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The photograph in the booklet (A Tribute to the Memory of Robert Latham Owen) has been reproduced. A negative exists in the photograph collection.

TJK

11/18/94

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I

Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis A TRIBUTE

To T he Memory of Robert Latham Owen by

T he Officers and D irectors of

T he First N ational Bank and

T rust Company

M uskogee,

Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis ROBERT LATHAM OWEN

by

GRANT FOREMAN

OBERT LATHAM OWEN, who became one of the first Senators R from Oklahoma, was born February 2, 1856, at Lynchburg, , of Scotch-Irish and Indian ancestry. He was the son of Robert L. Owen, member of Virginia Senate and Presi­ dent of the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad, and of Narcissa Chisholm of the Nation. He went to private school in Lynchburg, , then to Washington and Lee Uni­ versity, and, identified as the most diligent stu­ dent in the University, received the President’s scholarship in 1876. The degree of Master of Arts was conferred upon him; he received the gold medal as the best debater, and delivered the valedictory of his class in 1877 Soon after­ wards he came to the . Owen was the principal teacher of the Cherokee Orphan Asylum, 1879-1880, and secretary of the Board of Education of the Cherokee N a­ tion, 1881-1884. During these years Mr. Owen practiced law and often appeared in the Chero­ kee courts in important litigation. As secretary of the Cherokee Board of Education, he was

Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis responsible for many important decisions touch­ ing the policy and functioning of this Board. Well qualified by these experiences, in the autumn of 1885, Mr. Owen was appointed agent for the , with head­ quarters at Union Agency, Muskogee, , of which he assumed charge on September 11, 1885. Thereafter a grateful Cherokee government expressed its apprecia­ tion of the appointment and its high regard for Mr. Owen in the following resolution, the original of which is in the archives of the Oklahoma Historical Society: " Whereas a U. S. Agent for the five civ­ ilized nations has been selected from the limits of these Nations thus choosing one ivhose future life is identified with the Coun­ try and whose intimate acquaintance with the people and their needs peculiarly fits him for valuable service as such and Whereas the Agent thus chosen is connected with the Cherokee people by blood and justly stands as an exponent of Indian integrity, capacity, and energy; and Whereas we deem his ap­ pointment a substantial recognition of the Indian Territory and a precedent worthy to be sustained; Therefore, "Be it resolved by the Senate and Coun­ cil, That the cordially endorse and approve the appointment of Robt. L. Owen

Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis as U. S. for the five civilized Nations as a man of unquestionable integrity, capacity, and energy, and as a fit representative of the Indian Territory in the Federal service and who will make the United States Govern­ ment a faithful and efficient officer and that our thanks are hereby tendered the Govern­ ment for its action in his appointment. Passed the House this 2nd of Dec. 1885. C. C. Lipe, Clk. Council. Alexander Hawk, Speaker House. Concurred in by the Senate Dec, 11, 1885. R. T. Hanks, Clerk. L. B. Bell, Pres. Senate. Approved Dec. 12, 1885. "D. W. Bushyhead, Principal Chief.” The printed laws of the Nation record the passage of Bill 47, being: ffA RESOLUTION Endorsing the appoint­ ment of Robert L. Owen to be United States Indian Agent as fit and fust. "Be it resolved by the General Council of the Choctaw Nation assembled: That the Choctaw Nation deems the appointment of Robert L. Owen as a handsome recognition of the Indian Territory, a just appreciation of the advancement and progress of the five civ-

Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis ilized tribes, and a precedent practical and worthy of continuance by the United States Government. Robert L. Owen is alike a fit representative of the Indian Territory in the United States’ service, and of the United States government in its Indian service; is striving to fill up the full measure of his official designation, and deserves the support of the Choctaw Nation. ''Proposed by S. S. Stephens. Approved October 30th, 1886. teT. McKinney, Principal Chief, Choctaw Nation.”

The printed laws of the Choctaw Nation contain the following: No. 36 (’A Joint Resolution of the General Coun­ cil of the Choctaw Nation. rrBe it resolved by the General Council of the Choctaw Nation assembled, that Col. Robert L. Owen, Fiscal Agent of the Choctaw Nation, is hereby cordially invited to deliver an address to the members of the General Council now in session in Representatives’ Hall, on Wednesday evening the 6th day of November, 1889, at half after 6 o’clock p. m., concerning the Leased District of the 98th Degree, west longitude.

Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis "Be it further resolved, That this resolu­ tion shall take effect and he in force from and after its passage. "Approved Nov. 6, 1889.” Mr. Owen served as Indian agent for the Union Agency at Muskogee from September 11, 1885 until May 17, 1889- The last day of that year, on December 31, 1889, Mr. Owen was married to the accomplished Daisy Hester, daughter of Capt. George B. Hester, a prominent merchant living at Boggy Depot in the Choctaw Nation. He thereupon brought to Muskogee his beautiful bride, to preside over the new home that was to be for many years a scene of hospitality and social graces known throughout the Indian Territory. The Muskogee Phoenix of January 2, 1890, carried an account of the wedding of Mr. Owen and Miss Hester, as follows: "At the home of the bride’s parents at Boggy Depot, Choctaw Nation, Ind. Ter., at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday morning last, Col. Robert L. Owen, ex-United States Indian Agent, and Miss Daisy Hester, only daughter of Capt. and Mrs. G. B. Hester, were united in mar­ riage, Rev. T . F. Brewer of this city officiating. "The wedding was a private one, there being present only a feiv of the immediate relatives of the parties. The bride' wore a

Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis dress of white silk with full bridal veil, and the groom wore the conventional full dress suit. "The bridal party after partaking of a sumptuous lunch, drove over to Atoka and caught the northbound train at 2 P.M. They arrived in Muskogee at 7:15, but remained only for supper, when they proceeded on their way to Washington City, where they will re­ main the greater part of the winter. They will stop over a few days in St. Louis. "They were met at the depot in this city by a number of friends who extended con­ gratulations, wishing them a bon voyage not only to Washington but through life. "Mr. and Mrs. Owen will return to Mus­ kogee in the spring and will make this place their permanent home. A handsome house will be erected in the west part of the city on Col. Owen’s place which they will occupy. Their arrival will be a great acquisition to Mtiskogee society.” Mr. Owen’s responsibilities as Indian agent were complex and required from him a know­ ledge of varying conditions and activities in all the Five Civilized Tribes. There were times that a rare degree of tact, diplomacy and resourcefulness were required to adjust differ­ ences between factions of the tribes; such for instance as when, in the Cherokee Nation,

Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis bitter contention developed between those who wished to lease the surplus lands of the Nation to cattle men for pasturage, and other elements of the tribe who were opposed to this policy. In the face of a serious situation, in which charges of bribery were hurled back and forth, and the question had become a political issue involving the election of a chief, Mr. Owen entered the controversy, and with skill and diplomacy backed by the department at Wash­ ington, straightened out the whole business to the infinite satisfaction of the Indians and to his superiors. Another time he performed a similar service for the Nation where like issues were precipitated by cattle men of Texas. To this writer, one of the outstanding ac­ complishments of Indian Agent Owen was the annual report he was required to make to Washington. Of the reports made by the scores of Indian agents over the country, Mr. Owen’s are by far the most literate, compre­ hensive and informing. Without being ver­ bose, they covered in simple language every phase of every subject on which the Indian Department in Washington needed to be in­ formed. These reports were written with clarity and graceful phrasing, with needed discriminating emphasis here and there, that make them the best possible source of infor­ mation for the student seeking well balanced

Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis information about that phase of our history. Few people outside the Indian Territory understood the anomalous and difficult posi­ tion of the white resident here, and Agent Owen did much to enable those in authority to comprehend their situation. Indian Agent Owen was the only symbol of law in the coun­ try, aside from the Creek Indian authority. In a report to Washington, he said, 'When men are charged with evading their just obligations by coming into or staying in the Indian Terri­ tory, he (the agent) is required to put them and their effects across the line, where they may be subject to civil law. He also (with- j out legal authority, but with consent of the ' parties) decides very many civil disputes aris­ ing between United States citizens and Indians, acting as arbitrator, and generally supervises the intercourse with the Indians according to law and the regulations of the Indian Depart­ ment. It is his duty further to prevent crime and assist in the arrest and delivery of crimi­ nals, to supervise the intercourse of Indians with each other, to pay out per capita where it may be due from the Government to the Indians, in the limits of the agency, and con­ duct such investigations as may be referred to him by the honorable Secretary of the Inter­ ior Department.” In the performance of his manifold duties, Owen locked up in Muskogee’s rude jail rov-

Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis ing gamblers, tramps, prostitutes, and many other troublesome characters who infested the country along the newly constructed M. K. & T. Railroad; there they were held until they agreed to leave the country. The year 1890 was an interesting and im­ portant one in the community which Owen had adopted as his home. The census report for that year gave Muskogee a population of 1200. The town had become a busy if crude aggregation of whites, blacks and Indians, liv­ ing on land of the Creek Indians to which they had no title, because at that time the laws had not made it possible for whites and other non-Creeks to own land in the Creek Nation. The people living in the vicinity were princi­ pally engaged in farming, raising cattle and hogs. Their principal market, of course, was Muskogee, where they dealt with the numer­ ous merchants there engaged in business. The producers and the merchants as well were obliged to adapt themselves to customs pecu­ liar to such an environment. A modified bar­ ter trade was one of them. The farmer would bring in an animal as a basis for the purchase of merchandise. A credit was thus set up, and if the animal was worth more than the pur­ chase, the difference was returned to the farm­ er in the form of script or due bill which the holder could trade out at his convenience. This script was negotiable and circulated in

Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Muskogee and surrounding country as curren­ cy. Also, as an accommodation to its custom­ ers, the store would receive and hold for them the cash they wished to leave in its care. Usually the customer would place his money in a strong canvas bag with his name on it, hand it to a trusted employe for deposit in the company safe, and whenever he desired some cash he would take what was required and return the bag to the custodian. In cases where the customer had a book credit with the store, it was common practice for the holder thereof, if he wished to make a payment or loan to another, to execute a simple note to the merchant, "please pay to Blank, Blank dollars and charge to my ac­ count.” Much business was conducted in this manner wherein the merchant for the occasion became a banker. Debts were sometimes evidenced by written obligations to pay the amount of a note in cattle, hogs, etc. Mr. Owen and other enterprising citizens decided, in 1889, that conditions warranted the organization in Muskogee of a bank where all these expedients might properly be com­ bined in a banking institution. Accordingly, in the spring of that year, Mr. Owen, C. E. Foley of Eufaula, and other interested citizens set about to organize a bank. Their efforts at first were frustrated by an opinion of the Attorney General of the United States who

Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis held that the banking laws of the nation did not apply to the Indian Territory. However, in time the difficulties were overcome, a char­ ter was issued to the First National Bank of Muskogee, with an organization composed of Robert L. Owen as President, A. W. Robb, T. B. Needles, F. B. Severs, P. J. Byrne, R. L. Owen, C. W. Turner and Leo E. Bennett, all of Muskogee; and H. W. Salmon of Clinton, Missouri; W. O. Cox of Kansas City; C. E. Foley of Eufaula, Indian Territory; J. E. Rey­ nolds of South McAlester, Indian Territory, and John Adams of Parsons, Kansas, as Direc­ tors. While the organization was completed on June 7, the bank was not prepared for open­ ing until August 22, 1890, when, with a cap­ italization of $100,000.00 it offered its facili­ ties to the public. At that time there were so many bandits at large in the country that for several years the bank maintained an armed guard of men ready to repel these outlaws who were supposed to be waiting in the neighbor­ hood for an opportunity to rob it. Mr. Owen served as president of this bank, being re­ elected time after time until 1908, when, having recently taken his seat in the , he declined re-election. Under its able and conservative management, this bank has prospered and grown until today it is one of the leading financial institutions in Oklahoma.

Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis The first United States Court in Indian Territory was held in Muskogee, April 1, 1889, and at the first session of the court fif­ teen applicants were admitted to practice be­ fore it, including Robert L. Owen, who thus signalized his identity with the village of Muskogee and the Indian Territory. On April 3, 1889, he was elected secretary of the Indian Territory Bar Association organized that day, and on November 17, 1894, Owen was one of the fourteen directors of the newly or­ ganized Board of Trade of Muskogee. Owen was president of the International Fair at Muskogee, Indian Territory, in 1882, 1883 and 1884; and editor and owner of the Indian Chieftain at Vinita, Indian Territory, in 1884. As a director of farming operations on a large scale he handled thousands of cattle. Mr. Owen’s duties and responsibilities as head of the leading financial institution in the Indian Territory expanded his horizon and his sense of public service until his judgment and advice were sought out and respected in all quarters. The bank of which he was head aided many worthy enterprises in securing a footing in Muskogee, to the great benefit of the community. The cultural needs of the little city were sure of a sympathetic coadju­ tor in him. So it came about that when a group of public-spirited women were striving

Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis to raise money with which to start a public library, Mr. Owen donated to them for that purpose a lot 30 by 50 feet in size on which they began the construction of a building in October 1891. It is also an interesting fact that in 1894 Mr. Owen gave to the Episcopal Church of Muskogee a lot in the 200 block on South Fourth Street, upon which the church members erected a little church build­ ing, in which they worshipped for a number of years. Mr. Owen had arrived in the Indian Ter­ ritory about twenty years before the turn of the century. At that time there was great agitation for the opening up of the country to white settlement. Eager prospective settlers were invading the country in violation of the law, only to be ejected time after time. These activities and constant agitation in the press and in Congress were responsible for the open­ ing up of the area known as the Oklahoma Lands and the celebrated Run of 1889- This in turn added to the agitation for the opening of the eastern part of what is now Oklahoma, the then Indian Territory, with the result that in 1893 Congress provided for the creation of the , the ultimate object of which was the dissolution of tribal relations of the Five Civilized Tribes, the allotment of their lands in severalty, and the creation

Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis thereon of a state of the Union. An important step in this direction was the enactment in 1898 of the so-called Curtis Act, which was intended to implement the government with necessary facilities to that end. Mr. Owen, a shrewd observer of events and their significance, repeatedly warned the people, and particularly the Indians, that a change was imminent and advised them to prepare for it. These inevitable steps resulted in the allotment of the lands of the Indians, so that in due time they were found in indi­ vidual ownership and capable of sustaining a state government. Thereupon the people of the proposed state adopted a constitution on which President , on No­ vember 11, 1907, proclaimed the admission to the Union of the new State of Oklahoma. News of the president’s announcement was received in Oklahoma City by a gathering pre­ sided over by newly elected Governor Haskell, who thereupon took the oath of office and delivered his inaugural address. One of his first official actions was to nominate Robert L. Owen and Thomas P. Gore as United States Senators. But this initial act was a futile ges­ ture, as under the law the Governor had no power to appoint senators except to fill vacan- ies in unexpired terms. Soon afterwards, however, the legislature convened and elected

Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Owen and Gore to the United States Senate, who were then qualified to take their seats. Senator Owen now became a national fig­ ure, whose activities were no longer limited by the boundaries of Oklahoma. His career has been written large on the pages of United States history, and needs no further record here. He was identified with legislation im­ portant not only to Oklahoma but to the whole United States. Outstanding were acts destined to influence the history of the coun­ try, such as his resolution for an amendment to the Constitution of the United States pro­ viding for direct election by the people of the United States Senators instead of by the state legislatures. Perhaps above all other measures was the legislation pro­ moted by Senator Owen upon which the na­ tional banking laws of the United States are founded. Other important legislation which is great­ ly indebted to the interest and intelligent ad­ vocacy of Senator Owen, include that looking to Woman’s Suffrage, the Initiative and Re­ ferendum, and the Recall of Judges, near to the hearts of the people and fundamental in the economic well being of our government, which received from Senator Owen timely support essential to its enactment.

Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Senator Owen represented the State of Oklahoma in the United States Senate for three terms, from 1907 to 1925. During those years he was not only a valuable public servant, but he and his beautiful wife gave to the people of Washington and the whole country a novel and refreshing concept of a newly created western state. The press and public long accepted them as the most dis­ tinguished looking couple in Washington, who ornamented the many functions attended by them. So that in Washington "Oklahoma” meant not merely a crude new western state, but one with a background of refinement and culture and the conventions of polite society. Since his retirement from the United States Senate, Senator Owen was engaged in activities looking to the promotion of the interests of the Indians, both in the field of legislation and in the courts. But in his later years these impulses tended more and more to wider fields of benefactions that found expression in what he called a "phonetic Global Alphabet, by which any language in the world could be written and printed, learned and spoken.” This conception was inspired by that other great » Cherokee, , who invented the alpha­ l bet that placed the whole tribe so far on the road to culture and progress. Pursuit of this interesting subject occupied the time and en-

Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis riched the life of Senator Owen during his late years after he had lost his sight.

Senator Owen died in Washington, on Saturday, July 19, 1947, at the advanced age of 91* Mrs. Owen had preceded him in death on October 29, 1946. Since then her body had reposed in a vault, to be removed with that of her husband, and interred at Lynch­ burg, near his parents, after appropriate ser­ vices in Washington. Though the last months of his life were saddened by the death of Mrs. Owen, he was solaced by the ministrations of his lovely daughter, Dorothea, now Mrs. Whittemore, who inherited the patrician features and charms of her distinguished parents. Muskogee and Oklahoma have reason to hold Senator Owen in grateful remembrance, to honor his name for the lustre it has shed over his former home and the pride with which his fellow Oklahomans are permitted to recall him as one of them.

The Board of Directors of The First Na­ tional Bank & Trust Company of Muskogee, the Bank which he founded and on whose Board he served continuously until his death, passed the following resolutions:

Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis RESOLUTIONS

The First National Bank and Trust Company of Muskogee has a proud history. It was organized in the year 1889, and of all the many banks that have come and gone in this community, it is the only one that has an unbroken history of successful operations from the time of its organization to the present date. As a matter of fact, it is the oldest Bank in what was formerly Indian Territory, as well as the State of Oklahoma. Its success in weathering the storms of financial and economic disturbances over a period of more than half a century is, unquestionably, due to the solid foundation upon which it was built, and the sound financial policy first adopted by its founders. The leading spirit among the men who were re­ sponsible for founding this Bank was Robert Latham Owen, who has now passed from among us. At all times since the organization of this Bank he has been a member of this Board, and it is the sound and in­ telligent policy upon which he founded this institution and has breathed into it since that time that has been responsible for its continuous and successful operation. We pause for a moment to reflect upon the useful life, the integrity, the honorable conduct he displayed in his dealings with his fellowmen, the financial acu­ men, the statesmanship, and the friendly courtesy of our departed Associate. This Bank has sustained a loss, — and the members of this Board, both as Directors of the Bank and per­ sonally, feel the same keenly. There accompanies these Resolutions a Tribute, which, in detail, tells of the life of a leader of our community and a man who achieved national recogni­ tion as a Statesman and patriotic citizen. In this hour of sorrow at his passing, we are pleased to be able to present this small tribute to the memory of a great and useful man, and a friend.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that we hereby express our deepest sorrow at the loss of our friend and associate. We extend our sympathy to the members of his family and, to the end that these sen­ timents may be preserved,

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that a copy of these Resoulutions be spread upon the minutes of this

Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Board and that copies thereof be sent to the immediate members of his family.

The above resolutions were unanimously adopted at a meeting of the Board of Directors of the First National Bank and Trust Company of Muskogee on the 26th day of September, 1947.

(Signed) H. H. OGDEN, President (Signed) H. W. GIBSON, JR., Secretary of Board of Directors.

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