L. R. Kershaw

Leroy Kershaw (1880–1969) was an American attorney, banker, businessman, cattleman and political candidate.

He is considered one of the pioneers of the Muskogee, Oklahoma, area and the founder of Morris, Oklahoma, in 1904. Kershaw was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1924, and was later a candidate for the Governor of Oklahoma in 1930.

Kershaw was a founder of the Eastern Oklahoma Electric Traction Company, and a pure-bred Aberdeen Angus breeder, with over 500 head of cattle. His prize-winning herd of black angus cattle brought buyers from all over the country to his 4,000 acre (16 km²) farm south of Muskogee. His herd was the second largest herd in the country, and the largest herd in Oklahoma. His illustrious career began as a real estate salesman after graduating from college, which later expanded into banking, farm management, oil & gas development, real estate development, homebuilding, political service and pedigreed cattle breeding.

L.R. Kershaw, also known as Leroy Kershaw, was born in Elmwood, Illinois, on December 6, 1880, to David R. Kershaw and Jennie M. (Cole) Kershaw. He was an outstanding athlete in high school, as an accomplished running back in football and as a champion discus thrower in track & field events. He was the leading scorer on the 1900 Elmwood High School football team, which was undefeated.

Kershaw graduated from Elmwood, Illinois, High School and worked his way through college waiting tables, selling nursery stock and selling real estate. Kershaw graduated from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, where he was a charter member of the honorary law fraternity, the Benjamin D. Magruder Chapter of Phi Alpha Delta in 1904. Professionally, he first became an Immigrant Agent for the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway, also known as the Frisco railroad, selling land to farmers for farms along the wide railroad right-of way in Northeastern Oklahoma. He bought many farms along the way, and in 1904 moved to Oklahoma himself. He was one of the founders of the Farmer's State Bank in Morris (in 1905) and the First National Bank of Morris (in 1908), (Indian Territory) Oklahoma. In 1910 he purchased the controlling interest in the National Bank of Okmulgee, Oklahoma. With the connections he had established with the railroad, he platted the town site of Morris, Oklahoma. The town of Morris was named after H. E. Morris, a railroad executive with the Frisco railroad. The railroad went through the center of town, between Ft. Smith, Arkansas, and Tulsa, Oklahoma. The town of Morris was founded in 1904, before statehood. Oklahoma became a state in November 1907.

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