Volume 12 , Issue 21

Woods County Sheriffs (Oklahoma)

This information was gathered from "The First 100 Years of Alva, Oklahoma" (1886-1986)

At the opening of the Cherokee Strip, W. P. Kendal was appointed to serve as the Sheriff of Old "M" County. Kendall served from 1893 to 1894 until the first duly elected Sheriff took office.

The month after the Run in September 16, 1893, the first county jail was built of 2x4 lumber nailed flat and solidly one board on top of the other. It measured 10x12 feet.

H. Clay McGrath, The First elected Sheriff was H. Clay McGrath in 1895 to 1898. His sheriff's office at that time measured 19x19 square feet.

Two famous outlaws that had a hideout in a cave on the Cimarron River were Zip Wyatt (a.k.a. Dick Yeager) and Isaac Black (a.k.a. Ike Black). Woods County warrants were outstanding for their arrests on charges of horse stealing and gun toting. Black was a two-bit bandit who was killed around Longdale, Oklahoma and his body was hauled to Alva in a lumber wagon. He supposedly had killed a sheriff in Kansas.

Yeager was supposed to have ridden with Quantrill and had helped the Doolins rob a Rock Island train. On August 4, 1895 he was killed near Enid, Oklahoma by a posse of farmers.

Law enforcement was not too popular with the settlers because of grazing and lumber regulations and they had assisted Black and Yeager until they got to killing settlers.

During the times of old "M" County and the beginning of Woods County, the Sheriffs appointed a deputy in each geographical township. Which made for as many as 55 deputies.

Concerning the lumber regulations, the cedar trees in the red hills, south and west of Alva across the Cimarron River were considered to be US Government property. Several people were arrested and charged with the federal offense of Stealing Cedar.

In January 1904 the old county jail was given to the City of Alva and a new one was constructed in the public square. It was the first brick building erected in Alva. During the same month Sheriff Oats transported six men and one woman to the state penitentiary in Lansing, Kansas. There was not state penitentiary in Oklahoma at this time.

In 1909, Oates was appointed Deputy Warden at the new state penitentiary in McAlester, Oklahoma. On January 19, 1914 he was killed in the first riot in that institution.

Before Statehood, Old Woods County was sometimes referred to as the Woods County Empire. There were a lot of citizens of Woods County that were against statehood, because the Oklahoma Constitutional Convention had elected to re-establish county lines and cut Woods county down to the size it is today.

Judge Pancoast, in a suit filed in his court, granted an injunction against the convention saying, It didn't have the right to alter county lines.

This injunction held up for 90 days. Alfalfa Bill Murry, who is to the Oklahoma Constitution what Tom Jefferson is to the US Constitution, risked contempt of court and sent a wire for the Territorial Supreme Court, which had sustained the injunction. My compliments to the Court. Tell them to go to hell.

Late in July 1907, Judge Pancoast's injunction was dissolved and Judge Hainer wrote a decision sustaining the authority of the Convention to draw county lines -- The only decision of its kind in the annals of American Jurisprudence. Woods County was thrown out of court.

It was during the terms of office of Ken Greer and Dewey Randall where Woods county officers had the opportunity to chase the famed outlaws of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrows. It seems that Bonnie & Clyde had stolen a vehicle and traveled west. They were in the city park of Meade, Kansas where a crowd of people were playing croquet. A third member of the Barrow gang went to steal another car, but a woman was in that car and put up a fuss that brought her boyfriend over. Her boyfriend knocked the car thief out cold with a croquet mallet. During this time Bonnie & Clyde made their escape in another stolen vehicle.

Sheriffs of M (Woods) County

• 1893-1894 -- W. P. Kendall
• 1895-1898 -- H. Clay McGrath, Sheriff; Gus Hadwiger, Undersheriff; D. C. Oates, deputy; Jeff Bowers, Probate Judge
• 1899 -- AW Keith, Sheriff; WM Harney, deputy; WS McKown, office deputy
• 1900-1904 -- D. C. (David Cannon) Oates, sheriff; JW Huntington, undersheriff; JW Murphy, deputy; JJ Hughes, Probate Judge; C. H. Mauntel, county attorney
• 1905-1908 -- Gud Hadwiger, sheriff; WS Thralls, undersheriff; AC Beeman, deputy; John L. Pancoast, county judge
• 1909-1912 -- Hugh Martin, sheriff; George Devhan, undersheriff
• 1913-1914 -- Walter Rambo, sheriff; JR Graves, deputy; Robert Melton STrong, deputy
• 1915-1918 -- John Strother
• 1919-1922 -- Harry Hodgson, sheriff; Charlie Johnson, undersheriff; William "Bill" Deaton, deputy
• 1923-1924 -- Hugh Martin, Sheriff
• 1925-1928 -- JD Beam, sheriff; Wm Bill Deaton, undersheriff
• 1929-1932 -- AH Edwards, sheriff; Corda Kelly, undersheriff
• 1933-1948 -- Kenner "Ken" Wilburn Greer, sheriff; Dewey Randall, undersheriff; Nels Nelson, deputy
• 1949-1952 -- WS Gillen, sheriff; Clyde Jones, undersheriff; Albert L. Rose, deputy
• 1953-1954 -- Kenner Greer, sheriff; Elvin White, undersheriff; Ed Doctor, deputy
• 1955-1960 -- Ed Doctor, sheriff; Elvin White, undersheriff; Doss Gourley, deputy
• 1961-1964 -- Doss Gourley, sheriff; Elvin White, undersheriff; Clyde Vore, deputy
• 1964-1968 -- Elvin White, sheriff; Clyde Vore, undersheriff; Rober H. Wiebener, deputy
• 1969-1973 -- Clyde Vore, sheriff; Zeral Harris, undersheriff; Rex Davis, deputy
• 1973-1974 -- Arlo Darr, sheriff; Don Bolar, undersheriff; Mannie Brewer, deputy
• 1975- 1990 -- Bill H. Beierschmitt, sheriff; Ted Jones, undersheriff; Mike Snowden, deputy
• 1990-1998 -- Ted Jones served as sheriff with Mike Snowden as undersheriff until 1996 then Rudy Briggs took over as undersheriff.
• 1998 to (??) -- Rudy Briggs sheriff with Shane Vore as undersheriff

We understand that our list needs to be updated to 2010. If anyone out there has the information after Briggs that would update the Woods County Sheriffs, we would love you to submit it through the "comment" link below. Thanks for your help!   |  View or Add Comments (1 Comments)   |   Receive updates ( subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

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