Everyone loves an interesting story and Bryan County history is filled with them. Each month we'll share one from our newspaper archives. Remember to check your family tree and see if your ancestor  might have read about or participated in the event, trial, or tragedy reported. 

            

Solomon J. Homer, once described as “the most brilliant and learned lawyer the Choctaw Nation ever produced” died in 1914 after engaging in a shootout with J. Clifford  Moye  in front of E.E. Fuller’s office on Second Avenue, in Durant. They had been arguing frequently for over a month, supposedly over a bill that Moye, a plumber, had presented him. Others said the disagreements started over a shoving incident at a drinking fountain. Regardless of the true motive for the gunfight on October 4, several things are clear: the two men disliked each other, both men had a history of drinking problems, and both men were armed on that fateful day. Solomon, secretary/treasurer of the Caddo gun club, was an accomplished marksman. Moye had just retrieved his .38 revolver from his employer, Mitchell and Campbell, and told his boss he was quitting. Their encounter on the street may have been happenstance, but the outcome was tragic and ended the life and career of one of Durant’s most famous residents.

 Solomon was born on January 17, 1870. His father, Joseph, was Choctaw and his mother, Mary, was Cherokee. In 1902 when the Dawes Commission required him to choose between the two, he enrolled as a Choctaw. He is often listed as a “full blood” Choctaw in newspaper stories.

As a young man Solomon attended Spencer Academy and went on to earn degrees from Roanoke College, Harvard, and Kansas University. He became a prominent attorney, practicing in Caddo for several years and sharing a building with Dr. LeRoy Long:

March 21, 1902

Dr. LeRoy Long has moved his office into the new brick building of Homer & Long, where he now has a neat suite of rooms upstairs.

Solomon was a member of the Odd Fellows, a stockholder in the Choctaw National Bank of Caddo, and a very active member of the community. He married Blanche Marx on April 4, 1895. Dr. Long delivered Solomon’s son, St. Clair on September 30, 1899. According to census records they later had a second child who died.

Solomon J. Homer was also the National Secretary for the Choctaw Nation, but apparently had a few problems performing his duties. In October of 1902 he was impeached for “neglect of duties” and “frequent intoxication”. According to the records his neglect of duty was related to his absence from meetings and his failure to turn in reports. The General Council of the Choctaw Nation removed him from office in 1903 and declared him “disqualified to hold any office of honor, or trust, or profit under the Choctaw Nation.” That record was officially expunged in 1905:

Acts  and Resolutions of the Choctaw Nation

Bill No. 6

Resolution

Be it enacted by the General Council of the Choctaw Nation assembled.

That the articles of impeachment against Solomon J. Homer, read, interpreted, passed the House of Representatives, and referred to the Senate on the 17^th day of October, 1902; and the judgment of the Senate, rendered upon default on the 21^st day of October 1902, sitting as a court of impeachment, impeaching the said Solomon J. Homer, is hereby repealed and held for naught, and the said Articles of Impeachment and Judgment of the Senate are ordered to be expunged from the records of the General Council of the Choctaw Nation, by the National Secretary of the Choctaw Nation.

Proposed by J. L. Ward

Approved this 25^th day of October, 1905

Green McCurtain, P.C.C.N.

 And Solomon continued his work:

1905 Statehood Convention

From “The Choctaw of Oklahoma”, by James C. Milligan, page 174

“Robert L. Owen, another representative at the convention, reported that Solomon J. Homer, a full blood Choctaw graduate from Harvard, made one of the best speeches that he had ever heard delivered on the subject of single statehood for Indian Territory.”

Newspaper articles for the years between the convention and his death record frequent business travels and the amusing “fame and fortune” of his young son St. Clair:

The Caddo Herald

June 2, 1910

St. Clair Deserves to Win

The Saturday Evening Post automobile contest has closed and at the last count St. Clair Homer, the hustling representative of the Post at this place, was No. 1 in the race. It will be some time yet before the final results are in and before we shall know who the winner of the auto is, but we are sure of one thing and that is that St. Clair “auto” win, for he has certainly worked faithfully for the Post during these long ten months of the contest. He has covered the territory surrounding Caddo, has visited nearby towns, and has put into circulation every paper with the exception of a few copies of the last issue which he will sell on the street here tomorrow; as usual he will give an ice cream cone free with every Post sold. (St. Clair won the auto, but chose to accept money instead. He won a Shetland pony and cart, two autos, and numerous other prizes through the Post contests and was frequently in the news. He said in an interview later that they were so suspicious of his numerous sales in such a small area that they sent someone to investigate before releasing his prize money.)

In January of 1911 Blanche sued Solomon for a divorce. Her complaint was that he had deserted her for more than a year- a fact supported by his listing in the 1910 census as a “lodger” in the home of John Hall. Blanche was granted a divorce and supported herself as one of Caddo’s most popular millineries.

Shortly after the divorce was final Solomon married Sarah Goforth. Their son, Homer Goforth Homer, was only seven months old when Solomon died. Sarah, 24, was the administrator of his estate, which include a law library valued at $250 and 160 acres of land located near Calera. Her final report, filed in January of 1921, is written under the name “Sarah Cathey nee Homer”.

Solomon J. Homer is buried in the Maytubby Springs Cemetery. 

After the shootout 27-year-old Cliff Moye was arrested by Lewis Elliot, constable of Calera who was nearby at Third and Main. He was turned over to police Chief Sims, arraigned, and denied bail. The whole process, including his trial, took only seven weeks and one reporter called the swiftness “extraordinary”. However, it was not without controversy. The Durant Weekly News called it “one of the most bitterly fought in the annals of Bryan County courts” and praised both the defense and prosecution for making, “the most remarkable arguments ever heard in the local court house”. The jury, consisting of Hiben Lineberry, W. H. White, Sam Smith, J. H. Bell, J. E. English, J. S. Keathly, R. L. Surner, H. H. Boone, P. S. Bertram, J. R. Harrison, W. S. Shannon, and M. E. Mackey deliberated for nearly thirty hours. The first ballot was eight for manslaughter, two for murder, and two for acquittal. The final verdict was manslaughter and Moye received four years in the state penitentiary for his actions.

One interesting note is that in December of 1914 a prisoner in the county jail managed to steal a key from a sleeping guard. He and seven of his fellow inmates escaped. However, twenty others, including Cliff Moye, refused to leave.

 After serving his sentence J. Clifford Moye married, had a family, and eventually moved to Dallas where he continued his plumbing career. He died in 1949 and is buried in Dallas.

Our Collections page will tell you about the many newspapers that are available for your research. You might be surprised by the stories YOU find.