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HON. RAPHAEL F. WILSON
Vol. 3, p. 1218
Book has photo

Hon. Raphael F. WILSON. The boundary margin between Indian tribal
government and state government was infinitesimal. It began when
President Roosevelt made the first penmark of his signature on the
proclamation and ended when his signature was complete. In Oklahoma
the proclamation became one of the great instruments of the state's
history and it left in another era most of the men who had been part
of the government of that period. A few crossed the boundary shortly,
among them Hon. Raphael F. Wilson, of Valliant, and a good many
others accomplished it later. That is to say, the people of Oklahoma
found in tribal officials some of the material out of which to make
state officials. It may be said as approximating the fact that Mr.
Wilson had stepped from the office of judge of the Second Judicial
District of the Choctaw Nation, to the office of a member of the
State Board of Agriculture.

Mr. Wilson had been sheriff of Towson County and district clerk of
the Second Judicial District, composed of several counties, and a
member of the Choctaw Legislature before his people made him district
judge. To him, and his district clerk, Crawford J. Anderson, of
Talihina, was given the duty of clearing the dockets of the court
before the tribal government ceased to exist; and the work for more
than one term of court was arduous as well as it was sad-sad because
it was the last step toward the abandonment for all time of all that
was sacred in Choctaw government. No cases of the docket were of
particular significance. A citizen here and there accused of a crime
had to be taken by the sheriff to a tree and whipped for his sins.
The citizenship was composed of all races by blood, adoption or
intermarriage. There were several murder cases but no convictions; in
fact, it never became the duty of Judge Wilson while he was on the
bench to impose the extreme penalty for murder. When it was all over,
the bells rang in the era for statehood. At that time Governor
Haskell sent for Judge Wilson and gave him a commission as a member
of the first State Board of Agriculture, of which board he held the
responsible position of treasurer, and served as a member for five
years.

As a member of the Choctaw Legislature, under an administration of
Governor Green McCurtain, Mr. Wilson's principal activities were
those connected with the effort to keep from the tribal rolls any
whose claim to citizenship was not established beyond doubt. They
were rather stormy days at the capital at Tuskahoma, for applicants
for enrollment came by the hundreds and presented all manner of
claims. It required the exercise of extreme care and well-balanced
judgement for the men of the Legislature to exercise the qualities of
fairness and justice in all cases. As a member of the Board of
Agriculture, Mr. Wilson joined in the election of J. H. CONNELL as
first president of the Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College
after statehood, and his Board built, equipped and hired teachers for
and prepared courses of study for the six secondary agricultural and
mechanical schools that were established after statehood. The value
of Mr. Wilson as a member of the board lay largely in his knowledge
of what the old Indian nations of the eastern side of the state
required at the hands of the state and the board. In the mountains
near the old Village of Alikchi he is still operating a large ranch
where 1,800 acres are under fence and 10,000 acres lie outdoors for
his use. Here he has been raising cattle and hogs and growing feed
and other crops and illustrating what was possible for a progressive
Indian to accomplish under the arts of civilization.

Mr. Wilson was born in 1870, within two miles of the present site of
Valliant, which is his home. His parents were John and Jane (JAMES)
Wilson, and his farther a one-eighth Choctaw, who was born in
Mississippi, came with the Choctaws when they migrated to Indian
Territory. John Wilson was a farmer and stockman. He first settled
near Wheelock Academy and later moved to what became his permanent
home hear Valliant, and there resided until his death, an event which
took place in 1892. John Wilson was a man of big brain and
progressive outlook on life. He was so well loved by his people that
they kept him in the office of county judge of Towson County for
nearly twenty years. Mr. Wilson was a nephew of Bazil LEFLORE, the
first governor of the Choctaws in Indian Territory, for whom LeFlore
County was named. The mother of Raphael F. Wilson was of Chickasaw
parentage, and her brother George James, who lived at Stonewall and
was for a time superintendent of a tribal school there, was for many
years one of the leading educators among the Chickasaw people. John
and Jane Wilson became the parents of four sons, namely: Raphael F.,
of this notice; W. W., who is engaged in banking and merchandising at
Fort Towson; and J. D. And F. H., who are engaged as stockmen at Fort
Towson.

The first school attended by Raphael F. Wilson was taught in a log
schoolhouse in the timber near his birthplace, and E. S. CRUIT, a
white man, licensed by the Choctaw board of Education, was its
teacher. Later Mr. Wilson attended Spencer Academy, being there under
the administrations of O. P. STARKS and H. R. SCHEMMERHORN, and at
that institution was a schoolmate of Thomas HUNTER of Hugo; Alexander
WILLIAMS, for many years a Methodist preacher; Solomon HOMER, who
became a distinguished lawyer and brilliant poet, and Hampton TUCKER,
a prominent citizen of McAlester at this time. He entered public life
after leaving school and devoted many years to its duties. As
district judge he succeeded Gilbert W. DUKES, who afterwards became
governor of the nation and its representative at Washington, D. C. He
has an elegant home at Valliant and in recent years has devoted much
of his time to his ranch interests.

In May, 1915, the democrats of Valliant elected Judge Wilson mayor
of the town. This was fitting, for he is the father of the town and
the namer [sic] of its streets, it having been built on land that he
held. He had shot deer and turkey her many years before, and for
several years was a member of the town board of trustees, filling
that office when electric lights were installed and sidewalks built,
and the water system constructed which is the pride of the locality
and is considered one of the best in the entire state, for a town of
this size. For many years he was a member of the town board of
education, and was instrumental in the erection of the modern school
building. Since he has been mayor bonds have been voted for a county
fair ground and buildings. It has been erroneously stated that Dalton
Avenue in Valliant, which is the main business thoroughfare, was
named for the Dalton band of outlaws who once made an escape from
Texas through this section of the territory. In fact, the street was
named in honor of an official of the Frisco Railroad Company. Mr.
Wilson has all proper modesty regarding his own accomplishments in
the world, and he shows most enthusiasm and pride when speaking of
his little town, which he has seen come up from nothing, and in which
development his friends say he has been the factor of foremost
influence from the beginning. He helped to organize the first bank in
the town, of which he held the position of vice president for many
years, and was also interested in the first store.

Mr. Wilson was married in 1896 to Miss Emma BOHANNON, an orphan girl
who was educated at Wheelock Academy and who lived at the time of her
marriage in the home of Judge Henry HARRIS, where the ceremony was
performed by W. H. WAGONER, a Methodist preacher. They have five
children: Toru, Raphael, Eleanor, McCurtain and Waldo Franklin, all
of whom are at home. Mr. Wilson is a member of the Methodist
Episcopal Church South, the Woodmen of the World lodge and the Texas
Cattle Raisers' Association.

Typed for OKGenWeb by Paul Grose, November 29, 1998.