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W. JULIUS WHITE
Vol. 3, p. 1023

W. JULIUS WHITE. The historic little Village of Harris, which 
acquired its name from its founder, Judge Henry Harris, had among 
its early white settlers in 1885 two energetic and progressive young 
men who had come over Red River from Texas to aid in the development 
of the Indian country and thereby make their own fortunes. They were 
J. R. White and W. A. COLEMAN, and a history of McCurtain County 
would be sadly incomplete without some account of their activities 
during a period of about thirty years.

J. R. White was a native of Texas and grew to manhood on the Indian 
Territory border. His first avocation was that of farmer, but he 
departed from that to an extent when he moved to the Indian country 
and entered the live stock business with W. A. Coleman. This 
partnership, the activities of which covered a good part of the 
Choctaw region south of the mountains, continued for five years, 
when Mr. White entered the mercantile business at Harris. In later 
years he moved to the Village of Norwood and entered the merchandise 
business, and in 1902 became one of the first merchants of the Town 
of Idabel. Thereafter, until his death, which occurred August 25, 
1914, his time and energies were devoted to the management of his 
accumulated interests which consisted of farms and ranches, a large 
stock of merchandise, business blocks and residences, and stock in 
the First National Bank of Idabel and the First National Bank of 
Haworth. His estate is one of the largest in McCurtain County, and 
in the accumulation of it he exhibited enterprise and ability that 
characterized him as one of the county's leading men. His fortune is 
an example of what a young man could accomplish by embracing the 
almost innumerable opportunities of the Indian country in the early 
days of its industrial and commercial history.

J. R. White married Miss Lena SIMPSON, who possesses Choctaw blood, 
being descended from the notable HAMPTON family of the Choctaw 
Nation. Her father was a white man who married into the Hampton 
family, while her maternal grandfather was a fullblood Choctaw and a 
district chief under tribal government and her Hampton ancestors had 
much to do with the making of Treaties and agreements between the 
United States Government and Choctaws. Under tribal government, J. 
R. White severed two terms as sheriff of Red River County and in 
that capacity frequently was called upon to inflict the lash 
punishment of men charged with law infraction. These punishments 
took place both at Kulli Tuklo, county seat of Red River County, and 
at Alikehi, seat of the District Court of this section of the 
Choctaw Nation. Practically his sole possession when he married was 
a horse. He built a little cabin in the woods, cleared a few acres 
of timber land, and began his career as a farmer before the live 
stock industry developed. There were no railroads then and after he 
began to deal in cattle his most convenient market for stock cattle 
was Clarksville, Texas, beef cattle being driven to Little Rock, 
Arkansas. Mrs. White still survives and makes her home with her 
children, Tuck, a son, and May and Ola, daughters, at Idabel.

W. Julius White, son of J. R. and Lena (SIMPSON) White, and a worthy 
representative of the family, was born at English, Texas, near the 
Indian Territory line, August 9, 1892. After attending the public 
schools he became a student at the Wall School at Honey Grove, 
Texas, for a time, and subsequently completed a business course in a 
commercial college at Sulphur, Oklahoma, this being followed by a 
literary course at Henderson College, Arkadelphia, Arkansas. He 
received his real business training under the able preceptorship of 
his father, and at the time of the elder man's death assumed the 
management of his vast estate, of which he has since had charge. He 
is accounted one of the energetic, prosperous and cable young 
business men of the town, a stanch supporter of all worthy and 
beneficial movements, and a general favorite among those with whom 
he has come into contact.

Mr. White was married March 31, 1912, to Miss May HINES, of Fort 
Smith, Arkansas. Mr. White is a member of the Independent Order of 
Odd Fellows, the Loyal Order of Moose and the Knights of the 
Maccabees and has many friends in fraternal circles, as well as in 
business life, in McCurtain County.

Typed for OKGenWeb by Carolyn Smith Burns on December 16, 1999.