Daily Oklahoman
Tuesday, October 5, 1937
pg.1
 
HEART STROKE PROVES FATAL TO R.H. WILSON - Veteran of Politics Dies at Home - LONG IN PUBLIC LIFE - He Served 12 Years In School Post.

Robert H. Wilson, veteran state political figure, died unexpectedly Monday night after he was stricken with a heart ailment at his home, 401 Northeast Twelfth street.
Wilson was 64 years old and had been in good health until the time he was stricken, members of his family said. He first complained of feeling ill early Monday morning.  He grew rapidly worse and died shortly after 6 p.m.  Wilson came to Oklahoma City in 1910 from Chickasha, when he was elected state superintendent of public instruction.  He continued in this post for 12 years.

   CAME TO STATE IN 1903
In the last gubernatorial race, he took an active part in the campaign of E.W. Marland, and was named secretary of the conservation commission on Oct. 11, 1935.    In December of that year he was appointed Oklahoma county tag agent where he served until December, 1936.
Wilson came to Oklahoma from Texas in 1903 and has played an active part in the state political scene since that time.  His first public job was county superintendent of schools in Grady county.

   A NATIVE OF KENTUCKY
In 1922, after completing three terms as state superintendent of public instruction, he ran for the Democratic nomination for governor, losing to J.C. Walton.
His last appearance as a public office seeker was in 1932, when he ran for congress in the fifth district.  He was defeated by F.B. Swank, Norman.
The Oklahoma political veteran was born on a farm near Scottsville, KY, in 1873, the son of John A. and Mary E. Wilson.  When he was 18 years old he moved to Texas with his family, and settled on a homestead farm near Whitewright.  He continued his studies at home and then attended the preparatory department of Grayson college, four miles from his home.  He completed his course and became a Texas rural school teacher.

   HE BOOSTED CONSOLIDATIONS
He moved to Chickasha and taught there until he became county superintendent.  While state superintendent, Wilson's chief project was in promoting the creation of consolidated school districts to give the country people high schools and community centers.
A husky man with a massive head and flowing gray hair, Wilson had been a familiar figure at political rallies throughout the state.  He has been described as a nervous, fast and loud talker.
One political writer once called him a man "strong for his friends and 'pizen' for those who oppose him".
Wilson was a Mason, a member of the Shrine, the Guthrie Consistory and the First Baptist church.
He is survived by his wife, Sarah Grace, a son Lee Wilson and a daughter,  Mrs. Fred  Bogle, both of the home address.
The Guardian funeral home will arrange services. 

(Researcher's note - R.H. Wilson married Sarah Grace Womack on November 18, 1876 in Fannin Co., TX.  Sarah Grace was the daughter of  William Melton Womack and Lydia Magdalene (Maggie Alice) Blanton.  Her grandparents were Stephen Fletcher Blanton and wife Sarah McDaniel  and John McDaniel, Jr. and wife Mary Sperling.)

Chronicles of Oklahoma, Volume 15, No. 4, December, 1937, NECROLOGY, Page 498

ROBERT H. WILSON  1873-1937.

Robert H. Wilson was born near Scottsville, Allen County, Kentucky, August 25, 1873. He died at his home in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, October 4, 1937, at the age of sixty-four years. His father, John A., and his mother, Mary E. (Briley) Wilson, moved to Texas in 1891. They settled near Whitewright, in Grayson County. Robert was the eldest of eight children, five sons and three daughters.
His early education was in the rural schools in Kentucky, and was mostly on his own initiative. At the age of twenty he had the opportunity of entering Grayson College, Whitewright, Texas. In order to remain in school it became necessary for him to borrow money to meet his expenses. His determination and longing for an education caused him to do this. He attended college for three terms and then taught school for one year, returning to college the next fall. He was unable to finish the term mostly by reason of his limited financial resources. He taught in the rural schools of Texas, spending his vacation periods upon the farm.
On September 17, 1899, he married Miss Grace Womack, daughter of William M. and Maggie (Blanton) Womack, of Whitewright, Texas, and they have two children: Robert Lee, who was born January 6, 1901, and Mary Grace, who was born October 16, 1909, who is now Mrs. Fred Bogle. Mr. Wilson was a member of the First Baptist Church of Oklahoma City.
In December, 1903, he moved to Chickasha, Indian Territory, or what is now Grady County, Oklahoma. He was elected as principal of one of the grade schools of that city, and with the coming of Statehood in 1907, he was elected as the first County Superintendent of Grady County, without opposition. He held his position until January, 1911, when he assumed the office of State Superintendent of Public Instruction to which he had been elected.
As County Superintendent of Grady County he demonstrated his ability as a school man and as an organizer. He at once began the organization of seventy-one school districts, many of them in the old Indian Territory where no schools had been prior to that date. Many new buildings were erected under his supervision, and he was one of the first County Superintendents in Oklahoma to organize and establish consolidated and graded schools for rural children. When he finished his term of office, only three counties in Oklahoma could claim a greater number of first grade teachers than Grady County. During the time he was County Superintendent he served two and one-half years as a member of the Board of Education of the City of Chickasha and assisted in the establishment of a splendid school system. In 1908 he was elected President of the Oklahoma School Officers' Association and in 1909 he was elected Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Oklahoma Teachers' Association. In November 1910, he was elected State Superintendent, was re-elected in 1914, and elected for a third term in 1918. In November, 1914, he was elected President of the Oklahoma State Teachers' Association by an overwhelming majority. The Oklahoma Teacher, in its November 1937, issue, in giving notice of his passing, says: (Page 499)
"A great deal of credit for the organization and building of Oklahoma's school system should go to R. H. Wilson who died in Oklahoma City October 4. He served as State Superintendent for 12 years, while the state was very young. He was a vigorous school executive and was an ardent supporter of the rural schools. He pushed through many consolidations. He organized the Department of Rural School Supervision and sponsored the law which made state appropriations for the erection of consolidated school buildings.
Wilson made a determined effort to reduce the illiteracy in the state, through Wilson's efforts illiteracy in the state was materially reduced. Higher education also received his earnest attention. During the time he was State Superintendent he was also President of the Board of Regents for the University and of the six normal schools. Credit should go to him for bringing Stratton D. Brooks to the presidency of the University of Oklahoma and for raising the six normal schools to teachers' colleges.  He sponsored the bill which set up the Department of High School Inspection and appointed the first inspectors.
Wilson was one of the first three to become a life member of the Oklahoma Education Association and served as its president in 1915. He courageously supported those things which he thought were right and his influence on the schools of Oklahoma will never be forgotten."
His career shows steadfastness of character and purity of principle. His record during his life displayed a patriotic and abiding faith in the principles of our Government, a correct sense of justice and a deep and generous sympathy for those who struggled for the betterment of themselves and their children. He believed that the foundation of a wise and enduring Government was the education of its people and if there was any one course more than another which appealed to his sympathy and enthusiasm it was for the education of the rural children of this state.
Although Robert H. Wilson devoted most of his life to education, particularly to the organization and betterment of rural schools and for equal educational opportunity for all children of the state, and by these he will best be known for his outstanding work in the field of education, his duties as State Superintendent and as a member of the School Land Commission, held by virtue of his office as Superintendent, and as President of the State Board of Education, and Chairman of the State Text Book Commission, gave him an opportunity to demonstrate his ability as an executive and as a business man. With the Governors of the State, and other members of the commission he met the duties and responsibilities imposed upon him, and today the magnificent sum of money now to the credit of the common schools of this state is a reality due to his and his associates' integrity and sound business judgment. After his retirement from public office his advice and judgment were often sought by many in public life. His close friends therefore think of him not only as a leader in establishing the educational system of this state but as one of Oklahoma's outstanding pioneers, a public officer whose honesty and integrity were never questioned, and whose life was devoted to the welfare of the state and the
preservation of the republic. He was a man of positive convictions and was always moved by those convictions. (Page 500)
Although positive and firm in his views on public questions, he was kind and gentle. Everyone who knew him and watched his career pointed to him as an upright man, able, conscientious, an honest public official. No one ever questioned his integrity. His life is a lesson to the youth of Oklahoma, whom he loved and served.

My creed is work; to follow duty's call
However far it leads across the plains
Through trackless woods, or ringing on the hills;
To seek pleasure in the realms of toil.
Still ever striving for a larger self
     With which to do a service for the rest.

To lay a new path through the unknown way,
And leave some heritage e'en though so small
No other hand would love or care to leave.

Rejoicing ever in my brother's craft,
     To follow system in the perfect law.
Be what I am, and do my very best
     To lead a life that towers above the hills,
And points the way across the plains to God."   R. H. Wilson.