Bio of William G. Baird (b630) - Latimer County, Oklahoma Submitted by: Ginger McCall 11 Sep 2003 Return to Latimer County Archives: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ok/latimer/latimer.html ========================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm ========================================================================== William G. Baird Transcribed by G McCall from: A HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA By Luther B. Hill, A. B., With the Assistance of Local Authorities, Volume II, Illustrated, The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago / New York, 1909, Page 308-309 WILLIAM G. BAIRD, of Wilburton, Latimer county, is another of those rare veterans of the Civil war, whose blood-stirring experiences in the great fraternal strife have only tended to elevate and solidify their patriotism and spur them to unceasing efforts to assist in the development of the country which was finally re-united under better and more stable conditions. Born at Fort Smith, Arkansas, March 20, 1842, Mr. Baird is the son of John and Margaret (Hoffman) Baird. The father was a native of Scotland and settled in the vicinity of Fort Smith, Arkansas, as early as 1837. At that time the place was a mere boat landing called Belle Point, but a year later the government erected a fort there and christened it by its well-known name. In 1849 the elder Mr. Baird joined one of the overland caravans of gold seekers, California-bound, and as no news was ever afterward obtained from him it is believed that he perished on the plains. His wife, whom he married in Stark county, Ohio, died at Fort Smith in 1898, at the age of eighty-three years, their two children being Mrs. R. M. Johnson, wife of one of the Fort Smith pioneers, and William G., of this sketch. William G. Baird was educated in the schools of Fort Smith and in his early youth mastered the trade of a tinner, but that occupation proving a menace to his health, in 1860 he joined an expedition dispatched by the government to a point at the head waters of the Washita river, where a fort was to be erected for the protection of settlers and emigrants against hostile Indians. Fort Cobb was therefore established in the vicinity of the present Anadarko, Oklahoma, but as it was abandoned the following year and Mr. Baird with three or four companions went to Fort Arbuckle, situated in what is now Garvin county, he remained here but a short time and then returned to his home in Fort Smith. Thus before the opening of the Civil war, and during the excitement of its initial period, Mr. Baird enjoyed his first view of the wild plain country which is now a productive and progressive section of the state. At his return to Fort Smith he enlisted in Captain Johnson’s company, Clarkson’s battalion of General Stan-Watie’s brigade of Arkansas troops, being soon appointed orderly to Colonel Clarkson and left in camp by the commanding general. General Stan-Watie went in search of a force of combined Federals and Pin Indians (who remained loyal to the Union), which, however, surprised the camp under Colonel Clarkson. At his escape Mr. Baird joined Colonel King’s regiment of General Fagan’s brigade, and for about two years followed the fortunes of that command in its harassing movements through Arkansas and Louisiana, being thus engaged until the close of 1864. In January, 1865, he came into the Choctaw Nation and joined Colonel Jack McCurtain’s Confederate squadron of Indian cavalry, having shortly before resigned a lieutenant’s commission in Colonel King’s command. In the spring of that year, while Colonel McCurtain’s band was encamped in the mountains near what is now Tushkahomma, Mr. Baird had been on a visit to his home at Shawneetown and on his return met Colonel Pytchlynn, then governor of the Choctaws, who gave him a letter to his superior officer conveying the information of Lee’s surrender, and commanding Colonel McCurtain to disband his troops and go home. On the 15th of June the Indian cavalry broke ranks and dispersed, and Mr. Baird sought the ways of civil peace and profit. Although the Indian country was almost as much disorganized for several years after the war as the territory which had been actually devastated, Mr. Baird brought his persistence and wits to play on the situation to such good purpose that he floated his household and himself along until the establishment of permanent and substantial mercantile houses. He gained his first experience in selling goods as a clerk at old Lukfata, afterward locating at Shawneetown, where he remained until December 24, 1867, when he settled in Sugar Loaf county. There he formed a partnership with his old Indian Colonel, Jack McCurtain, and established a general store near Red Oak, but, after a short time, removed to “Pusleys,” on Gaines Creek, remaining at that point for four years. The partnership was then dissolved, Mr. Baird returning to Sugar Loaf county and resuming business alone. In the early seventies he abandoned this store and, coming into the present limits of Latimer county, engaged in teaching school and trading until 1889. In that year he accepted a clerkship with the Grady Trading company of Hartshorne, his special duties being to manage and develop the Choctaw trade. His years of residence among those Indians had made him quite familiar with their character and language, and his honorable conduct had fully gained their confidence; so that he proved not only of great value as an agent in the development of the Indian trade, but as a promoter of the Choctaw, Oklahoma & Gulf Railroad in the special matter of obtaining leases on the valuable coal lands within the bounds of the Choctaw Nation. He remained with the trading company at Hartshorne until it sent him to the Wilburton coal camp, there to open a company store. After managing this business for several years, he established a store of his own, which he maintained in a prosperous condition for some four years, when, with the entire stock, it was destroyed by fire. This was at first a staggering blow, but Mr. Baird was made of the right material and has since employed his business abilities and experience in the service of others. For the past five years he has been associated with Ratterree and Company. On January 18, 1865, Mr. Baird married Miss Mary DeHart, a daughter of John DeHart, and Englishman who married a Cherokee woman of half blood. Mrs. Baird was born in Arkansas, December 10, 1842, and is the mother of the late Charles Baird, who left a family at Wilburton; Ola M., who has been twice married--to John R. James and John G. Shaw--and now resides with the latter on her ranch near Wilburton; Shingo, wife of Marvin W. Petty, of Cleburne, Texas, and Frank D. Baird, also a resident of Wilburton. Both by blood and long experience, Mr. Baird is in close sympathy with the Indian, especially the Choctaw character, and has just ground for his admiration of their higher traits of honesty and statesmanship. He himself was an associate with such noble leaders of the Choctaw Nation as Colonel Peter P. Pytchlynn, who accomplished so much after the Civil war in securing lenient treatment from the government for those of his people who bore arms for the Confederacy. This long contact with the best minds and the most elevated characters of the Choctaw Nation has given Mr. Baird unusual opportunities of forming a valuable optimistic opinion as to those whom he can almost call “his people.” Fraternally Mr. Baird is a member Wilburton Lodge No. 108, A. F. & A. M. He and wife are members of the First Presbyterian church of Wilburton. Mr. Baird was elected city treasurer of Wilburton in May, 1907, and still retains the office. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Return to Latimer County Archives: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ok/latimer/latimer.html