Harold Lee. Of the leading attorneys and counselors at law in Oklahoma City, none holds more secure position or more essentially representative than Harold Lee, who is a member of a prominent and influential family of the capital city and metropolis of Oklahoma, which has been his home since infancy and in which his circle of friends is coincident with that of his acquaintances, his loyalty and progressive spirit being virtually inherent from the atmosphere of the city in which he was reared and which is known as one of the most vital and undaunted of the important municipalities of the West. At the beginning of the year 1915 Mr. Leo retired from the office of clerk of the Superior Court of Oklahoma County, after having declined to become a candidate for a second term. He is a member of the law firm of Paul & Lee and is giving characteristically vigorous and effective attention to his law practice, which is one of substantial and important order, based alike upon his distinctive technical ability and his unbounded personal popularity.

Mr. Lee was born at Grand View, Spencer County, Indiana, on the 11th of February, 1889, and at the opening of Oklahoma for settlement in 1889 his parents moved to Oklahoma, and became pioneers of Oklahoma City, the formal organization of the territory having not occurred until the following year, 1890. In the old Hoosier State were also born the parents. Otto V. and Sabina R. (Mav) Lee, who still maintain their residence in Oklahoma City, where the father is one of the city’s most substantial capitalists and most honored and influential citizens. Otto V. Lee has exerted potent and benignant force in connection with the development and upbuilding of Oklahoma City along both civic and material lines and is here the owner of a large amount of valuable realty, including some of the best properties on Main street, the large and modern Hotel Real, on West First Street, and other valuable central properties.

Harold Lee was reared to adult age in Oklahoma City, and here he attended the public schools. Later he entered the Missouri Military Academy, at Mexico, Missouri, in which institution he was graduated with high honors, as a member of the class of 1906. During the year thereafter he remained at the academy as a teacher of history, and his special proficiency in military tacts is shown by the fact that he received a commission not only as captain but also served as assistant commandant. In 1906 he was commissioned a lieutenant in the Missouri National Guard and he now holds a commission as captain in the Oklahoma National Guard.

After leaving the military academy Mr. Lee was matriculated in the law department ^of the University of Kansas, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1911 and from which he received the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He forthwith returned to Oklahoma City, was admitted to the bar of his home state and was here engaged in the practice of law until the autumn of 1912, when he was made the republican nominee for the office of clerk of the Superior Court of Oklahoma County. In the ensuing election he was victorious at the polls by the remarkable majority of 1,186, the county in general having given to the democratic ticket a majority of 1,500 in the same election. In January, 1913, Mr. Lee assumed the office to which he had been elected by so flattering a majority and he was but twenty-three years of age at the time, so that there can be little doubt that he was one of the youngest men in the state ever called to official position of such importance. His administration of the exacting affairs of the office reflected honor upon himself and the county; besides fully justifying the confidence of the many citizens whose use of the franchise in his favor brought about his election. At the expiration of his term of two years Mr. Lee retired from office, no effort having been made by him to seek re-election, as he believed expedient to resume the active practice of his profession, for which he has admirably fortified himself.

Mr. Lee is unswerving in his allegiance to the cause of the republican party, is alert and progressive as a citizen, has received the thirty-second degree of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite of Masonry, besides being affiliated with the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, and the Knights of the Modern Maccabees, in which last mentioned he is past Sir Knight Commander. Both he and his wife hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church and are leaders in the representative social activities of their home city, their residence being at 318 East Ninth Street, Oklahoma City.

On the 18th of December, 1912, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Lee to Miss Helen Mitchell, daughter of William O. Mitchell, a representative citizen of Oklahoma City.