Business in the Territory
My POW (place of work), the Research Division of the Oklahoma Historical Society, has just added a wonderful resource to its online offerings.
A while ago, the Oklahoma Secretary of State‘s office made some pre-statehood ledgers available for scanning and indexing. These ledgers recorded incorporations prior to statehood in 1907.
Doesn’t sound too interesting, does it? But take a look at the official description:
The Incorporation Records for the Oklahoma and Indian Territories have been digitized in a joint project with the Oklahoma Historical Society and the Oklahoma Secretary of State’s Office. The ledger books were generated by the Territorial secretary as new businesses and municipalities began conducting business. There are 27 volumes of Oklahoma Territory Incorporation Records and 15 volumes for Indian Territory. Some examples of the entries found in the ledgers include: Agreement & Incorporation, Incorporation Amendment, Appointment of Agent, Dissolution, as well as lease and mortgage transactions. The entries begin in 1890 and continue until statehood is established in 1907.
Keep in mind that included are transactions for churches and lodges and private business as well as the larger banks and coal and, of course, oil companies. While the database is not searchable by personal name, it is quite user friendly if you spend a bit of time getting use to the terminology.
For example, a search using the name of the small town in western Oklahoma Territory where my grandfather was born, Taloga, yields entries for 4 churches as well as a bank, 2 lodges, a rail company and a mill and elevator company–9 entries in all. His father and uncle are listed as working at a mill on the 1910 census–perhaps the very one listed in this book of incorporations. PDF images of the original entries are linked to each organization so you can read the personal names included in each incorporation or charter or document.
I am currently researching a man who was a coal miner in Indian Territory and after statehood. A search using just “coal” as the search term yields almost 200 coal companies–who knew there were so many coal companies that early in this area?
If you had people pre-statehood Oklahoma, take a look. You might find information on a church or a lodge they were a member–or, if you’re related to a mover and shaker, perhaps even the incorporation papers for their oil and/or gas company. We have lots of those in Oklahoma.
This is wonderful. Thanks for the ideas about how to use the site. Very helpful.
These are some nice new ideas and I thank you for them however the one bit of information I have been looking for for years is when my great grandfather died in Tulsa. He was in the 1910 census living with his son and then gone by the 1820. since you are mentioning research ideas for pre-statehood (pre 1907) this doesn’t help me as much as I’d hoped. Perhaps other states will follow suit though.
Thanks for stopping by, Tamara. A couple of ideas for finding your great-grandfather–have you contacted the Tulsa Genealogical Society? They have published records from several of the funeral homes, including early ones. And they have some very good records that might help if their books don’t cover this time period. Also, there are newspapers for that area from before statehood. If you have an exact date, you can request a search at the Oklahoma Historical Society Research Division. Good luck!!
Thanks so much for this. My father’s family came to OK in 1898-1901 and my grandfather was a small businessman in SW OK. This could be really interesting.
I hope you find him! You’ll definitely find more about the time and place.
Thanks for the additional information. While you said the site was not searchable by name, I somehow fell into the marriage records and found the data I was looking for with a citation.
So glad you found the marriage record. My “not searchable by name” was meant ONLY for the Incorporation records. There are plenty of other indexes searchable by name at the OHS Research Division‘s website, and more coming, thanks to the terrific volunteers there.
I’ve been looking for my father’s birth certificate. He was born March 10, 1901 in Homestead, OK. Any suggestions? These records seem to have been unavailable for a long time. I know my father had a birth certificate because I have a notarized staement indicating that the notary had seen the document and certified the information on it. Thanks!
Hi Tim, This is an issue for a lot of folks in Oklahoma since we weren’t a state until 1907. And even at that, there aren’t consistent vital records until the mid 1930s. It sounds like your father may have had a delayed birth certificate. My grandparents, one born in 1906 and one in 1908, filed affidavits sometime in the 1950s as they were approaching the time when they could start drawing social security. I was able to obtain copies of those delayed certificates. AND, I’ve recently seen some paperwork that is part of a military file that sounds similar to what you have–there’s a notarized statement indicating that this person has a certificate on file in the Bureau of Vital Stats here in Oklahoma. This was about 1942, if I remember correctly.
So, have you talked to the people at Vital Records? You might send them a photocopy of the document you have and ask specifically for a copy of his delayed birth certificate. Good luck!!
My search is a little different than most. My husband’s great grandfather was Job Jenkins. All the info I have is that at some point after migrating from Wales to the U.S. in 1882 with his wife Hannah Minton Jenkins, he “went out west to a mining adventure.” He had to have left after the birth of their last child in 1884, assuming it was his child.
The family reports that he was shot & killed in a robbery when he was carrying the mine’s payroll. He is not buried in the family’s plot where his wife, three sons & 2 daughters-in-law are buried. Any help is appreciated.