Wilburn CARTWRIGHT, Congress, OK (1892-1979)
CARTWRIGHT, Wilburn, a Representative from Oklahoma; born on a farm near Georgetown, Meigs County, Tenn., January 12, 1892; moved with his parents to the Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory, in 1903; attended the public schools at Wapanucka and Ada, Okla., and State Teachers College at Durant, Okla.; taught in the schools of Coal, Atoka, Bryan, and Pittsburg Counties, Okla., 1914-1926; member of the State house of representatives, 1914-1918; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1917 and commenced practice in McAlester, Okla.; served as a private in the Student Army Training Corps in 1917 and 1918; member of the State senate 1918-1922; was graduated from the law department of the University of Oklahoma at Norman in 1920; took postgraduate work at the University of Chicago, Chicago, Ill.; vocational adviser for disabled veterans at McAlester, Okla., in 1921 and 1922; unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination for Congress in 1922 and 1924; superintendent of schools at Krebs, Okla., 1922-1926; elected as a Democrat to the Seventieth and to the seven succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1927-January 3, 1943); chairman, Committee on Roads (Seventy-third through Seventy-seventh Congresses); unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1942; served as a major in the United States Army, Allied Military Government, with service in Africa and Europe from 1943 until injured; returned to the United States as an instructor at Fort Custer, Mich., in 1945; employed with the Veteransâ Administration at Muskogee, Okla., in 1945 and 1946; elected secretary of state of Oklahoma for four-year term in 1946; elected State auditor for four-year term in 1950; elected State corporation commissioner for six-year term in 1954 and reelected in 1960 and 1966; was a resident of Oklahoma City, Okla. until his death there on March 14, 1979; interment in I.O.O.F. Cemetery, Norman, Okla.
Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present
