VINITA, June 22—Thomas Albert “Bert” Chandler, former
commissioner of the Cherokee Nation and Republican
congressman from Oklahoma’s first district, died early
Monday in his home in Vinita. A victim of a heart
ailment, he had been in serious condition for several
days.
Chandler, 81, was a pioneer oil man in northeastern
Oklahoma, and reportedly drilled the first producing oil
well in the Cherokee Nation. The well was northwest of
Bartlesville.
Chandler was born 12 miles west of Siloam Springs, Ark.,
in Indian Territory. He was educated at Worcester
academy, a Congregational mission school, and Drury
College, Springfield, Mo.
In 1895, he was appointed town commissioner of the
Cherokee Nation, and served until 1898. He organized the
Indian Telephone Co., for long distance service, in
1899. The company later was sold to the Pioneer
Telephone Co., and eventually became a part of
Southwestern Bell Telephone Co.
In 1900, Chandler was appointed deputy court clerk of
the U.S. Court of Indian Territory, serving in that post
until 1907. In 1909, he was named by Gov. C.N. Haskell
as a member of the state board of affairs.
Chandler was elected to the U.S. House of
Representatives from the first congressional district in
1916 and 1920. He was defeated for the post in 1918 and
1922. He claimed to be the first Republican elected to
congress from the first district, though this was later
disputed.
In 1932, Chandler was involved with six other state
attorneys in a charge of conspiracy to attempt to
defraud the government. The affair grew out of the
divorce case of a wealthy Cherokee Indian woman, Mrs.
Exie Fife, who was a ward of the federal government.
Chandler, one of the woman’s attorneys, was recommended
for disbarment from the state bar association, following
the case. However, the disbarment was set aside, and he
was a member in good standing at the time of his death.
Services are scheduled Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. in
Burckhalter funeral chapel in Vinita.
Survivors are a son, Collis P. Chandler, Evansville,
Ill.; a daughter, Mrs. Norma Sebastian, Washington,
D.C., and two grandsons.
