ORION L. RIDER Noteworthy among the active and prominent attorneys of Vinita, Oklahoma, is Orion L. RIDER, a member of the well known firm of PARKER, RIDER and BROWN. Assuming the duties of assistant district attorney of the Northern District of the Indian Territory in September, 1900, he has since been a resident of this city and state, and by his honest, upright life has gained the confidence of all with whom he has been brought in contact, either in business or socially.

A son of Dr. Robert G. RIDER, he was born, January 7, 1874, near Forest City, in Mason County, Illinois, and spent the first six years of his existence in that county.

His paternal grandfather, John RIDER, born in Boston, Massachusetts, married Jane GREAR, a native of Beaver county, Pennsylvania, and migrated to Indiana, becoming a pioneer settler of that state.

Robert G. RIDER was born in Ohio in 1830, and received his professional education at Jefferson College. Enlisting during the Civil war in the Eighty-fifth Illinois Infantry, he was made captain of this company and later promoted to major and served in the army under General SHERMAN. After the fall of Atlanta he continued the march to Savannah, Georgia, where he resigned his commission. Returning then to Illinois, he continued the practice of his profession in Mason county, remaining there until 1880. Removing then to Mount Ayr, iowa, he resided there until his death, in November, 1899. Dr. RIDGER married Harriet M. LITTELL, a daughter of Aaron and Jane (BROWN) LITTELL, and she is still living in Mount Ayr. Six children blessed their union, namely: J. Elmer, of Apleton City, Missouri; Etta J., county superintendent of schools in Ringgold county, Iowa; George E., of Madill, Oklahoma; Ola, deceased, married the late J. T. TODD Orion L., the subject of this brief sketch; and Nathaniel (sic) L., deceased, who married Clarence ASHBROOK, of Vinita.

Graduated at the Mount Ayr High School at the age of fifteen years, being the youngest of his class, Orion L. RIDER subsequently graduated from Iowa College, at Grinnell, receiving the degree of Ph.B. with the class of 1894.

While in that institution he became intimately acquainted with G. H. STRUBLE, a son of G. R. STRUBLE, a prominent Iowa lawyer, and when through college secured a position in that lawyer's office in Toledo, Iowa. Taking up shorthand, Mr. RIDER also did office work and read law until properly qualified for a student in a law school, when he entered the law department of Drake University, in Des Moines. Completing his course in that institution in June, 1900, he was admitted to the bar on examination before the Supreme Court.

Accepting the position then offered him as assistant district attorney of the Northern District of the Indian Territory, Mr. RIDER came at once to his work. He tried his first suit in Muskogee, and during the seven years that he served as the government's prosecutor he gained skill, knowledge and an experience of great value.

Retiring from office on the adoption of statehoon, a movement which he favored although he opposed the adoption of the proposed constitution, he was for a time in partnership with Preston S. DAVIS, but since 1908 has been associated with his present partners, Judge Luman F. PARKER, Jr., and Addis A. BROWN.

In 1909 Mr. RIDER was elected mayor of Vinita, and his administration is mostly efficiently carrying on the much needed work of street paving and general city improvement, and has allied itself with the movement to issue city bonds for the purchase of the auditorium and grounds.

On June 29, 1904, Mr. RIDER married Grace FORTNER, of Vinita, a daughter of Dr. B. F. FORTNER and his Cherokee wife, Jennis GUNTER. Dr. FORTNER was one of the pioneers of Vinita, but has recently taken up his residence in Springfield, Missouri.

Since statehood Mr. RIDER's pracitce has been connected with some important litigation, chief among which was the case of the United States against James P. ALLEN, et al., calling for the cancellation of certain deeds given by allottees, he having been one of the defending attorneys, and making the opening argument in the case, which is yet pending before the courts. Fraternally Mr. Rider is a Master Mason and an Elk.

Orion Littell RIDER, a leading attorney of Vinita whose professional ability is indicated by. the large and distinctively representative clientage accorded hire, has served his fellow citizens in various capacities and has always done able and conscientious work. His birth occurred in Mason county, Illinois, on the 7th of January, 1874, and his parents were Dr. Robert G. and Harriet M. (LITTELL) RIDER, the former born near Cleveland, Ohio, and the latter in the state of New Jersey. The father was a physician, acquiring his professional training in Pennsylvania, an he first opened an office at Mobile, Alabama, whence he removed to Havana, Illinois, where he engaged in practice until the outbreak of the Civil war, when his patriotic spirit prompted him to lay aside all personal considerations. On the 1st of October, 1862, he was made captain of Company K, Eighty-fifth Illinois Infantry, which he had raised, and on the 12th of May, 1863, won promotion to the rank of major. He participated in the battle of Kenesaw Mountain, Georgia, and remained in command of his regiment until wounded near the close of the war. After receiving his discharge from the service he returned to Havana, Illinois, where he continued to follow his profession until 1880, when he removed to Ringgold county, Iowa, where he engaged in practice for four years, and then lived retired until his death, which occurred in November, 1889, at the age of seventy. The mother long survived him, passing away in April, 1921, when in her eighty-fourth year.

Mr. RIDER attended the high school at Mount Ayr, Iowa, was for two years a student at Western College of Toledo, that state, after which he completed his college course in Grinnell College at Grinnell, Iowa, which conferred upon him the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy in 1894. In that year he became private secretary to the president of Grinnell College, continuing to act in that capacity until 1895, when he went to Toledo, Iowa, and became a clerk in the law offices of the firm of Struble & Stiger. There he pursued his legal studies until he entered Drake University at Des Moines, Iowa, which he attended for a year, completing the entire law course during that period and winning his L. B. degree in 1900, and being made valedictorian of his class. He entered upon the work 'of his profession at Vinita, and his ability soon won recognition. From 1900 to 1907 he served as assistant United States district attorney and after completing his term of office he was associated with Judge PARKER, associate judge of this district, until 1911. He then practiced independently until 1913, when he went to Fairbanks, Alaska, as counsel for the receiver of the Washington-Alaska Bank, and after spending a portion of two years in that country returned to Vinita. A few months later he was called to St. Louis, Missouri, and from 1914 until November, 1917, was connected with the legal department of the Southern Surety Company of that city. In the fall of the latter year he once more took up his professional work at Vinita and is now engaged in general civil practice. He has been entrusted with many important litigated interests, and his pronounced ability has secured for him a large clientele. He is well versed in the principles of jurisprudence, prepares his cases with great thoroughness and care, and the skill with which he presents his cause has won for him many favorable verdicts. He also has financial interests, being a director of the Farmers State Bank.

In 1904, at Vinita, Mr. Rider was married to Miss Grace FORTNER, a native of Fayetteville, Arkansas, and a daughter of Dr. Benjamin F. FORTNER, whose birth occurred at Dallas, Texas. Her father followed his profession at Siloam Springs and Fayetteville, Arkansas, until the early '80s, when he came to Vinita by the overland route, becoming well known as a physician throughout the Cherokee Nation. He was associated in practice with Dr. Oliver BAGBY from 1887 until 1906 and then removed to Springfield, Missouri, but returned to Vinita in 1916, passing away in the following year. He had made extensive investments in land and was one of the most influential and highly respected residents of Vinita.

In July, 1918, Mr. RIDER enlisted for service in the United States army - and received his training at Camp Taylor near Louisville, Kentucky, where he was stationed until the close of the war. Prior to entering the service Mr. RIDER had given his active support to all war measures and he is a most loyal and patriotic American. He is a stanch republican in his political views and has taken an active and prominent part in public affairs, serving as mayor of Vinita and giving to his city a most progressive and businesslike administration, productive of excellent results. He was one of the organizers and the first vice president of the Rotary Club of Vinita.

In 1920 he was president of the organization and represented that body at the international convention held at Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1921. He is a member of Dale Peace Post, No. 40, of the American Legion, and his fraternal connections are with the Elks Lodge, No. 1162, and Vinita Lodge, No. 5, F. & A. M. When not occupied with his professional duties he spends as much time as possible out of doors, finding enjoyment in hunting and fishing. Endowed by nature with superior intellectual powers, he has attained a position of distinction in the ranks of his profession. He has used his talents not only to further his individual interests but also to advance the public welfare and Vinita numbers him among her foremost citizens.

SOURCES:
HILL, Luther B. A History of the State of Oklahoma Vol. II. Pp. 305-06. Lewis Publ. Chicago. 1908.
BENEDICT, John D. History of Muskogee and Northeastern Oklahoma. S.J. Clarke Publ. Chicago. 1922.

Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, May of 2009