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TOM D. MCKEOWN
Vol. 3, p. 1038-1039

None appreciative of the beautiful traditions and noble history of
the fair Emerald Isle can fail to revert with pride and satisfaction
to his ancestral record when he can claim descent from staunch old
Irish stock, and none can place a higher estimate along this line
than does Judge McKeown, of Ada, Pontotoc County, who is presiding on
the bench of the Seventh Judicial District of the State of Oklahoma.
In view of the statements just entered there is marked consistency in
reproducing and perpetuating in this history the following pertinent
estimate that has been written concerning Judge McKeown, who is of
Irish lineage but an exponent of the best in American citizenship and
a scion of a family that was early founded in this country:

"He is Irish. They call him the Irish Judge. In one of his campaigns
a compatriot likewise of Irish descent spoke of him as 'That Irishman
of Ada," and by this title he has since been affectionately known
throughout his district. He was a district judge before he forgot
that he had passed the age of thirty years, and he was elected a
second time by virtually unanimous consent of the voters of his
district. He lives next to the people he serves. He knows their
needs, their desires, and they love him. His attitude is not one of
personal expediency---it is genuine optimism and love of living, with
a love of humanity that exhibits itself in his genial and smiling
face. Relative to the judicial career and functions he has a theory
that has impressed him as being necessary to the successful
conducting of his official duties. It is that the judge should not
remove himself from his people while wearing the robe of dignity such
an official is supposed to assume; that to keep in touch with his
constituents forces him to put the human element in his decisions---
the element that defines justice far better than the wording of
constitutions and statutes. Tom McKeown loved the people that love
him."

Judge McKeown was born in South Carolina, on the 4th of June, 1878,
and is a son of Theodore and Nannie (ROBINSON) McKeown. His father
likewise was born in South Carolina, of sterling Irish lineage, and
the family was founded in America prior to the Revolution, in which
representatives of the name were found enrolled as patriot soldiers
in the continental line. In a later generation members of the family
were soldiers in the Mexican war. Before the Revolution an ancestor
of Judge McKeown in the paternal line had been sent by King George of
England to assume the office of keeper of the port at Charleston,
South Carolina, and this statement is significant as indicating the
high source of the family lineage in America. The venerable parents
of Judge McKeown now reside at Ada, and it is needless to say that
they receive from him the deepest filial care and solicitude.

In the acquirement of his education Judge McKeown was dependent
almost entirely upon his own resources and his character has been
moulded and strengthened Through following with self-reliance and
definite ambition. After duly availing himself of the advantages of
the public school he provided ways and means that enabled him finally
to attend a course of lectures in the law department of Cornell
University, at Ithaca, New York. Before the Supreme Court of South
Carolina was admitted to the bar of his native state on the 6th of
May, 1899, and in earning money to complete his education he had
previously given effective service as a teacher in the schools of
South Carolina. His professional novitiate as an attorney and
counselor at law was served in South Carolina, and finally he removed
to Malvern, Arkansas, where he remained eighteen months and where he
was associated in the practice of law with Col. M. M. DUFFY, who had
previously served as United States consul at Winnipeg, Manitoba,
under the administration of President Cleveland.

Through correspondence with H. L. MULDROW, formerly a prominent
citizen of Tishomingo, and Lafayette WALKER, an influential citizen
of Holdenville, Judge McKeown was persuaded in 1900 to establish his
residence in what is now the State of Oklahoma. In February, 1901, he
engaged in the practice of law at Ada the judicial center of Pontotoc
County, and here at various times and for varying intervals, he has
been associated in practice with such representative lawyers as Hon.
John CRAWFORD, formerly a member of the Oklahoma Legislature; Judge
John F. MCKEEL, a pioneer member of the bar of this section of the
state; and Judge Clinton A. GALBREATH, of the Oklahoma Supreme Court
Commission.

By appointment of Judge Robert L. Williams, the chief justice of the
Oklahoma Supreme court and new governor of the state (1915), Judge
McKeown became a member of the first bar commission appointed after
the admission of Oklahoma to statehood. In 1910 he was elected to the
bench of the Seventh Judicial District of the state, which at that
time comprised five counties and had the services of two judges, his
coadjutor on the bench having been Judge Robert L. RAINEY who had
served as a member of the first State Legislature of Oklahoma. Judge
McKeown was re-elected in 1914 for a term of four years, and his
district now comprises two counties. In his service on the bench he
has emphatically been one of those humane judges who have tempered
justice with mercy, with no sacrifice of the higher judicial ethics.
Prior to his election to the bench Judge McKeown served one term as
city attorney of Ada, besides which he had taken an active part in
every democratic campaign in Oklahoma from the time he established
his home within the borders of this now vigorous commonwealth. He is
known as a specially effective campaign orator, and the committees
regulating campaign activities have usually sent him among the rural
communities, where his earnest speeches have been specially
convincing and influential. In May, 1915, he was appointed, by
Governor Williams, a member of the Oklahoma Supreme Court Commission,
for a period of four months. The judge is an honored member of the
Pontotoc County and the Oklahoma State Bar Associations, besides
being identified with the American Bar Association. He is affiliated
with the Masonic Fraternity, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows,
and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, besides which he
holds membership in the Ada Commercial club and the Ada Country Club.
Both he and his wife are members of the Baptist Church.

At Ada, Oklahoma, in the year 1902, was solemnized the marriage of
Judge McKeown to Miss Anna SANDERS, a daughter of Capt. Mark M.
Sanders, whose family was one of prominence in Tennessee for several
generations.

Typed for OKGenWeb by Charmaine Keith, November 30, 1998.

[NOTE: Betsy McKeown Martin martine@cofc.edu wrote on Thu, 19 Aug
1999 - Tom D. McKeown, son of Theodore Benjamin McKeown and Nannie
Robinson. Theodore B. was son of Addison Porter McKeown and Elizabeth
Jane McKeown(nee). Addison Porter McKeown son of Hugh Seed McKeown,
son of "Long" Samuel McKeown and Mary Seed McKeown. Long Sam, son of
Samuel, Sr. from Ireland. Elizabeth Jane McKeown daughter of John
McKeown, son of James McKeown from Ireland with his parents,Robert
and Elizabeth McKeown and sister Mary Seed McKeown.]