William D. Matthews (politician)

William D. Matthews was born on January 11, 1846, near Holly Springs, Mississippi. During the American Civil War he served in the Confederate States of America Army under John Hunt Morgan.^[1] He married his wife in 1868.^[2] After the war he became a Methodist preacher and in 1880 he moved to Oklahoma Territory. He moved to Oklahoma City after being appointed chaplain for the 4th Oklahoma Legislature.^[1] He ran in the 1914 Oklahoma elections for Oklahoma commissioner of charities and corrections in a nine candidate Democratic Party primary that included Mabel Bassett and Czarina Conlan. He placed first and was the Democratic nominee. He later won the general election.^[3] He was preceded in office by Kate Barnard and served two terms until he was succeeded by Mabel Bassett in 1923.^[4] He died on April 18, 1930, in Oklahoma City.^[5]