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Tuesday, March 22, 2022

"TO PERMIT STATE BANK TO OPERATE IN INSOLVENT CONDITION"

GOVERNOR ROBERTSON OF OKLAHOMA ARRESTED FOR 'ACCEPTING BRIBE' 

Okmulgee, Oklahoma (JFK+50) On March 22, 1922, Oklahoma governor J.B.A. Robertson* was arrested here in Okmulgee** for "accepting a bribe," amounting to $25,000, "to permit operation of the Guaranty State Bank of Okmulgee while it was in an insolvent condition."

The Governor immediately posted $5000 bond.  He had traveled from Oklahoma City by automobile with his attorney J.D. Lydick.

*James Brooks Ayres Robertson (1871-1938) was born in Keokuk County, Iowa & became the 4th governor of Oklahoma serving 1919-1923.  JBAR was acquitted of the bribery charge but never served in public office again.

**Okmulgee, Oklahoma (from Mvskoke word okimulgee meaning boiling waters) is the capital of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation & is located 38 miles South of Tulsa. 

SOURCE

"Oklahoma Governor Arrested As Bribe-Taker; Bankers Held," The New York Tribune, March 23, 1922, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/

   
 
Governor J.B.A. Robertson
D-Oklahoma
1920
Library of Congress