{{short description|American politician}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2020}} {{Infobox person | name = Henry Overholser | image = Henry Overholser.png | image_size = | alt = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1846|04|14}} | birth_place = Montgomery County, Ohio | death_date = {{Death date and age|1915|08|25|1846|04|14}} | death_place = Oklahoma City, Oklahoma | body_discovered = | death_cause = | resting_place = Fairlawn Cemetery, Oklahoma City | resting_place_coordinates = <!-- {{coord|LAT|LONG|display=inline,title}} --> | citizenship = | other_names = | known_for = | education = | alma_mater = | employer = | notable works = | occupation = Business | years_active = | title = | term = | predecessor = | successor = | party = | opponents = | boards = | spouse = Emma Hanna Overholser (divorce c. 1880)<br/>Anna Ione Murphy Overholser (1872-1940) | partner = | children = Ed Overholser (1869-1931)<br/>Elizabeth Overholser<br/>Henry Ione Perry (1904-1959) | parents = John Overholser<br/>Elizabeth (Niswonger) Overholser | relations = | callsign = | awards = | signature = Signature of Henry Overholser.png | signature_alt = | website = | footnotes = | misc = }}
'''Henry Overholser''' (April 14, 1846 – August 25, 1915) was an American businessman, county commissioner, and important contributor to the development of Oklahoma City. He was the first to erect two-story buildings in the city, both of which were torn down in 1907.<ref name="usgennet">[http://www.usgennet.org/usa/topic/historical/1908vol2_2.htm A History of the State of Oklahoma, Vol.2 - 1908] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080724141936/http://www.usgennet.org/usa/topic/historical/1908vol2_2.htm |date=July 24, 2008 }} at [http://www.usgennet.org/ USGenNet] (accessed April 22, 2010)</ref> Overholser's son from a first marriage, Edward, was a mayor of Oklahoma City.<ref name="everett"/><ref name="edoverholser"/>
==Early life== Overholser was born April 14, 1846, on a farm in Montgomery County, Ohio, the son of John and Elizabeth (Niswonger) Overholser.<ref name="usgennet"/><ref name="everett">Everett, Dianna. "[http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/O/OV003.html Henry Overholser] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100729120741/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/O/OV003.html |date=July 29, 2010 }}," [http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/index.html Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150201065646/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/index.html |date=February 1, 2015 }}. (accessed April 22, 2010)</ref><ref name="famhistory">[https://familyhistorybites.blogspot.com/2007/05/other-overholser.html The Other Overholser] at [https://familyhistorybites.blogspot.com/ Family History Bites] (accessed April 26, 2010)</ref> He was one of 13 children.<ref name="famhistory"/>
Overholser married Emma Hannah and, on June 20, 1869, she gave birth to a son, Edward in Sullivan, Indiana<ref name="edover">Fugate, Tally D. [http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/O/OV002.html Edward Graham McClain Overholser (1869-1931)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100721041521/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/O/OV002.html |date=July 21, 2010 }} at [http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/index.html Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150201065646/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/index.html |date=February 1, 2015 }} (accessed April 27, 2010)</ref> The couple had a second child also, Elizabeth, who married George Pirtle and she used the name "Queen". They lived in Kansas and had two sons.<ref name="famhistory"/> Overholser worked in the mercantile business in Sullivan for 13 years.<ref name="usgennet"/> He started various real estate and building enterprises in Colorado and Ashland, Wisconsin before moving to Oklahoma Territory.<ref name="usgennet"/>
==Oklahoma City== Overholser had already made a fortune when he arrived in Oklahoma Territory in 1889.<ref name="everett"/><ref name="famhistory"/> He quickly began buying lots, developing business buildings, and making capital improvements using his own money to what would become Oklahoma City<ref name="everett"/><ref name="edoverholser">Fugate, Tally D. "[http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/O/OV002.html Edward Graham McClain Overholser] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100721041521/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/O/OV002.html |date=July 21, 2010 }}," [http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/index.html Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150201065646/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/index.html |date=February 1, 2015 }}. (accessed April 22, 2010).</ref> Overholser married Anna Ione Murphy on October 23, 1889.<ref name="annaoverholser">Fugate, Tally D. "[http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/O/OV001.html Anna Ione Murphy Overholser] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100721011155/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/O/OV001.html |date=July 21, 2010 }}," [http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/index.html Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150201065646/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/index.html |date=February 1, 2015 }}. (accessed April 22, 2010).</ref> His brother, Levi, and nephew, Will, lived in one of his buildings on West Grand in 1889.<ref name="famhistory"/>
Overholser ran unsuccessfully for mayor two times, but did succeed in becoming a county commissioner of Oklahoma County.<ref name="usgennet"/><ref name="journalrecord">Shottenkirk, Marcia. "The Century Club: Henry Overholser" in ''The Journal Record'' on February 12, 2007. Copyright 2007 Dolan Media Newswires.</ref> He built the Overholser Opera House on Grand Avenue for $108,000 in 1903<ref name="usgennet"/> and the Overholser Theater.<ref name="journalrecord"/> In 1905, Henry and Anna Overholser had their only child together; a daughter, Henry Ione Overholser.
With collaborator Charles G. Jones, he was instrumental in the creation of two railways important to Oklahoma City: the St. Louis and Oklahoma City Railroad in 1895,<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry?entry=OV003 |title=Overholser, Henry (1846-1915)|publisher=Oklahoma Historical Society|accessdate=August 30, 2024}}</ref><ref name=Jones>{{cite web|url= https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry?entry=JO018 |title=Jones, Charles Gasham (1856-1911) |publisher=Oklahoma Historical Society|accessdate=August 30, 2024}}</ref> and the Oklahoma City Terminal Railroad in 1900.<ref name=Frisco>{{cite web|url= https://www.condrenrails.com/Frisco/Frisco-Museum-All-Aboards/AA1988.3.v2.10.pdf|title=The Frisco Family—The Oklahoma City Terminal Railroad Company| publisher=All Aboard, The Frisco Railroad Museum, March 1988, p.3 (accessed on CondrenRails.com) | accessdate=August 29, 2024}}</ref>
Just before statehood in 1906, Overholser helped the local chamber of commerce purchase land for the State Fair of Oklahoma, giving it a permanent home.<ref name="journalrecord"/> He served on the fair's board for numerous years.<ref name="journalrecord"/>
==Overholser Mansion== {{Main|Overholser Mansion}} A prominent mansion in Oklahoma City stands as testament to the Overholser family. The 20-room, brick-and-stone Victorian mansion lies in Heritage Hills<ref name="journalrecord"/> and was built in 1903.<ref>[http://www.heritagehills.org/hh/HistoryMission/tabid/54/Default.aspx Heritage Hills Historical Preservation Inc.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090501015510/http://www.heritagehills.org/hh/HistoryMission/tabid/54/Default.aspx |date=May 1, 2009 }} (accessed April 26, 2010)</ref> It passed through the family until it was transferred to David Perry, the husband of Overholser's daughter, after her death. In the 1970s, the mansion was donated to the state and is currently maintained as a historic house museum by Preservation Oklahoma through an agreement with the Oklahoma Historical Society.<ref>"[http://www.overholsermansion.org/About_Us.html About Us] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100129193932/http://overholsermansion.org/About_Us.html |date=January 29, 2010 }}," [http://www.overholsermansion.org/ The Overholser Mansion]. (accessed January 26, 2010).</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [http://www.overholsermansion.org/ Henry Overholser Mansion] - official site
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Overholser, Henry}} Category:1846 births Category:Businesspeople from Oklahoma Category:Oklahoma County commissioners Category:1915 deaths Category:19th-century American politicians Category:19th-century American businesspeople