Wade Hampton Kornegay, 74-year-old former associate justice
of the state supreme court and a member of the state
constitutional convention, died at his home in Vinita early
Sunday. Death was attributed to a heart ailment.
Kornegay was one of the best known of Oklahoma attorneys and
spent most of his life in private practice at Vinita.
He spent 23 months on the supreme court bench, after his
appointment by his old friend William H. Murray, then
governor, to the position vacated by J. H. Langley, Pryor,
who resigned in 1931.
Kornegay was born in Duplin county, North Carolina, and was
named for General Wade Hampton, a Confederate leader. After
teaching school for four years, he studied law, and was
graduated from Vanderbilt university. He came to Indian
Territory, settling at Vinita, and in 19060 was elected to
the constitutional convention.
Right vs. Expediency
In that session, as in his future
political life, he stood steadfast for his beliefs. In a
recent autobiographical sketch he wrote that “after
statehood, as before. I stood for what I thought was right,
and not for what appeared to be expedient; consequently my
political fame did not reach very far.”
He took pride in the fact he drafted the call in 1892 for a
Democratic convention to elect delegates to the presidential
nominating convention of that year.
In Vinita Since 1891
Except for his term on the supreme court, Kornegay has
practiced law in Vinita since 1891.
He had been ill for about a week before his death.
Survivors include his wife, two sons, Clarence Stafford,
Vinita, and Wade Hampton Kornegay jr., Muskogee; two
daughters, Janette Kornegay and Mrs. Faye Louise Confer,
both of Vinita, and a granddaughter, Nancy Ann Confer.
Funeral arrangements have not been made.
From The Oklahoma, 11/10/1939
Donated by:
Emily Jordan
