Durant, Horace B. Hon.

The following data is extracted from Muskogee And Northeastern Oklahoma.

     Hon. Horace B. Durant, a prominent representative of the Ottawa County bar who is practicing his profession at Miami, is also active in public affairs, representing his district in the state senate.
     He was born at Troy, Miami county, Ohio, July 31, 1868, his parents being Horace H. and Caroline (Brandriff) Durant, the former a native of Vermont and the latter of Ohio. Removing to Ohio, the father for a time engaged in the dry goods business at Troy, while later he conducted a drug store at Piqua, that state, becoming recognized as one of the successful business men of that place. At a later period he made his way to Oklahoma and spent his remaining years in this state, passing away in 1907. He was an earnest member of the Methodist church and was a republican in his political views, while fraternally he was identified with the Masons.
     Mr. Durant attended the grammar schools of Piqua, Ohio, and a high school of Washington, D. C., and then became a student at George Washington University at Washington, D. C., in which he completed a course in law, while later he took postgraduate work. He entered the Indian service in Washington and was afterward captain of Company D, Fourth Battalion of the Washington National Guard. In 1898 he came to Indian Territory and for a year filled a clerical position at the agency, at the end of which time he won promotion to the position of chief clerk.
     In 1900 he was appointed Indian agent, in which connection he had charge of the Quapaw, Miami, Wyandotte, Modoc, Peoria, Shawnee, Seneca and Ottawa agencies, and he afterward served for two years as United States special Indian agent, having supervision over the agencies in the states of Michigan and Wisconsin. On completing that service he turned his attention to his profession, opening an office in Miami, Oklahoma, where he has since made his home.
     Mr. and Mrs. Durant have become the parents of three children: Richard B., Virginia and Robert. During the World war Mrs. Durant, who before marriage was Lou Breneman, of Smithville, Ohio,. served as president of the Ottawa County Chapter of the Red Cross and she is active in the work of the Methodist Episcopal church, with which she and her husband are affiliated, the latter now being a member of its official board, while she is also prominent in local club circles.
     During the World war Mr. Durant was commissioned by Governor Williams to raise a company of Home Guards, of which he was made captain, and he also aided in the promotion of war measures through his public addresses. He is a strong advocate of the Boy Scout movement, realizing its importance as a national asset. His professional connections are with the Indian Territory and Oklahoma Bar Associations, and fraternally he is identified with the Masons, being a charter member of Miami Lodge, No. 140, F. & A. M. He belongs to the chapter at Claremore, to Oklahoma Consistory, No. 1, A. & A. S. R., and to Akdar Mystic Shrine at Tulsa Temple of the Mystic Shrine at, Tulsa, and is an exemplary representative of the craft. He is a stanch republican in his political views and from territorial days until the present has been active worker in the ranks of the party. He now represents the district comprising Cherokee, Delaware and Ottawa counties in the state senate. He is recognized as an influential member of that lawmaking body and is now serving on the following committees appropriations; insurance; mines and manufacturing; municipal corporations;, revenue and taxation; roads and highways; ways and means; and education.

Source: Muskogee And Northeastern Oklahoma

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