Horace H. Hagan. The incumbent of the important position of assistant to the attorney-general of Oklahoma before he was twenty-four years of age, Horace H. Hagan early established himself in a prominent position among the lawyers of this state, a prestige which he has steadfastly maintained. At the present time he is a member of the well-known firm of West, Hull & Hagan, of Oklahoma City, and is acknowledged to be one of the leaders among the younger generation of Oklahoma’s legists.

Mr. Hagan was born at Saint Mary’s, Kansas, October 13, 1891, and is a son of Horace H. and Eulalie (Droege) Hagan. His father, a native of Kentucky, was a pioneer settler of Kansas, and for ten years was one of the leading real estate dealers of Logan County, Oklahoma, where he was also prominent in democratic politics, and where his death occurred in 1903. He took an active part in the democratic national campaigns of 1896 and 1900 and was a particular friend and ardent champion of the cause of William Jennings Bryan. There were four children in the family of Horace H. and Eulalie Hagan: Horace H., of this review; Mrs. Frank Ley, the wife of a hardware merchant at Portland, Oregon; Eugene, a student in the University of Oklahoma; and Miss Virginia, a graduate of Sacred Heart Convent, St. Louis, who for the past two or three years has resided in Washington, D. C.

Horace H. Hagan, after attending the public schools, finished his high school and college education at Saint Mary’s College, Saint Mary’s, Kansas, and there received his degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1910. In 1911 he entered Georgetown University, Washington, D. C., and finished his course with the degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1913. In December of that year he was admitted to the bar in Oklahoma, receiving the highest grade in a class of seventy-five applicants, and at once entered practice at Oklahoma City, shortly thereafter being appointed assistant to the attorney-general. Among the important cases assigned to him while in that capacity was that relating to the liability of banks for assessment by the State Banking Board for the maintenance of the Bank Guaranty Fund when such banks had taken out national bank charters after being included in the operation of the guaranty law. This was the second argument made in the case and the state was victorious, the court holding this class of banks liable for the assessment. He was also assigned to assist in the rate cases in which the state was a party, and in this connection won high honors. Retiring in 1915 from the office of the attorney-general, Mr. Hagan became a member of the firm of West, Hull & Hagan, Mr. West having been for seven years attorney-general of Oklahoma, while Mr. Hull was for several years assistant attorney-general. The firm maintains offices at No. 401 Terminal Building.

In 1910 Mr. Hagan won an intercollegiate contest participated in by Saint Mary’s College, where he was a student, and nine other colleges, and while at Georgetown University he, with Eugene Quay and John Cosgrove, founded the Georgetown Law Journal. Mr. Hagan has a decided bent toward literature, particularly that relating to history and biography, and is a contributor to the American Law Review, of St. Louis, the Sewanee Review, of Sewanee, Tennessee, and the Georgetown Law Journal. Among his contributions are those entitled: “Sargent S. Prentiss,” “Judah P. Benjamin,” “Wendell Phillips” and “Lord Mansfield.” At the present writing there is in process of being printed a book of his entitled “Seven Great American Lawyers.”

Mr. Hagan is a member of the Catholic Church, and is fraternally affiliated with Guthrie Lodge No. 417, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of Columbus Lodge at Oklahoma City, in which he has held the office of deputy grand knight, and the Delta Theta Phi legal college fraternity. He also holds membership in the Oklahoma County and Oklahoma State Bar Associations and belongs to the Lake Mohonk Peace Society and the International Peace Association. An enthusiastic member of the Young Men’s Democratic League of Oklahoma, he has been twice elected to the presidency of the Oklahoma City Young Men’s Democratic Club. He has also the honor of being one of the five directors of the Carnegie Library of Oklahoma City. Mr. Hagan makes his home at Oklahoma City, where he is deservedly popular with a wide circle of acquaintances.