Judge PHILIP DODDRIDGE BREWER Oklahoma

Chronicles of Oklahoma
Volume 10, No. 4
December, 1932
PHILIP DODDRIDGE BREWER
(1861-1932)

Page 600

Born near Hackett, in Sebastian County, Arkansas, June 18, 1861, died at Oklahoma City on August 28, 1932. Son of John Oliver Brewer, born in 1834 in Sebastian County, Arkansas, and his wife Sarah Louise Brewer, nee Council, born in Alabama. His paternal grandfather, William Lewis Brewer, a Methodist preacher, located in an early day in Sebastian County, coming from Pike County, Arkansas, where his father settled near Murfreesboro in 1818 or 1819, the Little Missouri River in said section being named by the party of settlers who came with his father from Missouri. His father was Oliver Brewer born in North Carolina in Hillsboro District, Chatham County, from where he moved to a point on the Missouri River near Boonville, and later to a point near Murfreesboro, in Pike County, Arkansas, where he died, on October 13, 1834. Married twice, by his first wife he had a son Henry Brewer, born in North Carolina, October 30, 1799, died April 30, 1875, and buried in cemetery at Murfreesboro, Arkansas, and a daughter by the name of Elizabeth, called Betsy. By the second wife, who was born on December 27, 1787, and died December 10, 1827, he had the following children: Henderson Brewer, born December 15, 1804, coming to Pike County, in Arkansas Territory, with his father and afterwards removing to a point in Northwest Arkansas. The said William Lewis Brewer, born October 3, 1809, near Boonville, Missouri, coming with his father Oliver Brewer to Pike County, Arkansas, died March 1, 1871, in Sebastian County, Arkansas, and is buried at Mt. Olive Cemetery at Midland, Arkansas. His wife was Elizabeth Sorrells, daughter of George Washington Sorrells who coming from Westmoreland County, Virginia, was one of the early judges of Scott County, Arkansas. Another son by the second wife was James Stephen Brewer, born in Pike County, Arkansas, July 26, 1811. The following daughters were by the second wife: Lucinda, born in Missouri, December 13, 1813, whose first husband was John M. Dixon. After his death she married Abijah Davis. Another daughter was Rebecca Brewer, born in Missouri, January 12, 1815. Her first husband was named Sorrells; her second was named Griffin; her third was named Orrick; and her fourth named Barrentine. Another daughter was Mary Brewer, born March 15, 1820, in Pike County, Arkansas. She died March 14, 1841. Another daughter was Mathilda Brewer, born April 3, 1823, died March 31, 1841. Another daughter was Luvisa Brewer, born December 7, 1825. She married Major William Preston, who in an early day was engaged in the mercantile business in Murfreesboro, Arkansas. They had a son who was a distinguished officer in the Confederate Army. The dates of the births and deaths of the said Oliver Brewer and his wife and children are secured from an old family Bible in the possession of Mrs. Cora Rountree, of Murfreesboro, Pike County, Arkansas, who is a descendant of Lucinda Brewer. On the inside of the old leather bound volume appears in faded ink the following words: "Lucinda Davis—her book." On the front page of the Bible appears the following:

"Published by Waugh and T. Mason, for the Methodist Episcopal Church at the Conference Office, 14 Crosby Street,

J. Collard, Printer.
1832"      

Brewer Owens, who was raised by his grandfather, Henry Brewer, says that his said grandfather told him that Oliver Brewer, the original Arkansas settler of their family, had a daughter by his first wife whose

Page 601

name he does not remember and who was a full sister to said Henry Brewer, and that after her marriage she moved to the west, probably to Oregon. He recalls correspondence with her family after the Civil War but such letters have been lost. John H. Haynes, of Hope, Arkansas, is a descendant of Henry Brewer, his grandmother's name being Lucinda Brewer. The Hon. Earl Brewer, formerly Governor of Mississippi, was also descended from the Brewers who came from Chatham County, North Carolina. The Brewers were of English descent, first settling in Virginia, their land grant being located in what is still known as "Brewer's Neck," which is between Brewer's and Chuckatuck Creeks, the patent being to John Brewer, who was a member of the House of Burgesses for Wamick River 1629-30. He was also Commissioner, being a member of the Council in 1632, dying somewhere about 1635. His will has been published in Waters Gleanings in the New England Historical & Genealogical Register, the recital being: "Will of John Brewer, citizen and grocer of London. 4th September 1631. Proved (in England) 13th May 1636." It shows that his father was named Thomas Brewer and that he had a son by the name of John Brewer, to whom was willed his plantation in Virginia called "Standley Hundred," and refers to another plantation called "Brewer's Borugh." His wife was named Mary. He had a son by the name of Roger Brewer, and a daughter named Margaret Brewer. He also had a brother named Thomas Brewer. He had an uncle named Roger Drake, obviously his mother being a Drake. The Brewer family from which Philip Doddridge Brewer was descended branched out from Virginia, settling in North Carolina, the Missouri Brewers coming from North Carolina. The father of Judge Philip D. Brewer, John Oliver Brewer, was named after his grandfather Oliver Brewer, and some say that he was also named John Oliver Brewer. O. J. M. Brewer, of Heavener, Oklahoma, is a son of William C. Brewer, full brother of John O. Brewer of Sebastian County, Arkansas. There is a division in the narration as to how the Brewer family came from near Boonville Missouri, to Arkansas; one branch of the family saying they came down what was called the "Old Buffalo Trail," by way of Little Rock, which was afterwards surveyed and called the "Military Road," and that by said trail the Brewers and their fellow settlers came from Missouri with ox teams settling near Murfreesboro in Pike County, Arkansas, about 1818 or 1819. The other account is that said party floated down the Missouri River to and down the Mississippi River, to and thence up Red River disembarking at a point near Fulton, Arkansas, and settling at a point near Murfreesboro in Pike County, Arkansas. In any event this party were among the first settlers in said section in Arkansas Territory.

At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861 Judge Philip D. Brewer's father, John Oliver Brewer, was county surveyor of Sebastian County, Arkansas. He enlisted in the Union Army, serving in that capacity until 1863 when he died, being buried in the Union Soldier's section in the cemetery at Fayetteville, Arkansas.

His mother Sarah Louise Council, who was born in Alabama, came to Arkansas in 1858 whilst a girl, and married his father at a point near Hackett. His father dying in his infancy he and his mother continued to reside in the community, struggling against the adversities and vicissitudes, following the war. She died in 1913 at the age of eighty-three years and is buried in Hackett, Arkansas.

Being anxious to secure an education, the opportunities for which were meager on account of the devastation occasioned by the Civil War in that section, having attended available local schools, in 1877 he entered Asbury College, now DePauw University, at Greencastle, Indiana, where he was a student for a short while. This constituted all educational advantages except what he received at home and through his own personal efforts as a self-educator. Being ambitious to become a lawyer he studied at home and under the occasional tutorship of the Hon. J. S. Little, of Greenwood, Arkansas, State Prosecuting Attorney for that Circuit, and later Circuit Judge, Congressman, and Governor. Judge Philip

Page 602

D. Brewer was admitted to the bar after an examination in open court at Greenwood, Arkansas, on December 20, 1886. J. A. Hale, who was afterwards his law partner, and C. D. James, were admitted to the bar in the same order. He opened an office at Hackett, practicing in the Circuit Court at Greenwood and Fort Smith and at other points. He was elected as a Democrat to the Lower House of the Arkansas State Legislature at an election held in the fall of 1890, serving during that session which extended from January 12th, to April 3, 1891. Continuing in the active practice of the law with an office at Hackett, when the United States Court was established at Cameron, Indian Territory, in 1895, he opened an office at that point, under the firm name of Brewer & Hale, the junior member being James L. Hale, who now resides at Poteau, Oklahoma. He retained his residence and office at Hackett for a short while, dividing his time with the Cameron office, until he disposed of pending litigation on the Arkansas side. In the fall of 1895 he removed to Cameron to take care of growing business on the Indian Territory side, where he remained until the fall of 1897, then removing to McAlester, Indian Territory, and engaging in the practice of the law there under the firm name of Hale & Brewer, the senior member of said firm being the late Jap A. Hale. At the termination of this partnership he engaged in the practice of the law there under the firm name of Horton & Brewer, the senior member being William J. Horton. Later this partnership being dissolved he continued the practice of the law there under the firm name of Brewer & Andrews, the junior member being Guy L. Andrews. In 1909 he was appointed by the Governor as Judge of the Superior Court for Pittsburg County, which office had recently been created by an act of the Legislature. In 1910 having been elected for a full term to said office he continued in that capacity until he was appointed to the Supreme Court Commission in 1911. On August 1, 1911, he removed to Oklahoma City, having qualified as Supreme Court Commissioner, all the time being a presiding judge of a division and holding such office by reappointment, until he resigned in 1916 to engage in the practice of the law in Oklahoma City under the firm name of Vaught & Brewer, the senior member being Edgar S. Vaught now United States Judge for the Western District of Oklahoma, and so continued in the practice of the law until his retirement in 1926 on account of his health, the firm being at that time Everest, Vaught & Brewer.

The opinions prepared by him on the appellate court in reasoning, statement, and language disclosed a sound judicial capacity, learning and grasp of marked distinction. In the practice of the law in the Capital City he appeared only occasionally in the trial courts, being constantly engaged before the Supreme Court of the State, United States Circuit Courts of Appeal and Supreme Court of the United States, when not engrossed as a counselor, in all of which his work and achievements were of the first order.

He was a Mason, becoming a member of the Grand Lodge of the Indian Territory in 1898 at Wynnewood, later serving as Grand Orator, Grand Senior Warden, and Deputy Grand Master.

In 1903 he was elected Grand Master of the Grand Lodge, A. F. & A. M. of Indian Territory, serving one year. He had also served as Worshipful Master of his local lodge. He received the Master Mason's degree in October, 1882, in Amity Lodge No. 267 at Hackett, Arkansas, serving as a Deputy Grand Master in the Arkansas jurisdiction. He received all degrees of Masonry from the third to the thirty-second and the Scottish Rite Consistory at McAlester, Oklahoma, and was a member of India Temple Shrine, Oklahoma City.

In politics he was a Democrat. In 1900 he became a member of the Indian Territory Democratic Central Committee and so continued until 1904. In his quiet but effective way for years he participated in the Democratic organization activities. At McAlester he served a number of years as a member of the school board.

A successful business man and a lawyer, for a number of years

Page 603

he was a director of the First National Bank of McAlester, and after retiring from the Supreme Court Commission, engaging in the active practice of the law, he participated in the organization of, and became a director of the Liberty National Bank of Oklahoma City, so continuing until his death. For a number of years he was its general counsel.

In early life he became a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, for years a member of the Board of Stewards of St. Luke's Methodist Church at Oklahoma City, and at the time of his death a trustee.

He also took an active interest in the Oklahoma Historical Society, having been for years prior to his death a Vice-President and Director. He was a member of the committee appointed by the Oklahoma Historical Society at an annual meeting, and approved by the Legislature, to act jointly with the State Board of Affairs in the construction of the Oklahoma Historical Building, his name being carved on the corner stone as a member of said committee.

He was a member of the Oklahoma Golf & Country Club and Men's Dinner Club at Oklahoma City.

Whilst on all occasions displaying an admirable dignity, yet at times he disclosed a sense of quiet humor that was refreshing. His attitude towards early friends, especially those from the environs of his native country, evidenced highest appreciation of the refinements of friendship.

Able, well poised and open,—frank, firm but kind,—he faithfully met every obligation to his fellow man, country, Church and God. As a faithful and dependable friend, kind and loving husband, and foster father and grandfather he will be remembered. As an ethical lawyer and upright judge he was of the first rank, excelling not only in ability but also in character.

Married on November 25, 1894, at Hackett, Arkansas, he is survived by his widow, Mrs. Anna L. Brewer. In his death the state lost one of its best citizens.

—R. L. WILLIAMS

Source: http://digital.library.okstate.edu/chronicles/v010/v010p600.html

Judge James M. Shackelford established the first United States Court in Indian Territory Oklahoma

Chronicles of Oklahoma
Volume 12, No. 1
March, 1934
GEN. JAMES M. SHACKELFORD.

CAROLYN THOMAS FOREMAN

Page 103

While many citizens of Oklahoma remember Judge James M. Shackelford who established the first United States Court in Indian Territory few recall his distinguished military career. Muskogee men who had served in the Civil War spoke of Judge Shackelford with a touch of awe in their voices when they recounted that he captured "Morgan the Raider." The white-haired jurist, like many soldiers, was so gentle and modest in manner it was difficult to realize that he had signally distinguished himself in the army.

A handsome sword presented to him by the loyal citizens of Kentucky in recognition of his gallant service, hung on the wall of General Shackelford's home in Muskogee as a reminder of those turbulent days when he was a soldier in the service of his country.

James M. Shackelford was born in Lincoln County, Kentucky, July 7, 1827. He was the twelfth child of Edmund and Susan Thompson Shackelford. When twelve years of age his parents sent him to Stamford University in Kentucky where he was tutored by James F. Barber a noted educator of that period.

Young Shackelford was only nineteen when he was chosen first lieutenant of a company of United States volunteers. On the last call for troops in the Mexican War he tendered this company to his government and was commissioned first lieutenant of Company I, Fourth Kentucky Infantry. To his great regret he saw no active service in that war.

On his return home from the army he studied law and after being admitted to the bar he became a partner of J. P. Cook with whom he was associated until the outbreak of the Civil War. He then on January 11, 1862 organized the Twenty-fifth Kentucky Infantry regiment at Calhoun, Kentucky of which he was elected colonel. Colonel Shackelford distinguished himself in several fights including the terrible battle of Fort Donelson in Tennessee in February, 1862. He was later obliged to retire for a time be-

Page 104

cause of ill health but as soon as he regained his strength he organized a force of cavalry in answer to the call of President Lincoln.¹ This regiment, the Eighth Kentucky Cavalry, was recruited at Russellville, Kentucky, September, 1862 for one year's service.²

That Colonel Shackelford had made a popular and efficient commander is shown by the letter written in "Camp near Hopkinsville Ky. Decbr 6th 1862 Brig Genl J. T. Boyle Comdg Genl.

"The undersigned officers of the 8th Ky. Cavalry respectfully and earnestly ask your co-operation with us in recommending to the Maj. Genl. Commanding this Deptmt. and through him to the President the promotion of our worthy Col. James M. Shackelford to the office of Brig. Genl.

"This request is prompted by a desire to give more efficient protection to the loyal citizens of that part of Ky. lying between Green & Cumberland Rivers as well as to do justice to the distinguished services of one of the most gallant & efficient officers in Service—With sentiments of high regard We have the honor to be Yr. Obdt. Svts. Ben H. Bristow Lt. Col . . ." This signature is followed by the names of thirty officers of the regiment.

General Boyle approved the recommendation at his headquarters in Louisville, December 19, 1862 and forwarded the papers to Hon. Garrett Davis, United States Senator from Kentucky, to be presented to the War Department. Senator Davis and Representative George H. Yeaman of Kentucky added their endorsement to the petition as follows: "We regard Colo. James M. Shackelford as one of the most capable, gallant & active officers in the Kentucky troops, and we cordially recommend him for the promotion asked in the within paper."³

The petition was approved, the appointment subsequently made was accepted by General Shackelford April 23, 1863 at Elkton, Kentucky.⁴ He commanded the First Brigade, Second Division, Twenty-third Corps in Russellville, Kentucky and vicinity until some time in June, 1863.⁵

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¹Muskogee Phoenix, Thursday, November 2, 1899, p. 49, col. 3.

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²Official Army Register, Part IV, pp. 1228, 1279.

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³War Department, Adjutant General's Office, Old Files Division, S 1039 cB 1863.

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⁴Ibid., S. 1282 cB 1863.

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⁵Ibid., Pension Case. Retd. Jan. 26, 86 thro. VS. Filed with S. 27. c.B. 64.

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Two months after his promotion, General Shackelford had an opportunity to justify his advancement in his spectacular campaign against Gen. John Hunt Morgan, usually called "Morgan the Raider." Morgan was born at Huntsville, Alabama, June 1, 1826. His parents moved to Kentucky in 1830 and settled near Lexington. He served under General Taylor during the war with Mexico and at the outbreak of the Civil War, as commander of the Lexington Rifles, he joined Gen. Simon Bolivar Buckner of the Kentucky State Guard.

Soon after the battle of Shiloh, in which he commanded a squadron of Confederate cavalry, Morgan started on his career as a raider. He first invaded Kentucky from eastern Tennessee in July, 1861. At the head of 1200 men, he roamed over the state plundering the people and destroying property. His progress was very rapid and caused intense alarm. He destroyed a railway bridge between Cynthiana and Paris and his fondest hope was to plunder Cincinnati. The inhabitants were terror stricken until a cavalry force obliged him to withdraw towards Richmond. "On his retreat his raiders stole horses and robbed stores without inquiring whether the property belonged to friend or foe."⁶

On June 27, 1863 Morgan crossed the Cumberland River with 3500 well-mounted men and six guns and had a battle of three hours with loyal cavalry near Columbia, Kentucky on July 3. He partly destroyed the town and tried to wreck a bridge over the Green River. He dashed into Lebanon and set fire to the town and in the fight with the Union force his brother was killed. After capturing two steam boats on July 7 he crossed the Ohio River, forty miles below Louisville with 4000 men and ten guns. "He plundered Corydon, Indiana, murdered citizens, and stole 300 horses. On he went, robbing mill and factory owners by demanding $1000 as a condition for the safety of their property."⁷

Gov. Oliver Perry Morton of Indiana called on the people to drive out the invaders and within forty-eight hours after his proclamation 65,000 citizens had volunteered to defend their state. Morgan realized that the people were thoroughly aroused against

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⁶Harper's Encyclopaedia of United States History, New York, 1902, Vol. 6, p. 261.

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⁷Ibid., p. 262.

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Page 106

him and he led his foree north of Cincinnati and across the southern counties of Ohio until he regained the river above Pomeroy.

General Morgan attempted to lead his cavalry across the river at Buffington Ford but he was surrounded. General Shackelford at the head of Hobson's column struck his rear and General Henry M. Judah attacked his flank while two armed vessels fired upon his front. After 800 of his men had surrendered, Morgan with the remainder of his force, abandoned their plunder, dashed up the river to Belleville and tried to cross by swimming their horses.

About three hundred men gained the other side but the remainder were repulsed by a gun boat. "Morgan fled inland to McArthur, fighting militia, burning bridges and plundering. At last he was obliged to surrender to General Shackelford, July 26, 1863 at New Lisbon . . . Columbiana county."⁸

On July 20 General Shackelford sent the following message to Department Headquarters: "We chased John Morgan and his command over 50 miles to-day. After heavy skirmishing for six or seven miles, between the Forty-fifth Ohio, of Col. Wolford's brigade, which was in the advance, and the enemy, we succeeded in bringing the enemy to a stand about three o'clock this afternoon, when a fight ensued, which lasted an hour, when the rebels fled, taking refuge upon a very high bluff. I sent a flag of truce demanding an immediate and unconditional surrender of Morgan and his command. The flag was received by Col. Coleman and other officers, who came down and asked a personal interview. They asked an hour for consultation among their officers. I granted forty minutes, in which time the command (excepting Morgan, who deserted his command, taking with him a very small squad) surrendered. It was my understanding that Morgan himself had surrendered, and I learned it was the understanding of Morgan's officers and men. The number of killed and wounded is inconsiderable. The number of prisoners is from one thousand to fifteen hundred, including a large number of Colonel Morgan's line officers. I captured between six and seven hundred prisoners yesterday. I think I shall capture Morgan himself to-morrow. I had Colonel Wolford's and Jacob's Brigades. The conduct and

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⁸Ibid.

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Page 107

bearing of officers and men, without exception, evinced the greatest gallantry and a high degree of skill and discipline. (Signed) Shackelford, Brig. Gen.

"All of the prisoners, numbering twenty-five hundred, with Basil Duke, are at and near Pomeroy, and are expected here tomorrow. About two hundred of Morgan's men were killed and drowned in their effort to cross the Ohio at Buffington."⁹

The Union forces opposed to Morgan's Cavalry Corps were detachments of Rosecran's Army of the Cumberland, Holson's and Shackelford's cavalry, Home Guard and Militia. The Union losses were 33 killed, 97 wounded and 805 missing; the Confederates had 2500 killed, wounded and captured in this engagement.¹⁰

A few days later Shackelford had the satisfaction of telegraphing the Department Headquarters at Cincinnati: "Headquarters in the field, three miles south of New Lisbon, O., July 26. To Col. Lewis Richmond, A. A. G.: By the blessing of Almight God, I have succeeded in capturing John H. Morgan and Col. Duke and the balance of the command, amounting to about four hundred prisoners. I will start with Morgan and staff on the first train for Cincinnati and await the General's orders for transportation for the balance. (Signed) J. M. Shackelford, Colonel Commanding."¹¹

That the North was happy over General Shackelford's victory is shown by the newspaper account, taken from his file in the War Department: "Capture of Morgan. — Shout! Illuminate! Raise the banners! Fire the big guns! There's good news! John Morgan, with what was left of his command, has surrendered to Gen. Shackelford. The career of the dashing bandit is ended.

"This event will fall like an ice-bolt upon the hearts of the rebels and rebel-sympathizers. The rebel Confederacy would sooner have lost an ordinary army of 25,000 men than Morgan and his troops. It must feel paralyzed in a limb that has been its chief reliance. But the spirits of the loyal men of Kentucky and of

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⁹The above account was copied from a newspaper clipping in the file of General Shackelford in the War Department.

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¹⁰The Photographic History of the Civil War, New York, 1911, Vol. 2, p. 340.

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¹¹Shackelford had been a general since April 22 but in the excitement of his victory he signed his name followed by his former title.

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Page 108

the loyal men of the neighboring States will bound upward like a twig from which a bird of evil omen has just flown.

"We undertake not to say how John Morgan will be disposed of. He is in the right hands. Let him have justice. Of course he has already been made to surrender up the money which he lately compelled men to pay to him as the condition of his not burning their property."

Shackelford and his troopers must have been disgusted when they learned that Morgan and some of his officers who had been confined in the Ohio penitentiary at Columbus had dug their way out in November and escaped to the Confederate forces in northern Georgia.

The following letter shows the high esteem in which General Shackelford was held in his native state: "U. S. Sanitary Commission, Kentucky Branch, Louisville, July 27, 1863. His Excellency A. Lincoln Washington D. C. Respected Sir, Genl. Shackelford who has captured John Morgan and his command and has ridden Kentucky of its worst enemy, is one of the ablest and most skilful commanders in the field.

"I beg that you reward him with a Majr. General's rank. He deserves it, and the country needs a man of his nerve and patriotism. On no one more deserving, can you place this mark of confidence.

"We shall give him a reception, such as only loyal Kentuckians, can give to a Christian Hero, when he returns to our city. I know him well, know that he is entitled to your fullest confidence . . . Your obt. Servt. D. P. Henderson."¹²

Henderson again wrote the President August 18, 1863 urging General Shackelford's promotion. ". . . Genl. Shackelford is one of the best men in the nation. He is a Gentleman, a Christian, a good Lawyer, a modest, brave man, beloved by all his command, and in his Command like Ulysses, he only could bend the Bow to bring down Morgan and his horde. He rode longer, ate less, did without sleep, and in a word when all his command were exhausted he was ready to move. . . Your old friend, D. P. Henderson."¹³

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¹²War Department, Adjutant General's Office, Old Files Division, 1039 S cB 1863 "D P Henderson."

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¹³Ibid., 1039 S cB 1863 Filed with S. 27. c. B. B-64.

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Page 109

On September 9, 1863 General Shackelford and his cavalry captured 2000 of Gen. J. W. Frazer's brigade, at Cumberland Gap, Tennessee; October 7, the Ninth Corps, Army of the Ohio and Shackelford's Cavalry had a fight at Blue Springs, Tennessee with the command of Gen. J. S. Williams in which the Union forces lost 100 killed, wounded and missing while the Confederates had 66 killed and wounded and 150 missing.

Shackelford's Cavalry had other encounters at Bean's Station and Morristown, Tennessee from December 10 to 14, 1863 where they fought Longstreet's Corps and Martin's Cavalry. There were 700 of the Union forces killed and wounded while the Confederates lost 932 killed and wounded and 150 were captured.¹⁴

On November 3, 1863 Shackelford was assigned to command of the cavalry of the 23rd Corps, which he commanded until November 5, 1863 when he was granted thirty days leave.¹⁵ His letter of January 12, 1864 from Hopkinsville, Kentucky explains why he had been granted leave, "S. Thomas Adjutant General Washington City D. C. Sir—I hereby tender my resignation as Brig. Genl. U. S. Vols. I am not indebted to the Government in any sum whatever. My reasons for pursuing this course are strictly of a domestic character. I have had the misfortune to lose my wife—and I have four very small children and a widowed helpless mother—in such condition that makes it imperative upon me to quit the army. My whole heart is in the great cause of my Country. The crushing of the rebellion and the maintenance of the Government at all cost and all hazards. I am Sir . . . Your Obt. Servt. James M. Shackelford, Brig. Gen. Vols."

This letter was endorsed by the President as follows: "Let this resignation be accepted immediately, unless there be some reason to the contrary, known to the Department. A. Lincoln. Jan. 18, 1864." Below the President's note is written "Accepted. Edwin M. Stanton Sec. of War Jan. 18, 1864."

General Shackelford was offered a major's commission in the regular army but declined the honor. After the close of the war

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¹⁴The Photographic History of the Civil War, Vol. 2, pp. 340, 342, 344, 348.

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¹⁵315 Ac P '86. Jas. M. Shackelford late U. S. Vols, Pension Case. Retd. Jan. 26, 86 thro VS. Filed with S. 27. c. B. 64. War Department, Adjutant Generals Office, "Old Files Division."

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Page 110

he moved to Evansville, Indiana and resumed the practice of the law until March 26, 1889 when President Benjamin Harrison appointed him judge of the United States Court in Indian Territory.

The United States Court had just been provided for by Congress and Judge Shackelford took up the heavy burden hitherto borne by Judge Isaac C. Parker of Fort Smith, Arkansas whose jurisdiction had extended over the Indian Territory.

The old court system had worked a great hardship on Indian Territory citizens as litigants and witnesses were compelled to make many trips to Fort Smith to attend the sessions of the court so it was with a feeling of relief that Muskogee saw the Stars and Stripes afloat over the Phoenix Building in April, 1889 announcing the opening of the United States Court and a judiciary system independent of surrounding states.

The court as first organized was composed of James M. Shackelford, Judge; William Nelson, Clerk; Thomas B. Needles, Marshal and Z. T. Walrond, United States Attorney. The first foreman of the jury was Capt. G. B. Hester and the first juror sworn was Pleasant Porter who had done much to secure the establishment of the court. Judge Shackelford presided over the court for four years after which he engaged in the practice of the law in Muskogee.

An achievement in which Judge Shackelford felt pride was the organization of a Sunday school class of fifty men in the Presbyterian Church in Muskogee when the town had only 2000 inhabitants.

Early in life Judge Shackelford married Marion Ross of Morganfield, Kentucky and she bore him four children; Emma who married James S. Phelps of Louisville, Kentucky; Addison; William Ross who married Cora Archer of Indian Territory; Nora who became the wife of George S. Ingle of Evansville, Indiana. After the death of his wife the young general married Henrietta Marie Ross to whom two daughters were born; Lee Phelps who married Irving J. Morris of Albany, New York and Margaret who became the wife of Marshall L. Bragdon of Muskogee, Oklahoma. Mrs. Bragdon is the only surviving child. Judge Shackelford has

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five living grand children: Marion Phelps Macpherson of Louisville, Kentucky; May Phelps Morris of Albany, New York; Lawrence Shackelford Morris, Long Island, New York; James M. Shackelford and William Shackelford of Oklahoma. William Ross Shackelford served as Deputy Clerk of the United States Court for the Indian Territory during his father's term. He was born at Madisonville, Kentucky, in April, 1858 and died at Muskogee in May, 1907. He was survived by his widow and one daughter, Charlotta Archer Shackelford, who was born in 1891 and died in January, 1909.

General Shackelford died September 7, 1909 at his summer home at Port Huron, Michigan. His body was taken to his native state and he lies at rest in Cave Hill Cemetery, Louisville, Kentucky. Mrs. Shackelford survived her husband until December, 17, 1924 and she sleeps beside him in Louisville.¹⁶

General Shackelford won many laurels in his civil career in Indian Territory and Oklahoma and he was as much admired and loved in his new home as he had been in his native Kentucky.

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¹⁶Data secured from Mrs. Margaret Shackelford Bragdon, Muskogee, Okla.

Source: http://digital.library.okstate.edu/chronicles/v012/v012p103.html

JUDGE WILLIAM PRESSLEY THOMPSON Oklahoma

Chronicles of Oklahoma
Volume 19, No. 1
March, 1941
JUDGE WILLIAM PRESSLEY THOMPSON

BY J. BERRY KING

Page 3

William Pressley Thompson was born on a cotton plantation near Tyler, in Smith County, Texas, November 19, 1866, his parents being James Franklin and Caroline E. (McCord) Thompson, the former a native of Georgia and the latter of Mississippi.

His father accompanied the Cherokee Tribe of Indians on their removal from the Southern States of Georgia, and Tennessee to Indian Territory in 1838, and for a time followed the profession of teaching. While still a young man he went to Texas, becoming engaged in merchandising, milling and lumbering in that section of East Texas which has now become famous as an oil field, and in fact his uncle, Benjamin Franklin Thompson, owned thousands of acres of timber and farm land in Texas, some of which is still in the hands of his descendants living in and around Kilgore in Smith and Rusk Counties.

The father of Judge Thompson enlisted at the outbreak of the Civil War on the side of the Confederacy and served under Colonel Patrick Cleburn, Grandberry's brigade with General Hood's army and was wounded in the engagement at Franklin, Tennessee in 1864, being sent for treatment to the hospital at Nashville.

After recovering from his wounds he participated in the siege of Richmond, Virginia, and upon receiving his discharge at the end of the war returned to Texas.

In 1869 he returned to Delaware District, Cherokee Nation in the Indian Territory and set out to re-fence, rebuild and rehabilitate the old homestead which had suffered the disasters of border and guerrilla destruction blighting that section of the Territory. Ruins of the old home upon Beattie's Prairie, now Delaware County, built by the grandmother of Judge Thompson, in 1838 still stand, and in the cemetery within the sacred and hallowed soil rest five generations of this illustrious family. The father became an influential and prominent figure in the formative affairs of his people and was a member of the Citizenship Committee of the Cherokee Nation. Engaged in teaching school and farming, he met his death in 1874 while breaking in a team of wild horses which ran away and threw him violently against a tree.

William P. Thompson had no brothers who lived beyond infancy, and but one sister, Ella, who married George Freeman. Her grandchildren, the Garland Baird family are still living on the old original farm situated in the Northeast corner of Oklahoma. Judge

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Thompson spent the period of his boyhood upon the home farm in Delaware District attending the public schools of the neighborhood, growing up with and alongside, and in fact just across a rail fence from William Wirt Hastings whose career is entwined with his throughout their lives.

Thompson and young Hastings entered the Cherokee Male Seminary at Tahlequah and graduated therefrom in 1884, each being seventeen years of age, having been pupils while there under Honorable Robert L. Owen, afterwards to become the first United States Senator from the new formed State and still living at this writing in Washington, D.C.

The Male Seminary graduating class of 1884 comprised only three graduates: Hastings, Thompson and Judge J. T. Parks, living at this time in Tahlequah, the old capital of the Cherokee Nation.

For one year after their graduation from the Male Seminary they each engaged in teaching school and together entered Vanderbilt University at Nashville, Tennessee, to take a literary and law course where they were room-mates and belonged to the same literary and debating societies, and together joined the Delta Tau Delta college fraternity. In his later years Thompson revealed that he was influenced to go to Vanderbilt for his higher education because his father had told him many times of the good samaritans and wonderful Southern women who had nursed and administered so lovingly to him while he was convalescing in the hospital, a casualty of the Confederacy.

By reason of the Cherokee Indian blood they possessed, Thompson and Hastings received considerable attention upon their admission to Vanderbilt. Indians from the Western country at that early day were somewhat of a curiosity, and particularly with a basic education which they both possessed, superior to that of a good many fellow students from other sections. Upon one occasion they were invited to address the assembly of the old Ward Seminary, which later became Ward Belmont, a girls' school near Vanderbilt. They arranged a program by which Hastings was to deliver an oration in the Cherokee language, and Thompson was to interpret it. As a matter of fact, their vocabulary of the Indian language was limited to only a few words, but the young ladies wanted to hear these Indians, and so they did not reveal how little they really knew of their own language. This resulted in Hastings running through the Indian alphabet, using numerals and what few words he knew without any sequence or definite meanings—only for the sound effect. Thompson, therefore, was forced to formulate a speech in his interpretation that had a definite meaning. Realizing the predicament Hastings had his companion in, he stood on his feet several minutes just repeating words and figures over and over which, of course, meant nothing to the audience. Thompson, however, delivered

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an extemporaneous oration that was long remembered and the subject of many compliments by the faculty and young ladies in attendance.

From Vanderbilt University both Thompson and Hastings received Law Degrees and in 1889, after having completed the four year course, Thompson opened his first law office at Muskogee, then Indian Territory. He remained there for two years and in 1891 removed to Tahlequah to become a member of the firm of Boudinot, Thompson and Hastings, with which he was identified until 1899.

In the meantime he became active in the affairs of the Cherokee Nation serving as Clerk of the Lower House of their legislative body in 1889 and 1890, and for a short time served as Clerk of the Senate. Later he served as Secretary of the Treasury and for two years was Executive Secretary of the principal Chief, C. J. Harris.

He was then appointed United States Commissioner at Tahlequah and the letter from Judge C.B. Stuart transmitting his appointment recites

"..that you are the first citizen to receive recognition from the government at Washington in this capacity."

Preceding his appointment as United States Commissioner he was also attorney for the Cherokee Nation at its then capital—Tahlequah.

In 1896 a partnership between Thompson and E. D. Hicks, his first client, was formed for the purpose of establishing a telephone exchange in the town of Tahlequah, which has laughingly been referred to by "Uncle Ed" Hicks, still alive, as one in which Thompson furnished the money and Hicks the knowledge, and together they built the first telephone system in the old Indian Territory, and the same is in operation today as a part of the great Bell System.

In 1898 he was sent as representative of the Cherokees to Washington appearing before Congress in connection with legislation affecting that Nation and he was made Secretary of the First Commission of Cherokees to treat with the Dawes Commission, rendering most important and effective service in winding up the affairs and bridging the gap between Tribal relations of the Cherokees and their new status as citizens of the State of Oklahoma. He lived to be the last of the nine members of this Commission which included: Clem Rogers (father of the late humorist, Will Rogers), W. W. Hastings, George Benge, John Gunter, Henry Lowery, Soggy Sanders, Robert B. Ross and Percy Wyly, all of whom left indelible intellectual and statesmanship imprints on the pages of this State's history.

Thompson served as Mayor of Tahlequah and held numerous offices in his party and political organizations.

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He was married September 14, 1892, to Elizabeth Clyde Morris, a charming daughter of the Cherokee Nation, born at Dalton, Georgia. Her father, Major James C. Morris, was an officer in the Confederate Army, serving under General Stonewall Jackson. Major Morris in his early life had devoted attention to agricultural pursuits, but after the close of the war between the states he engaged in mining and merchandising at Birmingham, Alabama and Dalton, Georgia, thus occupied until 1889 when he migrated to Indian Territory, establishing his home at Tahlequah where his demise occurred in 1896. Survived by a wife and a large family of attractive children, the Morris home was long the center of social, court and official circles until recent years when death dispersed this fine family.

William P. Thompson and his wife were parents of three children, the first a son, Morris, died in infancy. One daughter, Sadye Pendleton, has been married for years and lives with her husband, J. Berry King, in Oklahoma City at this time, while the younger daughter, Elizabeth Clyde, married the son of one of Tahlequah's and the Cherokee Nation's foremost citizens of that time and is the wife of John W. Stapler, manager of the Telephone Company at Duncan, Oklahoma.

Both girls received elementary education in the common schools of Oklahoma, and junior college at the National Park Seminary in Washington, D. C. Elizabeth Clyde later graduated from the University of Oklahoma, with the Bachelor of Arts degree.

Judge Thompson liked and was liked by people. He loved the arts and possessed an accumulation of much poetry and prose which he had carefully assembled throughout his lifetime, together with his literary library which he passed on to his only grandchild, William Thompson Stapler, named for him.

When the youngster was born his parents were living in Houston, Texas. So thrilled was the Judge when he received notice that his first grandchild had been born, a boy, he sat right down and sent a telegram to the hospital in Houston which read as follows:

"Send the bill for Bill to Bill.
        (Signed) "Bill" —Thompson."

Thompson was a devoted family man and frequently took the children with him on business and social trips. These trips included the National Democratic Convention at Chicago in 1896, as well as the National Convention at San Francisco in 1920 where he went as a Delegate, and taking the girls with him. Judge and Mrs. Thompson made a European tour in the summer of 1911 and he was especially interested in visiting Killiecrankie Pass, the home of his illustrious Scotch ancestors.

John Lynch, founder of Lynchburg, Virginia, was a grandfather on the maternal side of Judge Thompson's grandmother, Mariah Lynch Thompson.

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Judge Thompson moved from Tahlequah to Vinita, another court town in the Indian Territory in 1899, leaving Hastings in control of most of the preferred practice at Tahlequah, while he formed a partnership with the late James S. Davenport and became established in a successful and lucrative practice at Vinita which lasted until his appointment on the Supreme Court Commission in April of 1923.

Thompson was confirmed in the Episcopal Church at Tahlequah in 1892. His fraternal life consisted of membership in the Benevolent Order of Elks; Knights of Pythias; both branches of Masonry up to and including that of 32nd degree, and a Knight Templar. He was a member of the Vinita and Muskogee country clubs, and for years the Oklahoma City Golf and Country Club, golf being in his later life his principal and most engrossing diversion and recreation, although in his younger days he had followed hunting and fishing and always had a pen of bird dogs and a stable of fine horses.

After serving his State for three years from 1923 to 1926 on the Supreme Court Commission when its docket was at its fullest mark, he retired to the private practice of law, becoming associated with C. Ed Hall as a partner and was for twelve years in the Perrine Building, Oklahoma City. In April 1938 after Mr. Hall had been appointed General Counsel for the Home Owners Loan Corporation, Judge Thompson removed his office to the First National Building alongside of and in connection with his son-in-law, J. Berry King.

The high spot of his law practice was reached in June 1939, when in commemoration of fifty years in the continuous active practice of law, his son-in-law gave a banquet for him in the Oklahoma Club to which it was originally planned to invite only fifty of Judge Thompson's most intimate friends, members of the bench and bar of Oklahoma. But the Judge was permitted to make out his own list and with apologies to his son-in-law, who was to be the host, he increased his fifty friends by a name or two at a time until the final table was set for 115 lawyers who thus paid homage to their friend of so many years.

Stricken some eighteen months before his death, he was admonished by his physician to ease up and conserve his energy and strength. This was difficult for him to do. He rebelled against even staying in bed a single day. He insisted upon going to his office daily and had a routine as regular as the sun in its course across the skies. It was therefore at his desk in his own office on October 28, 1940 when the final summons was served upon him to come before the bar of the all highest tribunal where virtues and abilities such as he possessed would be given final review and reward in accord with the merit thereof.

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He never lost an atom of his boyhood love and loyalty for the Cherokee Nation, its people, its traditions and the section of this State upon which its history has been impressed. He preferred to be known—not as Judge William Pressley Thompson of Oklahoma City, the capital of Oklahoma, but as—"Bill Thompson of Vinita, Indian Territory."

For the past fifteen or twenty years his first interest outside of his family and profession was likewise his first hobby, the Oklahoma Historical Society, of which he was not only an active supporter, but a member of the Board of Directors at the time of his demise.

Funeral services attended by a host of grief stricken friends were held at Oklahoma City in the forenoon of October 30, 1940, after which the entourage proceeded to Tahlequah. There on a high knoll in the center of the Cherokee country from which point can be seen the ruins of the Cherokee Male Seminary where he had attended school; the farm he selected as his allotment of Cherokee Tribal land and still in his name; the capital of his Nation where he had held office and later practiced law after Statehood took it over as a County courthouse; the location where he had maintained his office; the homestead where he found his life's mate, and in the sight of the last resting place of friends like Hastings and many of his relatives, he, a tired old man was laid down to quiet and peaceful rest.

Mrs. Thompson had preceded him in death in 1917 but had been interred at Vinita where the family then lived. By the plans of Judge Thompson her remains were removed from Vinita and interred upon the same day and at the same service with his body in its last repose in the lot he had owned since the formation of the Tahlequah cemetery. Certainly no more fitting spot or sacred ceremony could have been found or planned for the permanent abode of this loving and lovable couple.

Throughout the three score and more of his years we never found him untrue to a friend or unequal to an occasion. He could be as tender as a tear at times, and if necessity required, as resolute as steel. He was:

"An oak and stone in time of storm;
     A vine and flower when the sun did shine."

Among the many poets he had a few favorites, possibly Burns and Tennyson were first, and so we extract from his favorite scrapbook one of Tennyson's best expressed poems:

"Sunset and Evening Star,
     And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
     When I put out to sea.

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"Twilight and evening bell,
     And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell,
     When I embark;

"For tho' from out our bourne of Time and Place
     The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
     When I have crost the bar."

And for farewell we would borrow the same quotation that he himself used at the funeral oration of his friend "Bill" Hastings which may well be said again of him here:

"Few hearts so full of virtue warmed,
     Few heads with knowledge so informed,
If there is another world,
     He lives in bliss,
If there is none,
     He made the best of this."

SOURCE: http://digital.library.okstate.edu/chronicles/v019/v019p003.html

Judge Jerome S. Workman probate judge in Cheyenne and Arapaho country Oklahoma

Chronicles of Oklahoma
Volume 3, No. 4
December, 1925
AN INCIDENT IN THE EARLY HISTORY OF DEWEY COUNTY.

Frank D. Northrup

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The Stillwater Gazette of May 8, 1892, carried this item:
"Judge Jerome S. Workman, probate judge of "D" County, in the Cheyenne and Arapaho country, rode in from Taloga yesterday. He had finished taking filings on town lots and came home to look after business matters."

Had J. E. Sater, the editor of the Gazette, had a keener nose for news and had Judge Workman less modesty, he might have added another sentence something like this: "He had played hide and seek with the Dalton gang on the way," but Sates had more than a county wide reputation for brevity of expression and didn’t believe in wasting space. Since the story was not told then and has not been to this day, to my certain knowledge, I believe that it still deserves a place among the thrilling incidents of the early days. But before I start I should introduce Judge Workman as he was then.

He was twenty-seven years old, just a boy in years, but with a back-ground founded on an unusual training. Life for him on a Kansas farm, at the age of sixteen, became too tame and he went west and "joined on" as a cowboy on one of the big ranches that in those days spotted the West, from the Rio Grande to the Canadian border. For four years he played a part in the strenuous business of riding the range from Texas to Montana. At twenty he took stock of himself and decided that he was getting nowhere. Having saved his money, he went to Lawrence, Kansas, entered the University, and four years later left there with a lawyer’s degree. He came to Oklahoma and settled at Stillwater, forming a law partnership with Frank J. Wikoff, until recently president of the Tradesmen’s National Bank, Oklahoma City.

When the Cheyenne and Arapaho country was opened to settlement, April 19, 1892, he was appointed probate judge of "D" County by Governor A. J. Seay. There you have some notion of his equipment for meeting the conditions confronting one pioneer. How he could ride! And how he could shoot! What horses he owned—two of the finest specimens of saddle horse it has ever been my lot to see. The courage of the man—twice I had occasion to observe him in those

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finger-on-the-trigger situations was something infinitely fine.

On the day of the run, April 19, 1892, as trustee of the Government, Workman entered the 320 acre townsite of Taloga, which had been laid off by government surveyors, opened his office in a tent and began taking filings on town lots. A great crowd swarmed over the country and finally centered at Taloga. Each person was entitled to file on two business lots and, as I recall it, as many as six residence lots. Business was brisk and the fees, which were almost wholly cash, came in rapidly. Within a week, there being no bank within seventy-five miles, the matter of being his own bank vault, and everything, became burdensome and rather dangerous. During the first days practically every member of the original Dalton gang, then at its peak, filed on lots, using fictitious names, presumably to get a line on the probable amount of money the judge was gathering in. Fortunately, Workman knew these men and, being a young man of more than ordinary judgment, kept the fact discreetly to himself. He did, however, divide large sums of money among a few of the boys who were his friends. Many methods were used to safeguard it until such time as it could be taken to a bank.

It was a wild country, out in Dewey county, in those days. Reckless men, to use a mild term, came there from many sections of the United States, seeking adventure, many more of them than sought to make new homes. This type eventually passed on, leaving the hardy and courageous to establish civilization.

In about two weeks the crowd faded away, business became slack and early one morning Judge Workman gathered his money in a bag and, mounted on "Lou," a magnificent black horse, a horse of such outstanding points that up to this time the judge was best known because of the horse, left to ride to Stillwater, a distance of 120 miles, the first fifty without settlements, except the old Mennonite Indian Mission at the abandoned military post known as Cantonment, near the present town of Canton. He was feeling happy, believing that he had gotten away without being observed by any of the members of the Dalton gang, who still hung about. Maybe he did, but when he emerged from the little Indian mission

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at Cantonment, thirty miles on his way, where he had stopped for lunch, they were waiting for him out in front. There they were—Bob, Grat, Bill Powers and one other whose name I have forgotten. Workman grasped the situation and, with out hesitation, walked over to them and addressing Bill Powers, who stood nearest, asked if he could direct him to the Strip line trail leading east, that he was going that way and was unacquainted with the country. Bill could, and did. With his finger in the sand, sitting on his toes, cowboy fashion, lie outlined the trail so clearly that it could not be mistaken Workman thanked Bill, slowly saddled his horse, and just as slowly rode away.

The Mission stood on the south bank of the North Canadian river, among the trees. To the east of it, a short distance and on the opposite side of the river, a tree-bordered ravine came down from the north. The pursued rider with his clothes full of money, as soon as out of sight over the hill turned and doubled back down this ravine practically to the river and then made his way east across the country, keeping out of sight under the hills that lay between him and the gang that was following the Strip line trail. Something like an hour later, he rode to the top of a hill to take observations and saw them about two miles to the north and traveling in a tong trot strung out along the trail. Workman quickly got back out of sight and continued his way east, protecting himself by taking advantage of the natural obstructions the country afforded.

Another hour passed and he observed them again a considerable distance ahead of him. They were standing in a group, evidently holding a conference. Again he quickly ducked out of their range of vision and continued his way keeping the hills and trees between him and the gang as much as possible. A short time later he observed one of the men coming in his direction, evidently having been detailed to make a search for him. As he came into sight the distance between the two riders was perhaps 300 yards. The cow path Workman was following branched to the right about halfway between them. Again Workman demonstrated his superior judgment. Speeding up his horse and getting his gun ready for action he beat the other man to this fork in the path and turned to the right with the intention of opening fire should the other man attempt to head him off. Instead of doing this

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the outlaw turned his horse and returned the way he came at full speed.

The country in this section is rolling and spotted with blackjack and other trees, and it was a difficult matter to make way without being observed, especially to a man who was inexperienced in riding unsettled country and unaccustomed to reading its surface and using this knowledge to guide him.

It was approaching sundown when he reached the river east of the site of the present town of Okeene. The small bluff on the west side, where the road crossed provided an excellent waiting place for Bob and his bunch and, in relating the incident to me, Workman said he felt certain they were there and that he had made up his mind to avoid the crossing, when he overtook a wagon load of Hennessey negroes who had been hunting quail in the new country.

Conversation with them was struck up at once and, following Workman’s story that he had crossed the river at this point a few evenings previously, and that a fine bunch of wild turkeys were watering there, several of them acted on the suggestion and substituted buckshot for the birdshot in their guns. As they drove down into the river Workman had pulled his horse up on the left hand side of the wagon, keeping it between him and the bluff.

The members of the gang were there, with guns ready for action, but the presence of the negroes threw a monkey-wrench into the machinery of their plans. They hesitated; Bob Dalton was sore by this time, having been outwitted once before, and was for taking a chance on holding up the whole bunch. Other members of the gang dissuaded him, however, but not until he had flung his hat on the ground and jumped on it. Evidently they decided they would get that nice little bundle of money later on. Something approaching $10,000 in real money was an important item in those lean days.

Riding on ahead of the wagon, Workman reached the opposite bank about the time the gang was a third of the way over. He took the time to dismount, tighten the saddle girth preparatory to a long, hard ride, and gave the boys the high sign to come on. He mounted and went away from there under full speed, his horse apparently as fresh as if the forty miles already covered did not count. The horsemen follow-

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ing forced their horses into as high speed as they could make in the shallow water of the river and raced after him.

The timber and low hills hid him from view and before going a mile he turned abruptly up a grassy ravine and quickly was out of sight of the road. He camped that night with a home-seeker who was traveling through the country and had just made camp for the night.

The next morning Workman had seventy miles yet to go and a possible menace in every mile. The fact that the robbers were in the lead made the trip anything but a pleasant ride. But Workman rode into Stillwater the evening of that same day, with his horse in good condition.

It was evident, from events that occurred that night and the following day, that they were outwitted again and followed the road east until late, thinking to eventually overtake a man who apparently knew so little of the endurance of a horse as to put it under full speed at the end of a long day. They were sure to overtake a worn-out horse and a foolish rider before he could cover that seventy miles.

Having missed him, and the nice fat wad of money that he carried, they compromised by holding up the Santa Fe train at Wharton, in the Cherokee Strip, near the site of Perry, that night, when they robbed the passengers and killed the station agent, a mere boy, who was holding a lonely job in the wilderness, if prairie country may be called such. The next day they killed a deputy United States marshal, who was a member of a party which attempted their capture, in a fight in the Otoe country, north of Stillwater.

In the evening of the same day a spring wagon, containing the body of this deputy marshal, drew up at the rear door of Ollie Stevenson’s undertaking parlor, in Stillwater, and Workman, from his office window not thirty feet away, watched as it was carried inside. He said aloud to himself, "It wasn’t your time, Mr. Workman."

Hundreds of old timers will recall Workman with pleasure, his fine qualities and his disposition to be square with his fellowmen. Later he served with distinction in the War with Spain, as county attorney of Payne County, as a railroad attorney and builder in Washington, and he now is a resident of Oregon, where he has retired on a farm near Woodburn. I remember him gratefully, for he was more

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than a brother in those early stirring days of my boyhood, and my roommate for five years. And yet, it was characteristic of the man that he should have mentioned to me but once the tale that I have just told. It was all in the day’s work. I’ll bet he has forgotten it.

Frank D. Northup.

Source: http://digital.library.okstate.edu/chronicles/v003/v003p289.html