James Yancy Callahan

James Yancy Callahan (December 19, 1852 - May 3, 1935) was a late 19th century politician. Callahan would represent the Oklahoma Territory as a Delegate to the United States House of Representatives from 1887 to 1899. Callahan, as a member of the Free Silver party, is (as of 2006) the only third party politician to represent Oklahoma at the federal level.

Callahan was born near Salem, Dent County, Missouri, on December 19, 1852. He was reared on the farm where he was born, educated in the common schools, and worked on a farm. He entered the ministry in the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1880, continued to engage in agricultural pursuits, sawmilling, and mining. In 1885 he moved to Stanton County, Kansas, where he lived until 1892. In 1886, a year after James moved to Kansas, he was elected register of deeds for Stanton County. He was reelected in 1888 and served until December 1889, when he resigned and returned to Dent County, Missouri.

In 1892 he moved to Kingfisher County, Oklahoma, settling near the town of Kingfisher. He engaged in agricultural pursuits.

In 1896, Mr. Callahan was nominated for Congressional delegate from Oklahoma Territory. He was elected by a plurality of less than fifteen hundred, running on the Free Silver ticket to the 55th United States Congress (March 4, 1897–March 3, 1899). Callahan was not a candidate for re-nomination in 1898.

After leaving politics Callahan relocated to Enid, Garfield County, Oklahoma, where he published the "Jacksonian" until January 1, 1913. He retired from active business pursuits in 1913. He claimed to be healed of a chronic ulcer in 1923 after receiving prayer from Rev. P. C. Nelson, an Assemblies of God educator. He resided in Enid, Oklahoma until his death there on May 3, 1935. He was interred at Enid Cemetery.

ources

* A History of Oklahoma, by Joseph B. Throburn and Isaac M. Holcomb, Doub and Company San Francisco 1908
* Ex-Congressman Healed and Filled with Spirit, by P. C. Nelson. Enid, OK: Southwestern Press, 1932.
*USRepSuccessionBox
state=Oklahoma Territory
type=Delegate
before=Dennis Thomas Flynn
after=Dennis Thomas Flynn
years= March 4, 1897–March 3, 1899