Representative Thomas Deitz McKeown

Thomas Deitz McKeown (June 4, 1878 – October 22, 1951) was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Oklahoma who served eight terms in Congress between 1917 and 1935. His congressional service spanned a significant period in American history, including World War I, the Roaring Twenties, and the early years of the Great Depression, during which he participated in the legislative process and represented the interests of his Oklahoma constituents.

McKeown was born on June 4, 1878, in Blackstock, South Carolina, the son of Theodore B. McKeown and Nannie B. Robinson McKeown. He attended the common schools in his native state and continued his education under a private tutor. In 1898 he attended lectures at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, further broadening his academic background before entering the legal profession. On January 9, 1902, he married Anna Jane Sanders, establishing a family life that paralleled his emerging public career.

Admitted to the bar in 1899, McKeown began the practice of law in Malvern, Arkansas. In 1901 he moved to Ada, in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma), where he resumed the practice of law and became active in the legal and civic life of the region as it moved toward statehood. He was appointed a member of the first Oklahoma State bar commission and was elected its president in 1909, reflecting his prominence in the state’s legal community. McKeown subsequently served as judge of the seventh judicial district of Oklahoma from 1910 to 1914. In 1915 and 1916 he was presiding judge of the fifth division of the Oklahoma Supreme Court Commission, gaining further judicial experience that would inform his later legislative work.

McKeown entered national politics as a member of the Democratic Party and was elected to the Sixty-fifth and Sixty-sixth Congresses, serving as a Representative from Oklahoma from March 4, 1917, to March 3, 1921. During this initial period in the House of Representatives, he contributed to the legislative process at a time when the United States was engaged in World War I and dealing with its aftermath. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1920 to the Sixty-seventh Congress, temporarily interrupting his congressional career.

Returning to electoral politics, McKeown was elected again as a Democrat to the Sixty-eighth Congress and to the five succeeding Congresses, serving from March 4, 1923, to January 3, 1935. In total, he served eight terms in the United States Congress between 1917 and 1935. Throughout these years he participated in the democratic process and represented the interests of his Oklahoma constituents during a period marked by economic expansion in the 1920s and the onset of the Great Depression in the 1930s. In 1934 he was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination, bringing his long tenure in the House to a close at the start of 1935.

After leaving Congress, McKeown resumed his legal career and pursued other business interests. In 1935 and 1936 he moved to Chicago, Illinois, where he again engaged in the practice of law. He returned to Ada, Oklahoma, in 1937 and became involved in farming and oil production, reflecting the economic character of the region and diversifying his professional activities beyond the legal field. He remained active in Democratic Party affairs, serving as a delegate to the Democratic State convention in 1942.

In his later years, McKeown returned to public office at the local level. He served as county attorney of Pontotoc County, Oklahoma, from April 1, 1946, to January 1, 1947. In 1947 he was appointed county judge, and he was subsequently elected to that office in 1948 and again in 1950, serving continuously until his death. His late-career judicial service underscored his long-standing commitment to law and public service in Oklahoma.

Thomas Deitz McKeown died in Ada, Oklahoma, on October 22, 1951, at the age of 73 years and 140 days. He was interred at Rosedale Cemetery in Ada. His career encompassed roles as attorney, judge, legislator, and local official, and his eight terms in the U.S. House of Representatives placed him at the center of major national developments in the early twentieth century.