was not an uncommon sight to see a man lying dead drunk in the gutter, or in the back alley and often three or four
men instead of just one would be lying there. For a while after he
arrived in El Reno, he took his meals at a boarding house. They had an
exceptionally fine cook there and he told the landlord that he was going
to take her with him when he left; of course he had to keep his word so
he married her. He and Mrs. Lillie Chapman were married December 17,
1895. She had one little girl when Mr. Stevenson married her and they
had three children, two girls and one boy, after they were married. All
four of the children are living and he has six grandchildren and two
adopted grand children. Mr. Stevenson drew a number in the Kiowa and
Comanche opening in 1901 but it was such a high number and his business
was of so much more importance to him than he assumed a claim would be
that he did nothing about it. He has lived in his present home on Sunset
Drive, for twenty-seven years. It is a small, nice little home, outside
the city limits, west."
This was copied directly from the photocopied pages from the Indian -
Pioneer History, Vol. 82, page[s] 405-414.
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