James B. A. Robertson
| James Brooks Ayers Robertson | |
|---|---|
Official photo of Governor James B. A. Robertson
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| 4th Governor of Oklahoma | |
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In office January 13, 1919 – January 8, 1923 |
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| Lieutenant | Martin E. Trapp |
| Preceded by | Robert L. Williams |
| Succeeded by | John C. Walton |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
March 15, 1871 Keokuk County, Iowa |
| Died | March 7, 1938 (aged 66) Oklahoma City, Oklahoma |
| Nationality | American |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Isabelle Butler Robertson |
| Profession | Teacher, Lawyer, Judge |
| Religion | Methodism |
James Brooks Ayers Robertson (March 15, 1871 – March 7, 1938), sometimes called J. B. A. Robertson, was an American lawyer, judge and the fourth governor of Oklahoma. Robertson was appointed by the state's first governor, Charles N. Haskell, to serve as a district judge.
Passing a bar exam at the age of 21, Robertson became one of the most resourceful trial lawyers and legal counselors in the Oklahoma and Indian territories, before statehood. His gubernatorial term was marked by Oklahoma's ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment, for Prohibition, and the Nineteenth Amendment, for women's suffrage, to the United States Constitution, the Tulsa Race Riot, and scandals. He also served as Grand Sire (now known as Sovereign Grand Master) of the Sovereign Grand Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows from 1915 to 1916
Robertson died in 1938 from cancer and is buried in Chandler, Oklahoma.
James Brooks Ayers Robertson was born in Keokuk County, Iowa, on March 15, 1871, to a father of the same name from Pennsylvania and mother Clara Robertson from Ohio. His paternal grandfather had the same name. In the early 1850s, both of Robertson’s parents moved to Iowa, where Robertson's father served as a volunteer soldier in the Union army during the American Civil War. Robertson’s Iowa upbringing would instill in him firm progressive attitudes.
The fifth child born to a family of six sons and five daughters, Robertson was educated in the Iowa public school system. Robertson became a licensed teacher when he was 16. While teaching, he was privately studying law and the legal system, and he passed the Iowa bar exam in 1892 at the age of 21. The following year, Robertson moved to Chandler in Oklahoma Territory.
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