Preceded by Dennis T. Flynn Name Bird McGuire Succeeded by James S. Davenport Spouse(s) Goldie Cross McGuire Party Republican Party | Political party Republican Education University of Kansas Nationality American Role American Politician | |
 | ||
Born October 13, 1865
Belleville, Illinois ( 1865-10-13 ) Alma mater University of Kansas at Lawrence Profession cattleman teacher
Lawyer
politician Died November 9, 1930, Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States | ||
Bird Segle McGuire (October 13, 1865 – November 9, 1930) was an American politician, a Delegate and the last U.S. Representative from Oklahoma Territory. After statehood, he was elected as an Oklahoma delegate to Congress, where he served six consecutive terms. He retired from politics in 1915. He was a cousin of William Neville.
Contents
Early life
Born in Belleville, Illinois, McGuire moved to Randolph County, Missouri with his parents in 1867. He attended public school,and moved to Chautauqua County, Kansas, in the spring of 1881; and then to Indian Territory. He engaged in the cattle business, and attended the State Normal School at Emporia, Kansas.
Career
McGuire taught for several terms, and later attended the law department of the University of Kansas at Lawrence. He was admitted to the bar in 1889 and commenced practice in Chautauqua, Kansas. He served as prosecuting attorney of Chautauqua County, Kansas from 1890 to 1894. After moving to Pawnee County, Oklahoma, in 1894 he practiced law there. He was appointed assistant United States Attorney for Oklahoma Territory in 1897, in which capacity he served until after his nomination for Congress.
McGuire was recognized as the leader of one wing of the Oklahoma Republican Party and battled with the last territorial governor Frank Frantz over party leadership and patronage appointments. The infighting resulted in McGuire's being the only Republican elected to Congress from Oklahoma in 1907.
Elected as a Republican a Delegate to the Fifty-eighth and Fifty-ninth Congresses, McGuire served from March 4, 1903, to March 3, 1907. He was then elected as a Representative to the Sixtieth and to the three succeeding Congresses and served from November 16, 1907, when Oklahoma was admitted as a State into the Union, until March 3, 1915. He served as chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of the Interior (Sixty-first Congress). He was not a candidate for renomination in 1914 to the Sixty-fourth Congress.
Resuming the practice of his profession in Tulsa, Oklahoma, McGuire also owned and operated a large ranch near Bartlesville, Oklahoma.
Death
McGuire died in Tulsa, Tulsa County, Oklahoma, on November 9, 1930 (age 65 years, 27 days). He is interred at Memorial Park Cemetery, in Tulsa, Oklahoma.