The Biographical Dictionary of America/Barnes, Cassius McDonald

​BARNES, Cassius McDonald, governor of Oklahoma Territory, was born in Livingston county, N.Y., Aug. 25, 1845; son of Henry Hogan and Cemantha (Boyd) Barnes; and grandson of Gideon Barnes. He was educated in the public schools and at the Wesleyan seminary Albion, Mich. In 1858 he was a telegraph operator at Leavenworth, Kan., and in 1861 enlisted in the Union army and was successively private secretary to Gen. Nathaniel Lyon and in the military telegraph and engineering corps. He was chief deputy United States marshal of the western district of Arkansas at Fort Smith, Ark., 1876-'86, and receiver of public moneys of the land office at Guthrie, Oklahoma, in 1889. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1893, and ​was a member of the 3d and 4th legislatures of Oklahoma, 1895-'97, and speaker of the house in the 3d legislature. He was appointed governor of Oklahoma Territory in April, 1897, by President McKinley, and served until May 13, 1901.

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