ZED BROCK. One of the original boomers and Oklahoma pioneers resides at Ryan in the person of Zed Brock, who was formerly deputy United States marshal in this district and is now curator for minor Indian estates, having been appointed to the latter position by Judge Dickerson. Mr. Brock had been a business man in Indiana and Illinois previous to 1884, but in that year joined a party who came to Kansas with the immediate expectation of entering upon the promised land of Oklahoma. For some time he remained along the north border, awaiting the outcome of the movement for opening the country to actual settlement, but when the government withheld the land for an indefinite period he established a store in Ashtan, Kansas, in 1887, and remained there until 1889. He was connected with the opening in April, 1889 in a manner that identifies him with the old newspaper fraternity of Oklahoma. As special correspondent for the Winfield Newspaper Union he came into the country ahead of the rush, and during the first weeks of settlement observed and occasionally took part in the principal events in the pioneer history of Guthrie. He helped survey the townsite there. For a time he slept in the basement of the section house, and took all the rough-and-tumble experience incident to the times. He found himself unable to hold a claim that he staked out just south of town. After engaging in the grain business for a time, and living in Guthrie from April 22 to July 16, he moved to Purcell, where he assisted in building a mill ai1delevator. He established himself in the lumber and grain business at Wynnewood as member of the firm of Brock and Trudgon, and had excellent success during the three years he was there. Until moving to Ryan in October, 1897, he was manager of the Minco Mill and Elevator Company at Minco, until destroyed by fire in 1896. He came to Ryan in 1897 to accept the office of deputy marshal under Marshal Captain Hammer and later under Marshal Colbert. He held this; office until 1906. Appointed for minor Indian estates as curator, Mr. Brock has charge of a number of Indian estates, is guardian of many heirs, and has the management of their property until the limitations of age and Indian restrictions allow individual control. His work as an administrator has been efficient and has gained him much commendation from official and private sources. He has built thirty-five houses for his wards, and each year is bringing new farms under cultivation, so that the net result of his work is hardly less beneficial to the country at large than to the individuals under his guardianship. Twelve thousand acres are under his charge, and there are fifty tenants on nine thousand of it. The responsibility of his position is indicated by the fact that he gives a bond of fifty thousand dollars for the faithful performance of his duties.
      Mr. Brock was born in Daviess county, Indiana, in December, 1854. His grandfather, Allen Brock, came from Mt. Sterling, Kentucky, to Daviess county, Indiana, about 1830. His father was Levi Brock, who died at Vicksburg, Mississippi, while a Union soldier in Company I, Sixtieth Indiana Infantry. Before the war he had followed farming. He married Caroline Allen, daughter of Elihu Allen, of a South Carolina family originally, who remained loyal during the war. Caroline (Allen) Brock died in Indiana in 1904, when eighty-eight years of age. Her children were: Elihu, of Oklahoma; Virgil, of Whatcom, Washington; Zed, of Ryan;Sarah, wife of Aaron Sargent, of Martin county, Indiana; Lavina, wife of George Kinder, of Lawrence county, Indiana. By a second marriage, to John Wilson, Caroline Brock had a son, John, now a resident of the state of Washington.
      Zed Brock spent his early years on a farm, and after acquiring a liberal education began his career as a teacher in the public schools, teaching in Daviess and Martin counties, Indiana, for three years. In the meantime he had gained some experience in buying grain, at Washington, Indiana, and on moving to Illinois in 1814, engaged in that business as a regular occupation at Champaign, where he was known as an enterprising shipper of grain and stock until his removal to Kansas in 1884. In politics Mr. Brock is a Republican, and has never failed to identify himself public-spiritedly with the politics of his county. By his first marriage, in Indiana, to Miss Keck, he had two children: Lulu M., wife of W. A. Hopkins, of Chickasha; and Miss Ada, of the same city. Mr. Brock married (second) Miss Florence Cochran of Wynnewood, Oklahoma. Their children are Leslie, Zed and Gilbert.