Greenwood, J. P.

The following data is extracted from Muskogee And Northeastern Oklahoma.

     J. P. Greenwood, a farmer and stockman, residing eight miles northeast of Ramona, was born in Cherry Valley, Arkansas, February 25, 1871. His father, Thomas P. Greenwood, was a native of Alabama and crossed the Mississippi with the first emigrant Cherokees, prior to the Civil war. The Cherokees were on their way to their reservation in the Indian Territory and Thomas P. Greenwood accompanied his parents, who were very poor, to Cherry Valley, in Cross County, Arkansas, where he engaged in farming and stock raising. There the father passed away, leaving his widow with a family of nine children, of whom Thomas P. Greenwood was the youngest. He was reared in his native state and as the years passed and as the result of industry and perseverance he accumulated a comfortable competence and had become well established in life when he left Arkansas in 1885. At that time he went to Elk County, Kansas, but after two years came to Washington County, Oklahoma, which was then a part of the Indian Territory. During his stay in Kansas he suffered a considerable financial reverse, owing to the fact that he lost nearly all of his stock during the hard winter of 1886-7. In Washington County, however, he soon recovered from his losses and here devoted his attention to the raising of wheat, corn and stock. His family of five boys was of great assistance to him in promoting his business affairs and caring for his farm. He also sent them to school at Coffeyville, Kansas, a distance of forty-five miles, to which place they went with their mother, residing there during the school season. He died in April, 1908, at Ramona, where he had been living retired, at the advanced age of eighty-one years. He had won a substantial measure of success through the course of an active life and thus was able to leave his children in good financial circumstances. The wife and mother, who bore the maiden name of Katherine Hydrick, was a native of Cross County, Arkansas, and they were married in that state. She, too, passed away in Ramona in 1908. The father had been previously married, his first wife being Melisa Shaver, a native of Arkansas, who died leaving five children: Charlie M., Melford Joseph, Ida, David G., and William K. To the second marriage of Thomas P. Greenwood there were born three children: J. P., James and Oliver.
     J. P. Greenwood, whose name introduces this review, spent the days of his boyhood and youth under the parental roof and he and his father were partners in business for a number of years before the latter's death, J. P. Greenwood looking after their interests and promoting their financial success. He and his father "made the run" into old Oklahoma when it was opened for settlement but did not become interested at that time, because they did not like the country. Since coming with his parents to this state Mr. Greenwood has lived within a radius of ten miles of his present home. He now resides eight miles northeast of Ramona on Rural Route No. 1 and in School District No. 16. He is the owner of six hundred and forty acres of land at this place and he also owns another tract of nine hundred acres, near Ramona. He raises wheat, oats, alfalfa and hogs, of which he has about one hundred and seventy-five head, while his cattle number four hundred and fifty head. On his home farm he has a beautiful modern bungalow and splendid large barns and other buildings furnishing adequate shelter for grain and stock. The buildings are located among a beautiful grove of oaks, pecans and black walnut trees, on a hill overlooking the surrounding country. On the farm are two beautiful lakes which Mr. Greenwood rents as duck preserves to a Bartlesville club called the Greenwood Country Club. A spirit of enterprise and progress actuates him in all that he undertakes in connection with the development and cultivation of his farms. The improvements on his home place cost over twelve thousand dollars and his is one of the excellent farm properties of this section of the state. There is also oil on the farm but only a small portion of the land has been developed.
     In August, 1893, Mr. Greenwood was married to Miss May B. Tyner, a daughter of Reuben R. and Elmira Virginia (Irons) Tyner. The former passed away twenty years ago. The mother is seventy-one years of age and is making her home with a daughter on her farm, just south of Ochelata. Mr. and Mrs. Greenwood have become the, parents of seven children: Marvin, twenty-seven years of age, is engaged in farming three miles northwest of Ramona. He married Eva Jane Oldham, by whom he has one child, John Richard; Ola Clyde is the wife of H. V. Lowe, a prominent business man and representative citizen of Ramona, serving as a director of one of the local banks of the city and the owner of four fine brick buildings on the leading corners of Ramona; Lelia became the wife of William Robert Fisher in July, 1918, and they have one child, Ruth Greenwood; Dwight Paul, seventeen years of age, is attending school; Lester, aged fifteen; James Barton, ten years of age, and Juanita Marian, are all attending school. The family is widely and prominently known through its social connections and Mr. Greenwood ranks as one of the leading and representative agriculturists and stock raisers of Washington County. He is President of the Citizens State Bank, which he and his brother organized. Moreover, he has spent the greater part of his life in this County and has ever been an interested witness and an active participant in those events which have done most to shape the progress and advance the welfare and prosperity of this part of the state.

Source: Muskogee And Northeastern Oklahoma

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