Charles David Carter (August 16, 1868 – April 9, 1929) was an American politician who served in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

from Oklahoma's 4th and 3rd congressional districts from 1907 to 1927. He was appointed by President

William McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until Assassination of William McKinley, his assassination in 1901. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Repub ...

as Mining Trustee for

Indian Territory Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United States, ...

, which he served as from 1900 to 1904. Carter was active in the Chickasaw Nation and served as its auditor, on the Chickasaw Council, and as superintendent of Chickasaw Schools.

Early life

Charles David Carter was born near

Boggy Depot ''Boggy Depot'' is the debut solo album by Alice in Chains guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell. The vinyl edition was released on March 31, 1998, and the CD was released on April 7, 1998, through Columbia Records. The album was named after the ...

Choctaw Nation The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma (Choctaw: ''Chahta Okla'') is a Native American reservation occupying portions of southeastern Oklahoma in the United States. At roughly , it is the second-largest reservation in area after the Navajo, exceeding t ...

(now

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

), Carter moved with his father to Mill Creek, a stage stand on the western frontier of the Chickasaw Nation, in April 1876. Carter was of

Chickasaw The Chickasaw ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands, United States. Their traditional territory was in northern Mississippi, northwestern and northern Alabama, western Tennessee and southwestern Kentucky. Their language is ...

and

Cherokee The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...

descent. He attended the Indian day schools and Chickasaw Manual Training Academy at Tishomingo. Carter was employed on a ranch from 1887 to 1889 and in a mercantile establishment in

Ardmore, Oklahoma Ardmore is the county seat of Carter County, Oklahoma, Carter County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 24,725 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, a 1.8% increase over the 2010 census figure of 24,283. The Ardmo ...

, from 1889 to 1892. He married Ada Gertrude Wilson on December 29, 1891 and they had four children, Stella LeFlore, Italy Cecil, Julia Josephine, and Benjamin Wisnor Carter, Jr. After Ada's death on January 30, 1901, he married Cecile Whittington Jones on January 8, 1911.

Public service

Carter served as auditor of public accounts of the Chickasaw Nation from 1892 to 1894, a member of the Chickasaw Council in 1895, then superintendent of schools of the Chickasaw Nation in 1897. He was appointed mining trustee of Indian Territory by President

in November 1900 and served four years. Carter was Secretary of the first Democratic executive committee of the proposed State of Oklahoma from June to December 1906. Upon the admission of Oklahoma as a State into the Union, he was elected as a Democrat to the Sixtieth and to the nine succeeding Congresses, serving from November 16, 1907, to March 4, 1927. Carter served as chairman of the Committee on Indian Affairs (Sixty-fifth Congress). He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1926. He was appointed to the State highway commission, serving 1927-1929.

Death

Carter died in Ardmore, Carter County, Oklahoma, on April 9, 1929. He is interred at Rose Hill Cemetery in Ardmore.

Electoral history

References

External links