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University
of Oklahoma Libraries
Western
History Collections
Joseph
G. Ralls Collection
Boxes 1-22 contain general, incoming and outgoing correspondence concerning Joseph G. Ralls' career as an attorney, county judge, Republican Party official, first U.S. Commissioner in Atoka, Indian Territory (I.T.), and his service on the State Bar Board and the State Board of Education (ca.1915). The legal cases involve various subjects such as land allotments, divorce proceedings, Indian land claims, Indian enrollments and citizenship claims, intruders in Choctaw and Chickasaw Indian lands, railroad claims, etc.. Joseph G. Ralls maintained a law practice with his brother, G.T. Ralls, known as Ralls Brothers Attorneys and Counselors with offices at Atoka and Lehigh, I.T. and Oklahoma. In 1902-1903, Ralls served as a correspondent for the Associated Press. In this assignment, Ralls wired dispatches concerning the allotment of lands at the Choctaw Nation Land Office.
Ralls corresponded concerning various legal matters with clients, other attorneys, U.S. Congressmen, and such offices as the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the Commissioner to the Five Civilized Tribes. This collection includes much correspondence pertaining to legal matters in the Indian Territory. Ralls represented the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway Company in numerous matters, and also had dealings with the Choctaw, Oklahoma & Gulf Railroad. While most of the correspondence is filed by the last name of the correspondent, much of the correspondence with the Commissioner to the Five Civilized Tribes is filed under the letter "C".
Correspondents include Mary Agnew (Bureau of Pensions), J.E. Arnold (attorney, Ardmore, I.T.), W.H. Angell (Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes), G.W. Austin (Oklahoma College for Women), C.O. Barton (attorney, Pauls Valley, I.T.), Calvin Ballard (Dept. of Interior, Office of School Supervisor for Choctaw Nation), Tams Bixby (Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes), E.W. Berry (Third Regiment Band), S.M. Brosius (Indian Rights Association), S.T. Bledsoe (Commercial Law League of America), John D. Benedict (Office of Superintendent of Schools for I.T.), Webster Ballinger (attorney, Washington, D.C.), W.E. Butler (Oklahoma State Home), E.P. Barrett (Oklahoma School of Mines and Metallurgy), S.M. Barrett (Eastern University Preparatory School), W.I. Cruce (attorney, Ardmore, I.T.), James B. Cassada (Dept. of Justice, Choctaw and Chickasaw Citizenship Court, South McAlester, I.T.), C.M. Crowell (attorney, Wapanucka, I.T.), W.O. Beall (Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes), L.G. Disney (U.S. Circuit Court, Muskogee, OK), C.H. Ennis (M. K. & T. Railway), Charles Evans (Central State Normal, Edmond, OK), E.J. Fannin (U.S. Court in the Indian Territory), Frank Frantz (Governor), Fooshee and Brunson (attorneys, Coalgate, I.T.), D.C. Gideon (Gideon's Ranch, Caddo, I.T.), T.P. Gore (U.S. Senate), U.J. Griffith (Southwestern State Normal School), Roy Hoffman (Oklahoma Bar Association), C.E. Hunter (Oklahoma Republican State Central Committee), J.W. Harreld (U.S. Senate), Philas Jones (U.S. Commissioner), Clifford Jackson (M. K. & T. Railway), Homer B. Low (Rock Island Lines), J.J. McAlester (U.S. Marshal, I.T.), Archibald S. McKennon (Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes), Green McCurtain (Chief, Choctaw Nation), C.N. Haskell (Governor, Oklahoma), T.F. Memminger (legislator, Oklahoma), Bird McGuire (U.S. House of Representatives), H.C. Nash (U.S. Court in the Indian Territory, Central District), Ira Oglesby (Western Coal and Mining Company), T.L. Peeler (M. K. & T. Railway), Thomas Ryan (Dept. of the Interior), U.M. Rose (American Bar Association), Frank Read, Jr. (Oklahoma School for the Deaf), J.T. Sterrett (Choctaw Townsite Commission), John H. Stephens (U.S. House of Representatives), W.E. Stanley (Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes), M.E. Trapp (Governor, Oklahoma), D.M. Windom (U.S. Indian Service), R.L. Williams (attorney, Durant, I.T.; Chief Justice, Supreme Court; and Governor) , Allen Wright (U.S. Commissioner), J.H. Wilkins (U.S. Attorney), and Walter Weaver (Choctaw and Chickasaw Citizenship Court, I.T.).
Box 1 General Correspondence
"A" 1895-1924
FF1 1895-1902
FF2 1903
FF3 1904
FF4 1905
FF5 1906
FF6 1907
FF7 1908
FF8 1909
FF9 1915
F10 1921
F11 1924
F12 undated
Box 2 General Correspondence
"B" 1894-1909
FF1 1894-96
FF2 1897-99
FF3 1901-03
FF4 1904
FF5 1905
FF6 1906
FF7 1907
FF8 1908
FF9 1909
Box 3 General Correspondence
"B" 1914-1924
"C" 1895-1906
"B"
FF1 1914
FF2 1915-16
FF3 1921-24
FF4 undated
"C"
FF5 1895-96
FF6 1898-1902
FF7 1903
FF8 1904
FF9 1905
F10 1906 (1)
Box 4 General Correspondence
"C" 1906-1924
FF1 1906 (2)
FF2 1907 (1)
FF3 1907 (2)
FF4 1908
FF5 1909
FF6 1915
FF7 1921
FF8 1922-24
FF9 undated
Box 5 General Correspondence
"D" 1895-1924
"E" 1895-1924
"D"
FF1 1895-96
FF2 1901-03
FF3 1904-05
FF4 1906-07
FF5 1908
FF6 1909
FF7 1915-24
FF8 undated
"E"
FF9 1895-1904
F10 1905-06
F11 1907-08
F12 1909
F13 1915-24
F14 undated
Box 6 General Correspondence
"F" 1896-1924
FF1 1896-1903
FF2 1904
FF3 1905
FF4 1906
FF5 1907
FF6 1908-09
FF7 1921-24
FF8 undated
Box 7 General Correspondence
"G" 1893-1924
FF1 1893-98
FF2 1899-1901
FF3 1902-06
FF4 1907-09
FF5 1912-15
FF6 1921-24
FF7 undated
Box 8 General Correspondence
"H" 1870-1905
FF1 1870-98
FF2 1899-1900
FF3 1901-02
FF4 1903
FF5 1904
FF6 1905
Box 9 General Correspondence
"H" 1906-1924
"I" 1896-1908
"H"
FF1 1906
FF2 1907
FF3 1908
FF4 1909
FF5 1918-24
FF6 undated
"I"
FF7 1896-99
FF8 1900-08
FF9 undated
Box 10 General Correspondence
"J" 1890-1907
(The bulk of correspondence in Boxes 10 and 11 is with Clifford Jackson, General Attorney for the M. K. & T. Railway, and President of the Indian Territory and Oklahoma Bar Associations.)
FF1 1890-99
FF2 1900-04
FF3 1905
FF4 1906
FF5 1907
Box 11 General Correspondence
"J" 1908-24
FF1 1908 (1)
FF2 1908 (2)
FF3 1909 (1)
FF4 1909 (2)
FF5 1909 (3)
FF6 1921-24
FF7 undated
Box 12 General Correspondence
"K" 1895-1922
"L" 1895-1924
"K"
FF1 1895-98
FF2 1899
FF3 1900-03
FF4 1921-22
FF5 undated
"L"
FF6 1895-97
FF7 1901-09
FF8 1921-24
Box 13 General Correspondence
"M" 1894-1903
FF1 1894-97
FF2 1898
FF3 1899-1900
FF4 1901
FF5 1902
FF6 1903
Box 14 General Correspondence
"M" 1904-09
FF1 1904
FF2 1905
FF3 1906
FF4 1907
FF5 1908-09
Box 15 General Correspondence
"M" 1921-24
"N" 1895-1921
"O" 1893-1924
"M"
FF1 1921-24, undated
"N"
FF2 1895-1900
FF3 1901-04
FF4 1905-07
FF5 1915-21, undated
"O"
FF6 1893-1901
FF7 1902-24,
undated
Box 16 General Correspondence
"P" 1892-1924
"Q" 1905-06
"P"
FF1 1892-98
FF2 1899-1900
FF3 1901-02
FF4 1903
FF5 1904-05
FF6 1906
FF7 1907-15
FF8 1921-24, undated
"Q"
FF9 1905-06
Box 17 General Correspondence
"R" 1879-1924
FF1 1879-98
FF2 1899-1901
FF3 1902-04
FF4 1905
FF5 1906
FF6 1907-09
FF7 1915-24, undated
Box 18 General Correspondence
"S" 1892-1902
FF1 1892-97
FF2 1898
FF3 1899
FF4 1900
FF5 1901
FF6 1902
Box 19 General Correspondence
"S" 1903-24
"T" 1892-1924
"S"
FF1 1903
FF2 1904
FF3 1905
FF4 1906
FF5 1907-24, undated
"T"
FF6 1892-1924
Box 20 General Correspondence
"U" 1896-1922
"V" 1896-1922
"W" 1892-1904
"U"
FF1 1896-1922
"V"
FF2 1896-1922
"W"
FF3 1892-98
FF4 1899-1900
FF5 1901
FF6 1902
FF7 1903
FF8 1904
Box 21 General Correspondence
"W" 1905-15
FF1 1905
FF2 1906
FF3 1907
FF4 1908
FF5 1909
FF6 1915
Box 22 General Correspondence
"W" 1921-25, undated
"Y" 1895-1924, undated
"Z" 1903-22, undated
"W"
FF1 1921-25, undated
"Y"
FF2 1895-1924, undated
"Z"
FF3 1903-22, undated
In 1889, Ralls was admitted to practice before the Department of the Interior and its Bureaus. The letters in Box 23 concern legal cases involving land allotments and restrictions on allotted lands, citizenship questions, intruder problems, payments in question, road and pipe line construction, and other matters with regard to Choctaw and Chickasaw Indians.
Box 23 Correspondence, Department of
Interior
1902-09
FF1 1902-03
FF2 1904
FF3 1905
FF4 1906
FF5 1907
FF6 1908
FF7 1909
FF8 undated
The Ralls Brothers acted as agents for insurance companies such as the Crescent Insurance Company of New Orleans and the New York Underwriters Agency. Box 24 contains letters pertaining to various insurance policies handled by the Ralls Brothers.
Box 24 Correspondence, Insurance
1895-1901
FF1 1895-96
FF2 1897-1900
FF3 1901, undated
Box 25 Letter Press Book
Ledger
Collection Register, indexed by name (missing register pages), n.d.
Letter Press Book, indexed by name (obliterated by water damage and mold), n.d
Letter Press Book, indexed by name, contains copies of outgoing business letters of J.G. Ralls, Atoka, I.T., 1890-96.
Box 26 Letter Press Book
1896-97
Letter Press Book, indexed by name, contains copies of outgoing business letters of J.G. Ralls, Atoka, I.T., 1896-97
Box
27-28
Bills and Receipts
Bills and receipts for goods and services rendered to J.G. Ralls, i.e. utilities, groceries, freight, etc., ca. 1891-1922