James Brooks Ayres Robertson (March 15, 1871 – March 7, 1938), sometimes called J. B. A. Robertson, was an American lawyer, judge and the fourth governor of Oklahoma. Robertson was appointed by the state's first governor, Charles N. Haskell, to serve as a district judge.
Passing a bar exam at the age of 21, Robertson became one of the most resourceful trial lawyers and legal counselors in the Oklahoma and Indian territories, before statehood.
Robertson died in 1938 from cancer and is buried in Chandler, Oklahoma.
Early life
James Brooks Ayres Robertson the Third was born in Keokuk County, Iowa, on March 15, 1871, to a father of the same name from Pennsylvania and mother Clara Robertson (birth name unknown) from Ohio. His paternal grandfather had the same name. In the early 1850s, both of Robertson's parents moved to Iowa, where Robertson's father served as a volunteer soldier in the Union army during the American Civil War. Robertson's Iowa upbringing would instill in him firm progressive attitudes.
The fifth child born to a family of six sons and five daughters, Robertson was educated in the Iowa public school system. Robertson became a licensed teacher when he was 16. While teaching, he was privately studying law and the legal system, and he passed the Iowa bar exam in 1892 at the age of 21. The following year, Robertson moved to Chandler in Oklahoma Territory.
Chandler was newly established by European Americans via the Land Run on September 28, 1891, and the county seat of Lincoln County was developing. Seizing the opportunity, Robertson set up teaching and practicing law in the fledgling city. He won him the office of county attorney, the chief legal officer of the county. While in Chandler, Robertson met Olive Stubblefield, whom he married in 1898. They had two children: Olive Frances and a boy James Brooks Ayres Robertson IV (referred to as James Brooks Ayers Robertson Jr.), named after his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. The job required Robertson to move his family from Chandler to Oklahoma City, where he spent the rest of his years. He offered to help any Democratic candidate in any way he could. On a trip with Governor Haskell to Denver, Robertson represented the Oklahoma Democratic Party. Robertson zealously supported the Democratic nomination of William Jennings Bryan for the presidency.
Not satisfied with returning to private life, Robertson ran for Congress. Reapportionment after the 1910 Federal Census had resulted in Oklahoma being granted three seats in the United States Congress. Robertson ran in the Democratic primary for his district's seat, but he failed to receive the party's nomination.
Robertson returned to private law practice in Oklahoma City. In 1914, Governor Cruce, like Haskell before him, decided against running for a second term. Robertson tried to get the Democratic nomination for governor, but Robert L. Williams, the popular former Chief Justice of Oklahoma, won it instead.
Gubernatorial campaign
Robertson's persistence in politics paid off. In 1918, seeking the Democratic gubernatorial nomination for the third consecutive time, Robertson defeated the colorful and popular William H. Murray.
The popularity of former Governor Charles N. Haskell had strengthened the already strong position of the Oklahoma Democratic Party in the state. In 1910 a new party had appeared in Oklahoma politics, the Socialist Party of America. For the first time in Oklahoma's history, the two major parties were joined by a third party in the contest for governor. Robertson faced Republican Horace G. McKeever, and Socialist Patrick S. Nagle A major factor in the election was the infamous Green Corn Rebellion of 1917, which the Socialist Party had helped cause. Many voters considered them unpatriotic. and the creation of the office of Oklahoma Commissioner of Pensions. He also established cooperative marketing agencies to serve the state's farmers, who suffered low prices due to agricultural overproduction continuing after World War I had driven up demand. Robertson also ushered a bill through the legislature providing for the addition of over of paved roads, more than had been paved in all three previous administrations.
Partly using his experience as a teacher, Robertson also focused on improving Oklahoma's school system. First, he worked to change how colleges operated in Oklahoma. Before his administration, colleges had been supervised by the State Board of Education under the State School Superintendent. Under Robertson, the governor's power over colleges increased with the creation of a Board of State Regents, its members appointed by the governor, to oversee all institutions of higher education. In his budgets, Robertson also funded improvements in teacher certification, higher standards for school performance and accreditation, consolidation of many rural schools, and institution of a subsidized textbook program. He proposed increased funding for schools with apparent inadequacies, but this measure was rejected by the legislature. During the 16 hours of rioting, an estimated 300 people were killed (mostly black Republicans), more than 800 people were admitted to local hospitals with injuries, thousands of blacks were left homeless, as 35 city blocks with 1,256 residences were destroyed by fire, and property damage totaled $1.8 million (nearly $17 million as of 2001 after adjustment for inflation). Robertson finally regained control in the city by declaring martial law and sending in the Oklahoma National Guard to police the area and end the chaos. The governor condemned actions by the city and Sheriff's Office and ordered a Grand Jury to investigate, but no one was prosecuted for the deaths, injuries, or damage. An estimated 3,000 blacks fled the city at the time. He was acquitted, but the episode hurt his political career. He ran for governor again, for Oklahoma Supreme Court justice, and for U.S. senator, but he never held another political office, appointed or elected.
Robertson died of cancer on March 7, 1938, in Oklahoma City.