Lew Wilder.
Lew Wilder


Lew Wilder. In 1914 the people of Creek County chose for the office of sheriff a citizen whose fitness for such responsibility and honor is Lew Wilder.unquestioned and exceptional. Sheriff Wilder has been a resident of Creek County for a number of yours, was originally a cowboy on his father's ranches, and his only training well fitted him for all the duties and responsibilities of self-sufficient manhood and citizenship. The people of Creek County have been highly pleased with his official record as sheriff, and there seems to be little doubt in that county but that he will be re-elected.
He was born at Morgan, Texas, August 8, 1874. Both of his grandfathers were pioneers in Texas and owned several leagues of land and grazed large herds of cattle in the early days. Sheriff Wilder’s parents were Charles Edward and Julia (Womack) Wilder, the former a native of Mississippi and the latter of Virginia. Both went to Texas with their parents when they were children. Grandfather Wilder at one time owned the land where Texarkana, Texas, stands, Charles E. Wilder was an active rancher and cattle man both in Texas and since 1892 has operated extensively in Oklahoma. He first had a large ranch near Chouteau, and subsequently extended his interests to Greer County. For a number of years he made his home in Kansas City, Missouri, in order that his children might have the best of educational advantages. He is now living retired at Kiefer, Oklahoma, his wife having passed away in January, 1899.
Lew Wilder, the oldest of the three children, grew up as a cowboy on his father's ranches in Texas and Oklahoma, and received most of his education in the public schools of Kansas City. He spent a number of years as a rancher and cattleman in Greer County, Oklahoma, but in 1907 moved to Kiefer in Creek County and set up as a blacksmith and proprietor of a machine shop. Later he was connected with the Warren City Tank and Boiler Works of Warren, Ohio, and was an assistant superintendent in the oil fields around Kiefer until 1911. In that year he made his first race for the office of sheriff but was defeated. In 1914 the republicans nominated him again and he was elected by a good majority.
Mr. Wilder is a typical western man, popular and genial, but does his duty without fear or favor. He is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Loyal Order of Moose and the Benevolent and Protective order of Elks. On December 26, 1915, he married Mrs. Florence Shipley.