Houston Benge Teehee (sometimes spelled Tehee) (October 14 or 31, 1874 – November 19, 1953) was an American lawyer and politician from Oklahoma most known for serving as

Register of the Treasury The Register of the Treasury was an officer of the United States Treasury Department. In 1919, the office of the Register became the Public Debt Service which, in 1940, became the Bureau of the Public Debt. The Register's duties included filing the ...

from 1915 to 1919. Teehee was from a prominent

Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...

family, with his father serving in all three branches of the Cherokee Nation's government. Before and after statehood, he was elected to positions in city government in

Tahlequah, Oklahoma Tahlequah ( ; ''Cherokee'': ᏓᎵᏆ, ''daligwa'' ) is a city in Cherokee County, Oklahoma located at the foothills of the Ozark Mountains. It is part of the Green Country region of Oklahoma and was established as a capital of the 19th-cent ...

between 1902 and 1910 when he was elected to the Oklahoma House of Representatives, where he would serve two terms. After serving as

he returned to Oklahoma and continued to practice law, until he was appointed assistant attorney general in 1926; in 1927, he was appointed to the Oklahoma Supreme Court Commission. He retired from political office after his Commissioner term expired in 1930.

Family, early life, and education

Teehee was born in the town of Muldrow, in the Cherokee Nation (modern-day Oklahoma) on October 14 or 31, 1874. He was five-eighths

. His father, Rev. Stephen Teehee (or "Tehee") (1837–1907) was a Baptist minister and a unilingual speaker of

, who was originally from Cherokee territory in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

; at various times, he served the Cherokee Nation as a district clerk, a district solicitor, and a circuit judge, and was part of its Executive Council and its senate. His mother was Rhoda Benge, who died in 1886, when she was thirty-nine; at the time, Teehee was twelve. Teehee attended the

Cherokee Male Seminary The Cherokee Male Seminary was a tribal college established in 1846 by the Cherokee Nation in Indian Territory. Opening in 1851, it was one of the first institutions of higher learning in the United States to be founded west of the Mississippi Rive ...

Out of the "Graves of the Polluted Debauches": The Boys of the Cherokee Male Seminary
by Devon Mihesuah; in '' American Indian Quarterly''; Autumn, 1991, Vol. 15, No. 4; p. 515 in

, and afterward spent one year at

Fort Worth University Fort Worth University was a college in Fort Worth, Texas operated from 1881 until 1911. Founded as Texas Wesleyan College in 1881, and later renamed Fort Worth University in 1889, the university was affiliated with the Methodist Episcopal Church ...

. He was bilingual, speaking both

and English and described learning English as "the most difficult thing I had to do." He then returned to Tahlequah, where he spent ten years working in retail, and two in a bank. During this time, he studied law with John H. Pitchford.

Political and business careers

In 1902, Teehee was elected

alderman An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members t ...

of Tahlequah, a position he retained until 1906. In March 1907, he was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

. Later that year, he was elected Mayor of Tahlequah succeeding Horace Gray, the city's first

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

mayor. At the end of his term in 1909, he was succeeded by T.J. Adair. In June 1908 he resigned from the bank and opened his own law practice. In 1910, Teehee successfully petitioned the Secretary of the Interior to remove his guardianship restriction for being Native American. The same year, he ran for the Oklahoma House of Representatives as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

and was elected to represent

Cherokee County Cherokee County is the name of eight counties in the United States: * Cherokee County, Alabama * Cherokee County, Georgia * Cherokee County, Iowa * Cherokee County, Kansas * Cherokee County, North Carolina * Cherokee County, Oklahoma * Cherokee Co ...

; he was subsequently re-elected to this position in 1912. After leaving the Oklahoma House in 1914, he was appointed as a United States Probate Attorney in the

United States Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the ma ...

. On March 3, 1915,

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

nominated Teehee to be Register of the United States Treasury, replacing Gabe E. Parker;''Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate'', Volume 63, Issue 3
published 1934; p. 259 Teehee was sworn in on March 24, 1915.This Indian's Name Is On Your Liberty Bond
in ''The Tomahawk''; p. 8; published December 26, 1918; via

Chronicling America ''Chronicling America'' is an open access, open source newspaper database and companion website. It is produced by the United States National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP), a partnership between the Library of Congress and the National Endo ...

As Register, Teehee personally signed so many

Liberty Bond A liberty bond (or liberty loan) was a war bond that was sold in the United States to support the Allied cause in World War I. Subscribing to the bonds became a symbol of patriotic duty in the United States and introduced the idea of financi ...

s that he experienced

repetitive strain injury A repetitive strain injury (RSI) is an injury to part of the musculoskeletal or nervous system caused by repetitive use, vibrations, compression or long periods in a fixed position. Other common names include repetitive stress disorders, cumula ...

, permanently damaging his hand and arm. In October 1919, Teehee announced his resignation as Register, to become effective as of the 31st of that month.H. B. TEEHEE, REGISTER OF TREASURY, RESIGNS
in the ''

Washington Evening Star ''The Washington Star'', previously known as the ''Washington Star-News'' and the Washington ''Evening Star'', was a daily afternoon newspaper published in Washington, D.C., between 1852 and 1981. The Sunday edition was known as the ''Sunday Sta ...

''; published October 29, 1919; p. 16; via

After leaving the

United States Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and ...

in 1919, he entered the private sector and was the treasurer for Seamans Oil Company and the R. E. Seaman Company. By 1921 he was one of the vice-presidents of the Continental Asphalt and Petroleum Company. He served as an assistant attorney general from 1926 until his appointment to the Oklahoma Supreme Court Commission's First Judicial District on May 28, 1927. His term ended on December 31, 1930.

Personal life, death, and legacy

Teehee was inducted into the

Oklahoma Hall of Fame The Oklahoma Hall of Fame was founded in 1927 by Anna B. Korn to officially celebrate Statehood Day, recognize Oklahomans dedicated to their communities, and provide educational programming for all ages. The first Oklahoma Hall of Fame Induction Cer ...

in 1942.Teehee, Houston Benge
at the

; retrieved April 4, 2023 He was

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

. He died on November 19, 1953.Houston Benge Tehee
in ''The Chronicles of Oklahoma'', vol. XXXVII, p. 384; published 1959

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Teehee, Houston B. 1874 births 1953 deaths Cherokee Nation lawyers Cherokee Nation mayors in Oklahoma Cherokee Nation state legislators in Oklahoma Democratic Party members of the Oklahoma House of Representatives Oklahoma Supreme Court Commissioners People of Indian Territory United States Department of the Treasury officials Presbyterians from Oklahoma Oklahoma city council members Cherokee Nation businesspeople Cherokee Nation politicians (1794–1907)