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SIMPSON B. RICHARDS
Vol. 3, p. 1326

That Waynoka has become one of the thriving centers of commercial
activity in Woods County and has attained a creditable prestige among
its sister cities in Northwest Oklahoma, is due to the efforts and
activities of such men as Simpson B. Richards; editor and owner of
the Woods County Enterprise. Mr. Richards' contributions toward
advancing the material interests of the city are so widely recognized
that they can be considered as no secondary part of his career of
signal usefulness, and give him an established place among that class
of representative men who, while gaining individual success, also
promote the public prosperity.

Simpson B. Richards was born November 1, 1870, at Indianola, the
county seat of Warren County, Iowa, and is a son of Arthur W. and
Margaret (MCGOWAN) Richards. His father was born at Fairfield,
Columbiana County, Ohio, September 14, 1832, and in the spring of
1854 migrated to the West, settling as a pioneer at Indianola, Iowa.
A carpenter by vocation, he was engaged in the contracting and
mercantile business at Indianola until 1861, when he answered the
call of his county and enlisted in the company G, Third Regiment,
Iowa Volunteer Infantry. Brought home from an engagement with his
back seriously injured, in spite of being a large and robust man he
was never able to again leave his bed, even to sit up or to walk a
step. In spite of this awful misfortune, his will power and
determination made it possible for him to remain cheerful and
patient, and to busy himself with his literary labors and with the
invention of a number of articles which have enjoyed a reasonable
successful sale on the market. His death occurred at his home on
South Howard Street, Indianola, January 24, 1915, and the funeral
services were attended by a large number of his friends, many members
of the Grand Army of the Republic being present to do honor to their
old comrade. Mr. Richards is survived by his widow, a brother, Albert
Richards, and a sister, Mrs. Caroline SILCOTT, all of Indianola, as
well as by nine children: Mrs. Dr. C. C. CHERRYHOLMES and Mrs.
Capitola BRYSON, of Columbus, Ohio; Mrs. Homer L. ROSS, of Hilo,
Hawaiian Islands; Mrs. Burdette DERROUGH, of Chicago; John M.
Richards, of Kansas City, Missouri; Simpson B., of this notice;
Sterling J., of Missoula, Montana; Roscoe H., of Chicago, Illinois;
and Frank A., of Des Moines, Iowa.

The public schools of Indianola, Iowa, furnished Simpson B. Richards
with his educational training, and at the age of seventeen years he
entered a printing office where he served a full apprenticeship. He
subsequently became a journeyman printer, and served as such and as
an apprentice for a period of fourteen years, but in 1903 entered
upon what he felt was his real career when he bought his first
newspaper, the Duncombe News, of Duncombe, Iowa. He continued as the
publisher of this sheet for 4 1/2 years, passing through the varied
and enlightening experiences incidental to an introduction to this
calling, and later was editor and part owner of the Webster City
Herald, at Webster City, Iowa, that city being his field of
operations for 2 1/2 years. In 1909 Mr. Richards came to Waynoka,
Oklahoma, and purchased the Woods County Enterprise, of which he has
continued to be editor and owner. This paper, established in 1900,
has a wide and influential circulation in Woods County and Northwest
Oklahoma, largely built up under Mr. Richards' excellent management.
It is well edited and well printed, containing a wealth of
interesting news, and is considered a thoroughly trustworthy and
reliable publication. In connection wtih the newspaper plant Mr.
Richards conducts a job printing office, and is in a position to do
the best class of work of all kinds.

S. B. Richards was married December 27, 1900 at Indianola, Iowa, to
Miss Louise A. YOUNG, daughter of Benjamin Franklin Young, of Iowa.
She was born December 20, 1877, and was reared and educated at
Indianola. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Richards,
namely: Eleanor Morine, born December 27, 1903; and Margaret Amanda,
born January 11, 1905, both of whom are students in the Waynoka
public schools. Mr. and Mrs. Richards are members of the Methodist
Episcopal Church. He has taken a keen interest in civic matters, and
fraternally is a member of the local lodges of the Modern Woodmen of
America and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

Typed for OKGenWeb by Lee Ann Collins, October 23, 1998.