Latimer County Oklahoma Biographies - presented by Genealogy Trails

Latimer County Oklahoma Biographies

Source: "Chronicles of Oklahoma", Volume 4, No. 3, September, 1926, Page 286
Submitted by Linda Craig
CAPTAIN WILLIAM GRAHAM BAIRD
Captain William Graham Baird, Latimer County pioneer and oldest citizen in residence as well as years, the first merchant and first Post Master of Wilburton passed to his eternal reward at his home in Wilburton, Sunday July 19, at 10:30 P. M., following an illness of two weeks. His name is written in the history of this town and county and the Choctaw Nation.
We cannot pay too great a tribute to those pioneers, who blazed the way for our civilization and made the history of our great commonwealth. Their usefulness and moral influence shall last through the ages. "A moral man, of moral worth, stands peerless among the power of Earth." Such was our esteemed friend. The entire community bowed in sorrow and did reverence to his name.
The funeral services were conducted Tuesday afternoon at three o’clock at the Presbyterian Church, in the presence of a large number of friends, many of which could not gain entrance into the church. The Reverend J. Y. Bryce of Oklahoma City, former pastor of the Methodist Church of Wilburton, officiated.
The parents of Capt. Baird were the first citizens of Fort Smith, Arkansas, then known as Old Logtown, in which place he was born on March 20, 1892. He was educated at St. Ann’s Academy at Ft. Smith. When war began between the states, he enlisted in the Homeguard, Kings Brigade, Company C, of the Arkansas Volunteers. This company consisted of one hundred twenty-five men, a list of which the Captain had in his possession when he was called away. Of this number only two men survived, James Reed of Ft. Smith, and Capt. Baird of Wilburton. It is interesting to note that Mr. Reed answered the last roll call at McAlester, Oklahoma, two weeks after Captain Baird. From Corporal he was promoted to the rank of Captain, and in 1863, he was transferred from King’s Brigade to General Fragin’s command, and was made Aidde-camp on General Fragin’s staff. Later he was transferred
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to the Indian Territory and attached to the Staff of Gen. J. T. McCurtain, who was at the head of a regiment of fighting pioneers. While stationed in the Kiamichi Mountains, Capt. Baird was sent to Doaksville for orders; arriving there he was informed of Lee’s surrender two months before, and this command was disbanded without ever formally surrendering. From the time he enlisted in the volunteer company in Ft. Smith in 1861 until the close of the war, he served with courage and usefulness to the cause, for which he would have given his life.
As a little boy in the small log town of Ft. Smith, William Baird and Mary DeHart lived across the street from each other and were childhood sweethearts. Their friendship continued, and correspondence was carried on faithfully, although under great difficulty during the early sixties. (Some of these letters are still in Mrs. Baird’s possession.) In January 1865, Captain Baird was given a furlough, and he made his way to Paraclifta, Ark., to claim the sweetheart of his childhood as his bride, and on January 18, they pledged each other a companionship which lasted until death parted them. One amusing incident concerning their marriage, which has often been recalled by them is how Captain Baird, having in his possession a Confederate coat and vest, while journeying to Paraclifta secured material for a pair of trousers of the Confederate color, and how the women sat up all night toiling by hand to make this garment, that he might be married in full uniform.
The bride remained a few months with her parents, the Captain rejoining his company, and when the smoke of battle had cleared away she joined him in their new home at Shawnee town on Red River in the Choctaw Nation. Here their first child was born. Later he entered upon a business career at Wheelock, but the privations and dangers which surrounded them were so great that they returned to the Arkansas River valley and procured a farm in the shadow of old Sugarloaf Mountain, only to return to the Indian Territory in 1868, and establish a trading post at Mountain Station. Later they moved to Colorado where they resided three years. Returning to Indian Territory they settled at Limestone, near the future site of Wilburton, where he was associated with J. T. McCurtain in business, later moving to
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Boiling Springs. When the Post Office was established at this place he named it Ola, for his daughter, Ola Baird, and became the first Postmaster there in 1884. The mail was carried out twice a week from Ft. Smith, via, Brazil, Red Oak, and on to Krebs. When the Ola Post Office was discontinued, and a new one established at Wilburton, he moved there and became the first Postmaster at that place. He was the first merchant in Wilburton and from time to time was engaged in business there, was the first City Treasurer and was always prominent in city and county affairs.
His parents were life-long members of the Presbyterian Church and he was baptized in infancy, in that church. Soon after moving to Wilburton in 1890, he was instrumental in organizing a church of his faith, which was organized by Rev. Burks, in a grove of trees where now stands Mrs. Louis Rockett’s home. Later through the efforts of him and his good wife, a church building was erected.
He became a member of the Masonic Lodge at Camden, Ark., in 1863, and was a charter member of the Wilburton Lodge when it was organized. He was made an honorary member of this lodge in 1922.
A number of persons living in Oklahoma remember with pleasure the occasion of the celebration of Captain and Mrs. Baird’s Golden Wedding, on January 18, 1915, at which time it was the writers privilege to be of the House Party and to assist in the celebration which was attended by hosts of friends, children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.
Besides his courageous and faithful wife, who has been his inspiration during these nearly sixty-two years, he is survived by two sons and two daughters, Mr. Jim Baird, and Mrs. Ola Shaw of Wilburton; Mr. Frank Baird of El Paso, Texas; and Mrs. Marvin Petty of Cleburne, Texas. The oldest son, Charles Baird, died some years ago and is buried at Old Riddle Station, a point on the Ft. Smith and Fort Washita military road.

Oklahoma educator Elijah Thomas Dunlap, one of thirteen children of Christopher C. and Ida McWhirter Dunlap, was born on December 19, 1914, in Cravens, Oklahoma. E. T. Dunlap attended grade school in Cravens and graduated from Red Oak High School in 1934. Shortly after graduating, he married Opal Jones, and they had one son.

Although Dunlap began college at Eastern Oklahoma A&M College (now Eastern Oklahoma State College) in Wilburton, he completed his bachelor's degree at Southeastern State College (now University) in Durant in 1940. He earned a master's degree in educational administration (1942) and a doctorate in education (1956) at Oklahoma A&M College (now Oklahoma State University). He later received honorary degrees from Oklahoma City University, John Brown University, Oral Roberts University, and Pepperdine University.

Dunlap began his professional career in 1936 as a teacher in Latimer County rural schools. From 1938 to 1942 he served as superintendent of the Latimer County schools. For the next three years he was high school inspector for the Oklahoma State Department of Education. In 1945 he returned to Red Oak and remained as superintendent of schools until 1952. While at Red Oak, he also represented Latimer County in the Oklahoma Legislature. As a state representative he chaired the Committee on Education and was the primary author of the Oklahoma School Code, which established regulations for the planned reduction of Oklahoma public school districts. He was president of Eastern Oklahoma A&M College from 1952 until 1961.

In 1961 Dunlap became the second chancellor of the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, a position established in 1941. He presided over the governing body until his retirement in 1981. He called for making higher education available and affordable for all Oklahomans. During his leadership enrollment at the state's colleges and universities more than tripled. An advocate of two-year, urban colleges, he oversaw the building of eight junior colleges, including Oscar Rose Junior College (now Rose State College) and Tulsa Junior College (now Tulsa Community College). Under his direction the Oklahoma College of Osteopathic Medicine and Surgery as well as a branch of the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine were established in Tulsa. In addition, a statewide system of televised instruction with two-way talk-back capability was installed. He supervised a growth in the state education system's budget from $30 million to $470 million and an increase in the capital investment in college facilities from $200 million to $750 million. Moreover, during the first fifteen years of his administration, the number of conferred degrees rose from 8,100 to more than 18,400, a 127 percent increase.

Dunlap wrote or presented over six hundred articles, formal papers, and addresses. His dissertation, entitled "The History of Legal Controls of Public Higher Education in Oklahoma," was considered a milestone in education history. He served on numerous professional boards and commissions, including the board of the Student Loan Marketing Association (Sallie Mae), the Education Commission of the States, and the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association. He also held membership in a variety of professional, civic, and fraternal organizations, including the Oklahoma Education Association, the National Education Association, the American Association for Higher Education, the Masonic Lodge, the Lions Club, and the Boy Scouts.

His many awards include induction into the Oklahoma State University Alumni Hall of Fame (1977) and the Oklahoma Hall of Fame (1981). He was also the recipient of a 1976 concurrent resolution, authored by all members of the Oklahoma Legislature, that commended him for his accomplishments in Oklahoma education. In addition, buildings, student unions, and plazas on Oklahoma college and university campuses bear his name. Dunlap died on January 31, 1997, in Oklahoma City and was interred in Rose Hill Cemetery.
Source: Encylopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture