R.H.Wilson

Fannin County TXGenWeb
R.H. Wilson obituary & article from the Chronicles of Oklahoma

From Ruth Walsh

Daily Oklahoman, Tuesday, October 5, 1937, p.1
HEART STROKE PROVES FATAL TO R.H. WILSON - Veteran of Politics Dies at
Home - LONG IN PUBLIC LIFE - He Served 12 Years In School Post.
      Robert H. Wilson, veteran state political figure, died unexpectedly
Monday night after he was stricken with a heart ailment at his home, 401
Northeast Twelfth street.
   Wilson was 64 years old and had been in good health until the time he was
stricken, members of his family said.
   He first complained of feeling ill early Monday morning. He grew rapidly
worse and died shortly after 6 p.m.
   Wilson came to Oklahoma City in 1910 from Chickasha, when he was elected
state superintendent of public instruction. He continued in this post for
12 years.
   CAME TO STATE IN 1903
   In the last gubernatorial race, he took an active part in the campaign of
E.W. Marland, and was named secretary of the conservation commission on Oct. 11, 1935.
   In December of that year he was appointed Oklahoma county tag agent where
he served until December, 1936.
   Wilson came to Oklahoma from Texas in 1903 and has played an active part
in the state political scene since that time. His first public job was county superintendent of schools in Grady county.
   A NATIVE OF KENTUCKY
   In 1922, after completing three terms as state superintendent of public
instruction, he ran for the Democratic nomination for governor, losing to
J.C. Walton.
   His last appearance as a public office seeker was in 1932, when he ran
for congress in the fifth district. He was defeated by F.B. Swank, Norman.
   The Oklahoma political veteran was born on a farm near Scottsville, KY,
in 1873, the son of John A. and Mary E. Wilson. When he was 18 years old he
moved to Texas with his family, and settled on a homestead farm near
Whitewright. He continued his studies at home and then attended the
preparatory department of Grayson college, four miles from his home. He
completed his course and became a Texas rural school teacher.
   HE BOOSTED CONSOLIDATIONS
   He moved to Chickasha and taught there until he became county
superintendent.
   While state superintendent, Wilson's chief project was in promoting the
creation of consolidated school districts to give the country people high
schools and community centers.
   A husky man with a massive head and flowing gray hair, Wilson had been a
familiar figure at political rallies throughout the state. He has been described as a nervous, fast and loud talker.
   One political writer once called him a man "strong for his friends and
'pizen' for those who oppose him".
   Wilson was a Mason, a member of the Shrine, the Guthrie Consistory and
the First Baptist church.
       He is survived by his wife, Sarah Grace, a son Lee Wilson and a daughter,
Mrs. Fred Bogle, both of the home address.
      The Guardian funeral home will arrange services.
(researcher's note -R.H. Wilson married Sarah Grace Womack on November 18, 1876 in Fannin Co.,TX. Sarah Grace was the daughter of William Melton Womack and Lydia Magdalene (Maggie Alice) Blanton. Her grandparents were Stephen Fletcher Blanton and wife Sarah McDaniel and John McDaniel, Jr. and wife Mary Sperling.)

Chronicles of Oklahoma, Volume 15, No. 4, December, 1937, NECROLOGY , Page
498
ROBERT H. WILSON
1873-1937.
   Robert H. Wilson was born near Scottsville, Allen County, Kentucky,
August 25, 1873. He died at his home in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, October 4,
1937, at the age of sixty-four years. His father, John A., and his mother,
Mary E. (Briley) Wilson, moved to Texas in 1891. They settled near
Whitewright, in Grayson County. Robert was the eldest of eight children,
five sons and three daughters.
   His early education was in the rural schools in Kentucky, and was mostly
on his own initiative. At the age of twenty he had the opportunity of
entering Grayson College, Whitewright, Texas. In order to remain in school
it became necessary for him to borrow money to meet his expenses. His
determination and longing for an education caused him to do this. He
attended college for three terms and then taught school for one year,
returning to college the next fall. He was unable to finish the term mostly
by reason of his limited financial resources. He taught in the rural schools
of Texas, spending his vacation periods upon the farm.
   On September 17, 1899, he married Miss Grace Womack, daughter of William
M. and Maggie (Blanton) Womack, of Whitewright, Texas, and they have two
children: Robert Lee, who was born January 6, 1901, and Mary Grace, who was
born October 16, 1909, who is now Mrs. Fred Bogle. Mr. Wilson was a member
of the First Baptist Church of Oklahoma City.
   In December, 1903, he moved to Chickasha, Indian Territory, or what is
now Grady County, Oklahoma. He was elected as principal of one of the grade
schools of that city, and with the coming of Statehood in 1907, he was
elected as the first County Superintendent of Grady County, without
opposition. He held his position until January, 1911, when he assumed the
office of State Superintendent of Public Instruction to which he had been
elected.
   As County Superintendent of Grady County he demonstrated his ability as a
school man and as an organizer. He at once began the organization of
seventy-one school districts, many of them in the old Indian Territory where
no schools had been prior to that date. Many new buildings were erected
under his supervision, and he was one of the first County Superintendents in
Oklahoma to organize and establish consolidated and graded schools for rural
children. When he finished his term of office only three counties in
Oklahoma could claim a greater number of first grade teachers than Grady
County. During the time he was County Superintendent he served two and
one-half years as a member of the Board of Education of the City of
Chickasha and assisted in the establishment of a splendid school system. In
1908 he was elected President of the Oklahoma School Officers' Association
and in 1909 he was elected Chairman of the Executive Committee of the
Oklahoma Teachers' Association. In November, 1910, he was elected State
Superintendent, was re-elected in 1914, and elected for a third term in
1918. In November, 1914, he was elected President of the Oklahoma State
Teachers' Association by an overwhelming majority. The Oklahoma Teacher, in
its November, 1937, issue, in giving notice of his passing, says: (Page 499)
"A great deal of credit for the organization and building of Oklahoma's
school system should go to R. H. Wilson who died in Oklahoma City October 4.
He served as State Superintendent for 12 years, while the state was very
young. He was a vigorous school executive and was an ardent supporter of the
rural schools. He pushed through many consolidations. He organized the
Department of Rural School Supervision and sponsored the law which made
state appropriations for the erection of consolidated school buildings.
   Wilson made a determined effort to reduce the illiteracy in the state,
through Wilson's efforts illiteracy in the state was materially reduced.
Higher education also received his earnest attention. During the time he was
State Superintendent he was also President of the Board of Regents for the
University and of the six normal schools. Credit should go to him for
bringing Stratton D. Brooks to the presidency of the University of Oklahoma
and for raising the six normal schools to teachers' colleges. He sponsored
the bill which set up the Department of High School Inspection and appointed
the first inspectors.
   Wilson was one of the first three to become a life member of the Oklahoma
Education Association and served as its president in 1915. He courageously
supported those things which he thought were right and his influence on the
schools of Oklahoma will never be forgotten."
His career shows steadfastness of character and purity of principle. His
record during his life displayed a patriotic and abiding faith in the
principles of our Government, a correct sense of justice and a deep and
generous sympathy for those who struggled for the betterment of themselves
and their children. He believed that the foundation of a wise and enduring
Government was the education of its people and if there was any one course
more than another which appealed to his sympathy and enthusiasm it was for
the education of the rural children of this state.
   Although Robert H. Wilson devoted most of his life to education,
particularly to the organization and betterment of rural schools and for
equal educational opportunity for all children of the state, and by these he
will best be known for his outstanding work in the field of education, his
duties as State Superintendent and as a member of the School Land
Commission, held by virtue of his office as Superintendent, and as President
of the State Board of Education, and Chairman of the State Text Book
Commission, gave him an opportunity to demonstrate his ability as an
executive and as a business man. With the Governors of the State, and other
members of the commission he met the duties and responsibilities imposed
upon him, and today the magnificent sum of money now to the credit of the
common schools of this state is a reality due to his and his associates'
integrity and sound business judgment. After his retirement from public
office his advice and judgment were often sought by many in public life. His
close friends therefore think of him not only as a leader in establishing
the educational system of this state but as one of Oklahoma's outstanding
pioneers, a public officer whose honesty and integrity were never
questioned, and whose life was devoted to the welfare of the state and the
perservation of the republic. He was a man of positive convictions and was
always moved by those convictions. (Page 500)
   Although positive and firm in his views on public questions, he was kind
and gentle. Everyone who knew him and watched his career pointed to him as
an upright man, able, conscientious, an honest public official. No one ever
questioned his integrity. His life is a lesson to the youth of Oklahoma,
whom he loved and served.
   A poem written by Mr. Wilson himself well expressed the purpose of his
life.
My creed is work; to follow duty's call
However far it leads across the plains
Through trackless woods, or ringing on the hills;
To seek pleasure in the realms of toil.
Still ever striving for a larger self
     With which to do a service for the rest.
To lay a new path through the unknown way,
And leave some heritage e'en though so small
No other hand would love or care to leave.
Rejoicing ever in my brother's craft,
     To follow system in the perfect law.
Be what I am, and do my very best
     To lead a life that towers above the hills,
And points the way across the plains to God."   R. H. Wilson.
   He welcomed the final summons and when it came he bade farewell to
earthly things and in the quiet way so characteristic of his earthly life he
journeyed to that undiscovered country from whose bourne no traveler ever
returns and in the words of the poet:
"I am restless still; twill soon be over; for down the west
Life's sun is setting; and I see the shore where I shall rest."

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