Bio of Wolverton, Horace M. - Stephens County, Oklahoma Submitted by: Gene Phillips 18 Jun 2006 Return to Stephens County Archives: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ok/stephens/stephens.htm ========================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm ========================================================================== HORACE M. WOLVERTON, of Duncan, Stephens county, ex-United States Commissioner of the Chickasaw Nation and formerly a prominent practicing attorney of that place, is now the proprietor of, the Chickasaw Nursery, one of the prosperous institutions of this locality. He has been a leading figure in the Indian country since 1892, coming hither from McNairy county, Tennessee, where his birth occurred May 1, 1872, and where his father is still prominent in the profession which he himself has honored. Horace M. obtained his education, preparatory to his professional training, in the common and high schools of his native county. His first work as an independent factor in the world was as a farm hand, at eight dollars per month. As early as possible he left home and ventured into the seductive country of the southwest. Within the present state of Oklahoma, he stopped first at Ardmore, Carter county, where he took up the study of law with Ledbetter and Bledsoe, but before his admission to the bar he passed on to Duncan and connected himself with its pioneer fire insurance business. At the same time he continued his law studies. In 1894 he was admitted to practice, and continued his professional work in connection with the insurance business. In 1897 he was appointed by Judge Hosea Townsend of the United States court to be United States Commissioner, and he efficiently performed its duties until his resignation of the office in 1900. He was elected to the City Council of Duncan in 1903, and then served as city attorney for two terms. In 1900 he disposed of his insurance business to Sampson and McClure, and embarked in a modest nursery business. He first planted a few pounds of seed on a few lots in Duncan, the proposed product of the enterprise being mostly forest trees and fruit trees. To the surprise of the projector the demand for the young trees became so brisk that he was forced to look for a larger tract of land and for the purpose secured eighty acres east of town, fifty acres of which is now occupied by the very flourishing Chickasaw Nursery. What was originally but a small, uncertain venture, has been developed into one of the most important business establishments of the county. In polities, Mr. Wolverton is a stanch Republican, and his fraternal connection is with the Masonic order, in which he is a Royal Arch. The Wolvertons comprise one of the old and historic families of America, his first ancestors in the United States being Charles and Mary (Dixon) Wolverton, who settled in Amwell township, Hunterdon county, New Jersey, in the early years of the eighteenth century. James T. Wolverton, the father of Horace M., is a native of Shelby county, Tennessee, where he was born in 1845. At an early age he lost his parents, and was reared as a hard working boy on a farm, who was able to obtain little access even to the primitive common schools of that district. As a youth he served three years in the Union army, was captured and exchanged, being placed aboard the steamer "Susquehanna," and as one of eighteen hundred others started for the north. When a few miles above Memphis the boat was literally blown to pieces, and only about three hundred of the passengers escaped. Mr. Wolverton, as one of the fortunates, drifted down the river about nine miles, was finally rescued and taken to Memphis. After the war he was connected for a time with the retail liquor business at Adamsville, Tennessee, and subsequently engaged in farming. He then studied law, with special reference to the prosecution of pension cases at Washington, was admitted by the department of the interior, and has since been profitably and honorably engaged at Adamsville, Tennessee, as United States pension attorney. One of his brothers, the late Dr. Wolverton, was a prominent Democrat of Oklahoma, and made considerable stir in his campaign against Mr. Markham for national committeeman of his party. James T. Wolverton married Sallie, daughter of Shepard Holman, and they became the parents of the following: James H., county judge of Comanche county, Oklahoma; Horace M., of this sketch; Florence, wife of Coleman Alexander, of Selmer, Tennessee; Georgia, who married T. J.Daniels, and resides in Corinth, Mississippi ; Maud, wife of Frank Bell, of Adamsville, Tennessee, and Eugene, a resident of the same city. Horace M. Wolverton was married in Duncan, Stevens county, April 29, 1894, to Maggie C., daughter of Michael Reynolds, who came to Oklahoma from Rockbridge county, Virginia. Mr. Reynolds was one of the staff officers of the famous Confederate commander, Stonewall Jackson, and located in Oklahoma in 1882. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Wolverton are: Edith, Dorothy, Hester May, Thomas Michael and Royal Allen. Mr. Wolverton is a Republican, a Royal Arch Mason and a citizen of broad and varied talents, and is a valuable factor in the community of his residence. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Return to Stephens County Archives: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ok/stephens/stephens.htm