Temple Houston
WOODWARD’S FAVORITE SON: TEMPLE HOUSTON
He was born in the Texas governor’s mansion in 1860, but Temple Houston chose to become an Oklahoman in 1893. In December of that year, Sam Houston’s youngest son became a law partner of Woodward attorney’s Robert J. Ray and Abel Dungan.
While he changed law partners often in the next dozen years before his death in 1905, Temple Houston never called anywhere else home. From Woodward he practiced law in the courts of Oklahoma Territory and the Texas Panhandle and enjoyed being our favorite son.
His most famous local case was the defense of Minnie Stacey, a madam from the town’s red light district. His "soiled dove" plea for Stacey is still considered a classic in courtroom dramatics.
There’s no doubt of Houston’s brilliance and ability, but, when he “had snakes in his boots”, he was know to pull a gun even on his best friends during these drinking bouts. In back-to-back Octobers, Houston was involved in shootings on Woodward’s Main Street.
A recreation of Temple Houston’s law office is at the museum. It includes his desk and bookcase, complete with volumes from his personal library of classics.
A photo of Houston’s den provided us with a clue as to how his office might have looked like. We’ve added several Native American items, including some replicas made by an Oklahoma Cheyenne, War Dog, to create an office that Houston might have been pleased to call his own.
Temple Houston, his wife Laura, and an infant daughter are buried in Woodward’s Elmwood Cemetery, for, even in death, Houston chose to remain in his adopted state.
