OKGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any
format for profit or presentation by any other organization or
persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must
obtain the written consent of OKGenWeb State Coordinator.

Presentation here does not extend any permissions to the public. This
material can not be included in any compilation, publication,
collection, or other reproduction for profit without permission. Files
may be printed or copied for personal use only.
=====================================================================

JUDGE ROBERT A. CAMERON
Vol. 3, p. 1154-1155

One of Woods County's most distinguished pioneer citizens was the
late Robert Alonzo Cameron, who had homesteaded a claim near Alva at
the opening of the Strip in 1893, and who for twenty years was
identified with that community as farmer, lawyer, and public
official. His long career of varied activities 'and important
achievements came to a peaceful close in his death at Alva, Sept 24,
1914. In young manhood he had reached the rank of captain in the
Union Army, and began his career as a lawyer a few years after the
war.

Robert Alonzo Cameron was born June 28, 1842, on a farm in
Washington County, Illinois. His parents, Thomas Wesley and Jane
(ALEXANDER) Cameron, were natives of Hagerstown, Maryland. His
father, who died in Washington County, Illinois, located in that
state in 1840. He was a wagon maker by trade and for the greater part
of his life followed farming. He was married in 1822 to Miss
Alexander, who also died in Washington County, Illinois. The late
Judge Cameron was the youngest of their nine children, four daughters
and five sons, brief mention of whom is given as follows: Matthew,
now deceased, was born June 5, 1823. John William, born September 17,
1825, was in the service of Union army with the rank of surgeon until
his death at Fort Smith, Arkansas, in 1863. Hanna Elizabeth born
January 15, 1828, was married October 12, 1848, to Robert G. SEAWELL,
and she died in 1850, while her husband passed away at the Soldiers
Home in Leavenworth, Kansas. Jane Ann, born, born January 5, 1830,
was married in 1861 to James HENRY, now deceased, and she died in
1912. William James, born December 14, 1834, is now living in his
eighty-first year retired at Oklahoma City. Harriet Elvira, born Sept
5, 1832, died in 1895. Margaret Catherine, born April 30, 1837 is the
widow of William WHITE and lives in Los Angeles, California. Thomas
Wesley, born March 28, 1839, died in 1896.

Judge Robert A. Cameron received part of his education in the old
Ohio College at Athens, one of the first institutions of higher
learning to be established west of the Alleghany Mountains. After the
war he entered the University of Michigan, and was graduated in the
law department with the degree LL.B. in 1868. At the beginning of the
Civil war he enlisted as a private in Company C of the Eleventh
Illinois Infantry, soon received a commission as second lieutenant,
and finally commanded his company as captain. His regiment bore the
brunt of a number of engagements in the South, and as his promotion
shows he possessed many of the best qualifications of the soldier and
was a capable leader and popular among his comrades.

After his admission to the bar Judge Cameron took up the practice of
law at Carthage, Missouri, and remained in that city until 1884. In
the meantime he had represented Jasper County for two terms in the
State Legislature, being elected on the republican ticket. In 1884 he
went to El Dorado, Kansas, practiced law there a few years, and
finally removed to Medicine Lodge, Kansas. He became county attorney
of Barber County, held that office four years, and enjoyed an
influential position in the professional and public life of his
country. From his residence on the Southeran Kansas border he
followed closely all the details of the successive openings of
Oklahoma lands, and in the fall of 1893 joined the thousands of
homeseekers at the opening of the Cherokee Strip. He located a claim
three miles from Alva and lived upon it several years. In 1897 he was
appointed register of the United States land office at the Alva, and
held that responsible position four years and five months. In 1907 he
had the distinction of being the only republican candidate chosen in
Woods County in the election of that year. As a result of this
election he took up his duties as county judge, and gave a careful
and efficient administration of his duties throughout the term.

The late Judge Cameron is remembered as a man of solid qualities and
abilities, not only as a lawyer, but as an all round citizen. He
possessed an unusual range of scholarly interest, and few men had a
more intimate knowledge of Shakespeare and the Bible than Judge
Cameron. He had the gift of eloquence and his services as an orator
were in demand not only in political campaigns, but on all occasions
of popular meetings. He was active in the Methodist Episcopal Church,
was for many years identified with the Grand Army of the Republic,
held at one time the office of post commander, and at the time of his
death was a member of the Alva Post, Grand Army of the Republic.

Judge Cameron was married January 19, 1865, at Cincinnati, Ohio, to
Miss Frances M. WELCH. She was born at Athens, Ohio, November 19,
1844, a daughter of Judge John and Martha (STARR) Welch. Her father
was one of the most distinguished lawyers and jurists of Ohioans as
Chase, Giddings, Wade and Corwin. Judge Welch was born October 28,
1805, in Harrison County, Ohio, and died August 20, 1871, at Athens.
For fifteen years he sat as an associate justice of the Supreme Court
of Ohio. In 1850 he was elected to Congress, and in 1852 participated
as a delegate in the last national convention of the whig party of
Baltimore. In 1856 he was a member of the electoral college during
the first campaign of the republican party. He was the recipient of
many honors, and one of the universities bestowed upon him the degree
LL. D. Judge Welch was twice married, and his marriage to Martha L.
Starr occurred in June, 1830. Their four children, two sons and two
daughters were: Mary, who was born in 1832 and died in 1887: Johnson
Mortimer, born April 20, 1834, and died in 1912; Henry Harrison,
born, born April 20, 1842, now a retired capitalist living at Los
Angeles; and Mrs. Cameron, who since the death of her husband keeps
her home in Alva.

Judge Cameron and wife were the parents of eight children, five sons
and three daughters, as follows: Helen Seymore, born January 22,
1866, is now the wife of John Hood CHARLESS, a prominent cattleman at
Amarillo, Texas; Robert Welch, born February 22, 1866, is now
superintendent of a box-board manufacturing company at Peoria,
Illinois; Neil Emerson, born September 13, 1873, died at Carthage,
Missouri, October 14, 1876; John Williams, born January 8, 1870;
Ralph Bradlock, born June 10, 1876; John Williams, born January 8,
1870, died January 25, 1870; Ralph Bradlock, born June 10, 1875, is
now a mining superintendent in Nevada; John Welch, born June 17,
1878, is now a prosperous farmer in Woods County, Oklahoma; George
Starr, born March 6, 1881; and Ruth, born at El Dorado, Kansas
October 5, 1883.

Typed for OKGenWeb by Lois L. Coffelt, November 6, 1998.