Lonoke County ArArchives Biographies.....Oldham, W. K. 1865 - 
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Robert Sanchez http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00027.html#0006574 May 31, 2009, 12:12 am

Author: S. J. Clarke (Publisher, 1922)

HON. W. K. OLDHAM.
    On the pages of Arkansas' history the name of the Hon. W. K. Oldham stands
prominently forth, for he has rendered to the state important public service as
a member of the upper house of the general assembly and also as acting governor.
He makes his home in Pettus, from which point he superintends his business
interests, although his political activity has called him into many sections of
the state. A native of Kentucky, he was born in Richmond, in 1865; and is a son
of W. K. and Catherine (Brown) Oldham. His father was also a Kentuckian by
birth, the place of his nativity being in Madison county. He was a son of
Hezekiah Oldham, who was born in central Kentucky, the family having resided in
that state from pioneer times. W. K. Oldham was a soldier of the Confederate
army during the Civil war, serving under General John Morgan. His wife was a
daughter of Dr. R. Brown and her people, too, were well known in the Blue Grass
state. Hezekiah Oldham, the grandfather, married Polly Cavanaugh and in Kentucky
they reared their family, as did also W. K. Oldham and his wife, who became the
parents of six children: Mary, the wife of Governor Eagle of Arkansas; Kate, who
became the wife of W. H. Miller; Margaret, the wife of John Doty; W. K., of this
review; Kie, who was a lawyer of Little Rock and also a member of the state
senate of Arkansas but has now departed this life; and Ira B., a physician,
living in Muskogee, Oklahoma.

    W. K. Oldham, whose name introduces this review, was accorded liberal
educational opportunities in preparation for his life work. He supplemented his
early studies by attending the Central University at Richmand, Kentucky.
Following his graduation he came to Arkansas, arriving in Pettus in 1885.
Throughout the intervening period of thirty-seven years he has resided in this
city and has been closely associated not only with the development of his
locality but of the state as well. He rode horseback to Pettus on coming to
Arkansas, where he joined his sister, who had become the wife of Governor Eagle
and their home was in this place. In the years which have since been added to
the cycle of the centuries Mr. Oldham has become an important factor in
connection with the agricultural progress of the state and today controls
fifteen hundred acres of land. He follows diversified farming and is prominently
known as an extensive cotton planter. He also raises blooded live stock and
along various lines has led to the improvement of the live stock industry and to
the advancement of agricultural methods in this state. He has at all times been
actuated by a spirit of progress and his labors have brought most satisfactory
results.

    Mr. Oldham was united in marriage to Miss Lillian Munroe, a daughter of L. W
and America (Thompson) Munroe. They have become the parents of two children: W.
K., who served during the World war; and Lillian, who was educated at Rome,
Georgia, and is now teaching in Fordyce, Arkansas.

    Mr. Oldham is a Baptist in religious faith and has served as moderator of
the Caroline Baptist Association, also as president of the Baptist state board
of Arkansas. In other words he has been a most active and earnest worker in the
church and in many ways has promoted its welfare and success. He has also been
most active in advancing the interests of the schools in and near Pettus.
Fifteen years ago the school in his neighborhood had an attendance of only six
white children. Mr. Oldham liberally donated funds for the establishment of a
modern grade school, which is called the Oldham school. A building was erected
and there is now an attendance of three hundred pupils. Mr. Oldham has exerted a
widely felt and beneficial influence over public affairs through his political
labors. He served in the Arkansas house of representatives in 1907 and from 1911
until 1913 he was state senator, acting as president of the senate in 1913 and
proving most fair and impartial in his rulings. In the spring of that year he
also became acting governor. While a member of the house he introduced a bill
repealing the anti-trust law, thus allowing insuranec companies to reenter the
state and the public to benefit by insurance, while in the senate he was the
promulgator of good road legislation and introduced bills that resulted in the
first road being built in Lonoke county. He has done everything in his power to
promote the building of good roads, his labors have been an effective force in
improving the public highways in the state and his influence in this direction
can scarcely be overestimated, as good roads are a foundation upon which is
built much of the prosperity and development of a community. Mr. Oldham also
served on the state board of charities and in this connection aided in carrying
through an extensive building program, furnishing adequate care for the
unfortunate. His life has, indeed, reached out along many lines of service and
of usefulness and as the years have passed the state's indebtedness to him for
valuable aid has been piled up until today Arkansas acknowledges her obligations
to him in large measure for the progress that has been brought about through his
labors.


Additional Comments:

Citation:
Centennial History of Arkansas
Volume II
Chicago-Little Rock: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company
1922


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