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HON. WILBURN NASH REDWINE
Vol. 3, p. 1122

With a record as a lawyer that has stood the test of all
requirements during his twenty years of practice at McAlester, the
professional career of Mr. Redwine, important though it has been,
must yield a second place to his board and buried public service
which he performed as Senator from the Twenty-fifty Senatorial
District, Pittsburgh County. He was a member of the state Senate from
statehood for seven years, throughout the formative period of
Oklahoma's legislative life and among the many who deserve credit for
having formulated Oklahoma's original statutes it is no invidious
discrimination to point out former Senator Redwine for special honor.

In a very few days after the organization of the First Senate of the
new state the man from Pittsburgh County was looked upon as one of
that intelligent and influential group who would direct and control
the real results of the first session. But it was in closing hours of
the First Legislature, in May 1908, that Senator Redwine came to the
front as a champion of popular interest in the state, especially in
his gallant and determined opposition to the school land bill which
came up for consideration at a time when no proper consideration
could be given it, and evidently for the purpose of getting it passed
in the confusion marking the close of the session. The bill was
championed by Senator Johnson but Senator Redwine at once took up to
gage of combat and it was a little battle royal in the legislative
arena for several hours before the senator for Pittsburgh County was
left victor and master of the field. It was claimed and properly so
that the passing of the school land bill in the form in which he was
introduced in the First Legislature would have cost the people of the
State of Oklahoma millions of dollars, or rather that amount would
have been sacrificed to the present and future generations. It was
Senator Redwine's vigorous opposition that killed the bill, and at
the close of his brilliant speech he said: "I would not be doing
justice to my oath or the state to vote to sell the land under the
conditions of this unfair bill."

Of Southern antecedents and of fine old Southern lineage William
Nash Redwine was born on the farm in Colbert County, Alabama, March
13, 1862, a son of John W. and Marinda (BURNS) Redwine. He as one of
a family of seven children, the others being named Frank; Calvin,
deceased; Thomas; Marcus D.; Rufus; and Mary Frances. John W.
Redwine, their father, was born in North Carolina and was of German
ancestry. The mother was a native of South Carolina and with her
parents moved to Alabama about 1840. About the same time John W.
Redwine, then a young man, established his home in Alabama, where he
soon afterwards met and married Miss Burns. The rested his career was
spent in the quiet vocation and with the success of a southern
planter and farmer except for that period of the Civil War, during
which he fought in the ranks of a Confederate soldier.

Reared in a good home, though this early youth was spent in the
period when the South was recovering from the disastrous effects of
the war, William Nash Redwine had a fine training and his ambition
led him to gain a liberal education, largely at the expense of his
own efforts and careful economy. He attended then noted normal
schools at Lebanon and Ada Ohio and in 1892 completed his course of
law in the Cumberland University of Lebanon, Tennessee, gaining the
degree of LL. B. After three years of experience as a lawyer
elsewhere, Mr. Redwine identified himself with the Indian Territory,
and since 1895 his home has been at McAlester. While his powers have
reached their climax as a trial and jury lawyer, he is almost equally
competent as a counselor, and is a man of sound legal education,
absolute integrity of character, and with such abilities as would
command presidents in any state.

He had already acquired an enviable position in old Indian Territory
before statehood His position was such that he could hardly have
avoided the honors of public leadership when Indian territory become
he State of Oklahoma. He had been active as a Democrat for number of
years, and was elected the first state senator from the Twenty-fifth
Senatorial District of Pittsburgh County. By subsequent re-election
he remained a hard working public servant in the State Senate for
seven years.

His record as a legislator can be traced for all time through the
statute books of the state. He was the author of several bills
enacted in the law, including the State Mining Law, the Anti-Trust
Law, and was largely influential in bringing about passing up what by
competent authorities has been regarded as the best code of labor
laws found in any state of the Union. He also assisted in passing the
Farmers Usury Law. He as a member of many important committees,
served as chairman of the Public Service Corporation Committee and as
a member of the committees on private corporations judiciary No. 1
federal relations committee, public buildings committee, timber, oil
and coal lands committee and on the committee of rules. The
reputation as a debater which came to him in the first session,
particularly as a result of his gallant fight in opposition to the
school land bill, followed him throughout his senatorial career.

In 1900 Senator Redwine married Miss Mattie BUCK of McAlester, who
was born at Macon, Mississippi. They have one son, John Nash Redwine.

Typed for OKGenWeb by Carolyn Smith Burns on November 4, 1998.