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W. E. CONGER
Vol. 3, p. 1069-1070

While there are probably some legitimate criticisms that can be made
against the commission form of government for cities, it is
undeniable that in a great majority of cases the commissioners have
been chosen with greater care than was given to the selection of city
officials under the old methods and the offices have likewise
attracted men of higher caliber and of greater capabilities than
could be claimed for the officials of the time honored plan. One of
the best examples of the commission form of government in Oklahoma is
supplied by the City of Ada. Some of the features of that municipal
administration are mentioned elsewhere in a sketch of E. S. RATLIFF,
the present chairman of the commission, or mayor. Mr. Conger is
another of the three commissioners, and has the department of
accounting and finance.

Students of the art of accounting could get valuable lessons from
the neat, clean and well kept books and records of Commissioner
Conger. Years of training in auditing and accounting, in various
lines of business, fitted him admirably for the duties of this
position, and nothing but words of praise have been given his methods
and his accuracy. He is essentially a careful, methodical business
man, and with these traits also combines the faculty of a genial
personality, a combination which put him into politics in 1914 and
won for him one of the highest offices in the gift of the people of
Ada. There is felt the warmth of interested friendship in his hand-
shake and scarcely ever does he forget the name of a man to whom he
is introduced. These characteristics probably are the result of his
long training as a successful salesman, a business he followed for a
number of years. His personal popularity was put to the test in 1914
when he defeated for a second term the man who filled the office he
now occupies.

Mr. Conger was born in Arkabutla, Mississippi September 27, 1872, a
son of Eli Amos and Sallie (FORT) Conger. His father was born in
Indian Springs, Georgia, in 1822, and settled in Mississippi in 1856,
where he became a successful farmer and where a few years later he
entered the Confederate army and fought for the southern cause until
the close of hostilities. Mr. Conger's mother was a cousin of Clinton
Fort, one of the best known men of his day in Mississippi and one of
the most daring scouts in the Confederate service, having received
frequent commendation from General Forrest and taking an important
part in the historic raid on Memphis. An extended account of the
Conger family and its relationship in America would fill many pages.
The first to establish the name in this county was John Conger, who
was a member of the colony that founded the Town of Woodbridge, New
Jersey, in 1687, and in addition to helping lay out the town and
adjoining community he served as first clerk of the town. Jonathan
Conger, another of the early members of the family, was prominent in
the State of North Carolina, where he was born in 1810. His
relationship to Conger's Great-grandfather, Eli Conger, as also the
grandfather, Amos Conger, were pioneer and well known citizens of
Butts County, Georgia. The Conger family originated in Alsace,
France, but on account of religious persecution left that country and
went first to Holland and later to England.

Mr. Conger after finishing his public school education in
Mississippi was for a time a student in the Agricultural and
Mechanical College in that state, and at the age of eighteen
graduated from a business college in Memphis with honors. Thence
followed an unsuccessful venture as a merchant at Lulu, Mississippi.
This did not discourage him permanently from a career for which his
inclination and ability well adapted him, and returning to Memphis he
became bill clerk for the William R. Moore Dry Goods Company, a
wholesale house, with which he earned the reputation of an expert in
that position. Subsequently he went on the road as representative for
S. D. Worms & Company of New Orleans, and still later traveled for
the Ferguson-McKenney Dry Goods Company of St. Louis. It was this
work which brought him into Oklahoma, and his wide acquaintance with
the people and his favorable impressions of the state caused him
eventually to leave the road and locate at Ada. There after three
years of residence he was elected to the office he now holds. Mr.
Conger writes in elegant business style and his books are models of
neatness and accuracy. The board of commissioners meets each Tuesday
and Mr. Conger's diligence and care in the performance of his
official duties are well illustrated in the fact that every item of
each session is entered into the books before he calls his day's work
concluded. He stamps the claim number on each city warrant and on
checks drawn against the warrant and then the check number on the
warrant, thus affording a double check on each transaction. He
handles all the city's money and bonds, and in addition to the duties
of his special department has an equal vote with the other two
commissioners on every matter that comes before the board.

Mr. Conger was married in 1899 at Scobey, Mississippi, to Miss Lulu
ROBERTSON, who is a member of the widely known DUKE Family of that
and other southern states. They have three children: Lucile, aged
fourteen; Josephine, aged eleven; and Lorine, aged nine. Mr. Conger
has one brother and one sister and one half-brother and two half-
sisters. John T. Conger, an expert bookkeeper in the employ of a firm
at England, Arkansas; Mrs. M. G. CROSSLIN, wife of a real estate man
at Waco, Texas; W. C. MCGAHA, a merchant at Renalara, Mississippi;
Mrs. T. J. W. DEVLIN, wife of a merchant at Sherard, Mississippi;
Mrs. R. S. ARRINGTON, whose husband is a plantation and store manager
at Sherard, Mississippi.

Mr. Conger is a member of the Methodist Church in Mississippi, has
affiliations with the Knights of Pythias Lodge and with the Ada
Commercial Club. He is one of the vice presidents of the Oklahoma
Municipal League, an organization in which he takes much interest. He
has contributed considerably to the up-building of his city since
becoming a resident of Ada. He gained the gratitude of a large number
of people by securing the reinstatement of a Frisco passenger train
between Ada and Fayetteville, Arkansas, after a petition by local
citizens had failed to accomplish that end. It is said of Mr. Conger
that he knows more people by name in Ada than any other resident, and
it is his genuine pleasure to meet the poorest as well as the best
dressed and that he seeks always to scatter sunshine and cheer
wherever he goes.

Typed for OKGenWeb by Charmaine Keith, November 22, 1998.