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THOMAS I. TRUSCOTT
Vol. 3, p. 1884-1885

The roll of men who have taken an active and helpful part in the
development of the various communities of Jackson County would be
incomplete did it not contain the name of Thomas I. TRUSCOTT, who
since his arrival in 1898 has played an important part in the
business, financial and civic life of Olustee. When he first came to
this community it was as the proprietor of a cotton gin, but soon he
entered the grocery business in which he has continued to be engaged,
and subsequently became vice president of the First National Bank. In
1913 his worth as a citizen and his capacity for public service were
recognized when he was appointed postmaster, an office in which he
has efficiently served to the present.

Mr. Truscott is an Illinoisan by nativity, born at the Village of
Kane, in the southern part of Greene County, August 12, 1853, a son
of J. J. and Eliza (KIRKLAND) Truscott. His grandfather, Thomas
Truscott, came to the United States from England in 1821 and soon
settled as an early pioneer in Green County, Illinois, where he was
engaged in farming until the discovery of gold in California, in
1849, when he made the long and dangerous trip across the plains to
the gold-fields. He was one of the fortunate miners who secured
valuable claims and subsequently passed his life in the West, where
he became a prominent capitalist. J. J. Truscott was born in Greene
County, Illinois, in 1832, and some years after his marriage there
went to Arkansas, continuing to make his home in that state until
1879, when he went to Thorpe Springs, Hood County, Texas, as a
pioneer. An attorney by profession, he was engaged in practice at
various places in Texas and held a high position in his vocation,
being elected county judge of Knox County, Texas, an office in which
he served for nine years. After retiring in 1900, Mr. Truscott came
to Olustee, Oklahoma, and in 1911 went to Maud, Oklahoma, where he is
now living quietly in his comfortable home. He has been a democrat
all his life and has always taken an active part in political and
civic affairs, while his fraternal connection is with the Masons.
Mrs. Truscott, who was born in Green County, Illinois, in 1835, died
at Thorpe Springs, Texas, in 1874. They were the parents of five
children, as follows: Thomas I.; George E., who is engaged in
merchandising at Maud, Oklahoma; Addie, of Frederick, Oklahoma, who
is the widow of W. W. ROGERS, a mechanic; Estella, who is the wife of
Hon. D. F. GAUS, an attorney at Seymour, Texas, and a member of the
Texas State Senate; and Lucien K., M. D., who is a practicing
physician and surgeon of Oklahoma.

Thomas I. Truscott attended school at Kane, Illinois, in Arkansas,
and at Thorpe Springs, Texas, and in 1875 was graduated from the
Texas Christian University, receiving a diploma in higher
mathematics. Following this, for four years, he was principal of a
school in Rockwall County, Texas, and at the end of this period
bought a school property at Seymour, Baylor County, Texas, which he
owned and operated for eight years. His next venture was in the
handling of cattle, an enterprise in which he was engaged for eight
years in Knox County, Texas, and during this time also taught school,
but in 1898 disposed of his Texas interests and came to Olustee,
Oklahoma, where he erected a cotton gin. Selling this one year later,
he embarked in the grocery business, and from a modest beginning has
built up an enterprise that is now considered one of the substantial
business concerns of the city. Almost from the time of its inception,
Mr. Truscott has been vice president of the First National Bank and
has taken a leading part in shaping its policies and directing it to
success. When he came to Olustee he interested himself almost
immediately in civic affairs, and as a friend of education was made a
member of the school board, on which he acted almost continuously
until 1913. He also displayed his ability and integrity as a member
of the village council for six years, and June 17, 1913, was
appointed postmaster of Olustee by President Wilson and has continued
to discharge the duties of that position in an expeditious, efficient
and courteous manner to the present time. With his family, Mr.
Truscott belongs to the Christian Church. He is a member of the lodge
and encampment of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he
is deservedly popular. His political beliefs have made him a democrat
from the time of attaining his majority.

Mr. Truscott was married in 1883 in Rockwall County, Texas, to Miss
Zona POLLY, who died at Seymour, Texas, in 1897, the mother of four
children, namely: Edith, who is the wife of F. A. EDWARDS, who is
engaged in the insurance business in Texas; Margaret, who is the wife
of H. A. ARMSTRONG, of Dallas, Texas, connected with the Holland
Magazine; Mida, who is the wife of Miles BIVINS, a well-to-do
cattleman of Amarillo, Texas; and Gwendolyn, who married J. P. CHOSE,
a pharmacist of Helena, Montana. Mr. Truscott was again married, in
1904, at Olustee, Oklahoma, when united with Mrs. Stella (CROCKETT)
CARTER, widow of the late T. B. Carter, who was a farmer of Quanah,
Texas. Two children have been born to this marriage: Dorothy and
Barbara Tom, who are attending the Olustee public schools.

Transcribed by: Dorothy M. Tenaza, August 1, 1999.

SOURCE: Thoburn, Joseph B., A Standard History of Oklahoma, An
Authentic Narrative of its Development, 5 v. (Chicago, New York: The
American Historical Society, 1916).