Background
Speed, Horace was born on January 25, 1852 in Nelson Company, Kentucky, United States. Son of Thomas S. and Margaret (Hawkins) Speed.
Speed, Horace was born on January 25, 1852 in Nelson Company, Kentucky, United States. Son of Thomas S. and Margaret (Hawkins) Speed.
Educated private schools.
In 1889, he moved to Winfield, Kansas, and following the Run of "89 he established a practice in Guthrie, Oklahoma Territory. His experience with the Cherokee Commission led now President Benjamin Harrison to appoint him United States Attorney for the territory (1890–1894). He served again for a short time in 1900 as the last territorial United States Attorney before it was divided into districts.
As United States Attorney he prosecuted many of the outlaws running rampant in the territory and the land fraud cases that troubled the land openings.
In 1901, following Territorial Governor William Miller Jenkins removal from office, President Theodore Roosevelt called Speed to Washington and offered him the governorship. Speed declined and Thompson Benton Ferguson was eventually appointed as a compromise.
After statehood, Speed moved to Tulsa and opened a law firm. He died there in 1924.
Littlefield Junior., Daniel F. Seminole Burning: A Story of Racial Vengeance.
Jackson, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi, 1996.
Married Jessie Saint