Edward E. Calkins (August 20, 1836May 3, 1911) was an American lawyer, Union Army officer, and politician who served in the

Indiana House of Representatives The Indiana House of Representatives is the lower house of the Indiana General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Indiana. The House is composed of 100 members representing an equal number of constituent districts. House mem ...

from 1871 to 1872 and as the first

Mayor of Tulsa This is a list of mayors of Tulsa, a city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Mayors of Tulsa are elected for four year terms. Mayors of Tulsa Notes See also * Timeline of Tulsa, Oklahoma References ;General Political Graveyard–Mayors of T ...

from 1898 to 1899. Born on August 20, 1836, in

Burlington, Pennsylvania Burlington is a borough in Bradford County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania. The population was 145 at the 2020 census. Children residing in the township are assigned to attend the Troy Area School District. ...

, Calkins later moved to Ohio and attended

Ohio Wesleyan University Ohio Wesleyan University (abbrevriated OWU) is a private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Delaware, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1842 by Methodist leaders and Ohio Valley, Centra ...

. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, he joined the Union Army. After the war, he moved to Indiana where he was elected to the

in 1871. He would later move to

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, ...

where he was the first lawyer to settle in

Tulsa Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...

and was eventually elected the city's first mayor.

Biography

Edward Calkins was born on August 20, 1836, in

. In 1852, he moved to Ohio where he attended

. At 27, he volunteered during the

, serving two years as an officer in the 7th Indiana Cavalry Regiment. He served one term in the

in 1871 as a Republican. In the spring of 1895, Calkins moved to

, becoming the first lawyer in the town. He signed the city's charter of incorporation in December 1897 and was elected mayor in April 1898. An election was held although he faced no opponent. He was succeeded by R. N. Bynum in 1899, and ran for the office again in 1900 losing to Lewis Poe. He was the city attorney for Tulsa from 1902 to 1903 under Mayor George D. Blakey. He died on May 3, 1911.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Calkins, Edward E. 1836 births 1911 deaths Mayors of Tulsa, Indian Territory Oklahoma lawyers People from Bradford County, Pennsylvania Republican Party members of the Indiana House of Representatives Union army officers 19th-century members of the Indiana General Assembly