What do Ferris Avenue, Gore Boulevard and Elmer Thomas Park all have in common? All three locations are named after men who began their political careers in Lawton as lawyers in 1901, when the Kiowa-Comanche-Apache (KCA) Reservation was opened for homesteaders. All three men – Scott Ferris, Thomas Gore and Elmer Thomas – rose to prominence in national politics.
THOMAS PRYOR GORE
T.P. Gore moved to southern Comanche County in June of 1901. Luck wasn’t on his side when it came to the land lottery, but he did buy a corner lot at 9th and B Streets in Lawton and opened a law office. At the April 1902 Territorial Convention of the Democratic Party he was elected to the Territorial Council from the Eleventh Territorial District for the 1903-05 term.
Politics came natural to the young man from Mississippi. His father, Thomas M. Gore, was also a lawyer and politician. T.P. was born Dec. 10, 1870, and in 1882, at the age of 12, he served as a page in the Mississippi Senate. While boarding with U.S. Senator James Z. George, he lost vision in his right eye. Four years earlier, T.P. had injured his left eye and by the age of 22 the future politician was totally blind.
Before moving to Lawton with his father in 1901, T.P. helped establish a Populist newspaper, “The Mississippi Populist” in 1894. He might have still had a little printer’s ink in his blood, as he had worked as a printer’s devil (an apprentice) at a Mississippi newspaper when he was 10. In 1894, T.P. was known as the “blind orator” and promoted Populist causes during elections.
When statehood rolled around in 1907, T.P. was elected to the U.S. Senate. “He was the youngest member and the first blind man ever to serve in that legislative chamber,” wrote Marvin J. LaHood in an article published at jstor.org. “He was six feet tall, weighed 200 pounds, and was prematurely gray – an imposing figure to represent the new state of Oklahoma.”
T.P. served two terms in the Senate, defeated for re-election in 1920, and elected to serve a third and final term in 1932. He was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 1932 and passed away in 1949.
“I love Oklahoma; I love every blade of her grass. I love every grain of her sands. I am proud of her past. I am confident of her future. I honor the Oklahoma pioneer … Whether ‘I fought the good fight’ or not, I have finished my course – I have kept the faith.” (Thomas Gore)
SCOTT FERRIS
In the 1920 primary for a U.S. Senate seat from Oklahoma, Scott Ferris defeated incumbent T.P. Gore, who had fallen out of favor with voters for opposing Pres. Woodrow Wilson’s war and peace policies. The contest split the Democratic Party and Ferris, receiving 45% of the vote, lost the general election to Rep. John William Harreld.
Ferris was born in Neosho, Mo., on Nov. 3, 1877. After graduating from the local public school system, he earned a law degree from the Kansas City School of Law in 1901. He began his law practice in Lawton the same year and was elected to serve as a member of the Territorial Oklahoma House of Representatives in 1904-05. When Oklahoma was admitted as the 46th state in 1907, Ferris was elected as a Democrat to the 60th Congress. He was re-elected multiple times and served consecutively from Nov. 16, 1907, through March 3, 1921. In the 62nd through 65th Congresses he served as chairman of the Committee on Public Lands.
Ferris also was a member of the Indian Affairs, Territories, and the Expenditures in the Department of Labor committees. In 1912 and 1916 he was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention. After losing the Senate general election race to Harreld, he moved to New York City in 1921 and worked in the oil business for three years. He then returned to Oklahoma, resumed his law practice and pursued other business interests in the oil field and agriculture.
After returning to Oklahoma, Ferris was chosen by the state’s Democratic Party to be a national committeeman and served until 1940. During this time, specifically in 1934, he was appointed chairman of the Highway Commission by then-Gov. E.W. Marland. He also owned and managed the Cotton Exchange Building in Oklahoma City. Ferris was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 1938 and died in Oklahoma City in June of 1945.
“I will be glad to lend a hand and do what I can.” (Scott Ferris)
JOHN WILLLIAM ELMER THOMAS
Another young lawyer with political aspirations and a Populist background was also lured by adventure and opportunity to the newly opened territory. Elmer Thomas was born in Indiana on Sept. 8, 1876, and pursued a short teaching career while attending college but political issues of the day held his attention. He met William Jennings Bryan, a leader in the Populist movement in 1896 during the presidential campaign.
His political experience led Thomas to become a law student at DePauw University in Indiana and he graduated in 1900. The urge to “go west” infatuated him when he saw a poster for a Rough Riders reunion to be held in Oklahoma City. He arrived in the territory in November of 1900, taught English, received a license to practice law and went into business with Jay M. Jackson, a real estate agent. Thomas moved his practice to Lawton in the summer of 1901.
Prior to the great land lottery, he operated a “lucrative” business notarizing homesteader’s documents. An article by Peter J. McCormick in the Fall 1997 issue of the “Chronicles of Oklahoma” relates that Thomas and his partners acquired land in the eastern Wichita Mountains through the land lottery and the release of leases by Texas ranchers. In the summer of 1908, they opened the Medicine Park Summer Resort and Health Spa and Thomas became known as “The Sage of Medicine Park.”
About a year before developing Medicine Park, Thomas began his political career as Oklahoma achieved statehood. He was elected to the first Oklahoma Senate in 1907. As his career progressed, he served as president pro tempore from 1910 to 1913, chaired the Appropriations Committee for 10 years, and provided leadership for the State Capitol project. In addition, he had a hand in establishing the state Game and Fish Commission and oversaw the installation of the state’s first fish hatchery at Medicine Park.
In 1922, Thomas was elected to the 68th and 69th Congresses (1923-1927) and served as a member of the Oklahoma delegation to the House of Representatives. He was a strong supporter of Indian education legislation, the McNary-Haugen Farm Bill, and was in favor of legislation that would expand credit for farmers. He was a member of the House Committee on Public Lands and Claims.
Thomas became a candidate for the U.S. Senate as his House of Representative's term was expiring and defeated former governor Jack Walton for the seat. After re-election in 1932, Thomas’ key piece of legislation during Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “New Deal” administration was the “Thomas Amendment” to the Agricultural Adjustment Act. The intent was to help farmers financially by allowing the president to reduce the gold backing for dollars and to print bills backed by silver alone when cash was extremely tight. Colleagues were furious about Thomas’ threat to the Gold Standard; however, the Thomas Amendment became part of the “One Hundred Days” legacy of the Roosevelt administration.
In addition to serving as chairman of the Committee on Indian Affairs between 1935 and 1944, Thomas was interested in international affairs. He supported the League of Nations, the Kellogg-Briand Peace Pact and the World Court. He had a deep concern for military preparedness. In 1923, Thomas was commissioned and served in the U.S. Army as a lieutenant colonel assigned to military intelligence and retained the rank as a member of the Reserves. In June 1938, he was chairman of the Sub-Committee on Military Appropriations and during World War II that sub-committee secured funding for the secret atomic bomb project. Thomas was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 1932.
In 1950, he lost a primary race and opened a law office in Washington, D.C. He retired to Lawton in 1957 and died in September of 1965.
“Now go ahead, ask me any questions you want. But don’t expect me to dwell on frivolities. I don’t have the time.” (Elmer Thomas)
Three men – one from Mississippi, one from Missouri and one from Indiana - sought opportunity in a new, raw territory. Each called Lawton home and rose to national prominence on the political stage, paving the way for generations to come.
Sources for this article include oklahomahof.com/member-archives/f/ferris-scott-1938; oklahomahof.com/member-archives/g/gore-thomas-p-1932; oklahomahof.com/member-archives/t/thomas-john-william-elmer-1932; jstor.org, “Gore Vidal: A Grandfather’s Legacy” by Marvin J. LaHood; okhistory.org, “Ferris, Scott (1877-1945)” by Todd J. Kosmerick; everything.explained.today/Scott_Ferris; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Ferris; okhistory.org, “Thomas, John William Elmer (1876-1965) by David D. Webb; “Senator: 1876-1965 The Life and Career of Elmer Thomas” by E.T. Rook, books.google.com; www.jstor.org, “Senator from Oklahoma: The Legislative Career of Hoosier Elmer Thomas” by Carolyn G. Hanneman; Chronicles of Oklahoma, gateway.okhistory.org, Vol. 75, No. 3, Fall 1997, pages 244-261, “River Rock Resort: Medicine Park’s Landscape and Wichita Mountain Vernacular Architecture” by Peter J. McCormick; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elmer_Thomas.