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524 The Chronicles of Oklahoma NECROLOGIES WILLIAM FINLEY SEMPLE 1883-1969 The name of William Finley Semple has been associated with Choctaw affairs since the turn of the century. Born at Caddo, Indian Territory in the present Bryan County on March 16, 1883, the son of Charles Alexander Semple and Minnie Pitchlynn Semple, he attended Jones Academy near McAlester and graduated from Washington and Lee University at Lexington, Virginia in 1907. He set up his law practice in Durant specializing in land titles. He was elected to the House of Representatives in the 2nd Oklahoma State Legislature, from Caddo, Oklahoma. He was appointed Attorney for the Choctaw Tribe and later served as counsel for the Bureau of Indian Affairs during the administration of President William Howard Taft. President Woodrow Wilson appointed Mr. Semple, Principal Chief of the Choctaws in which capacity he served from 1918 to 1922. He came to Tulsa in 1932 as general counsel for Deep Rock Oil Corporation and served as its Chief Counsel for seventeen years until his retirement in 1949. With his retirement from Deep Rock he again opened his law office fighting many legal battles as tribal attorney for the Choctaws and the Creeks. The Choctaws retained more of their tribal lands than any of the Five Civilized Tribes at the close of their tribal governments in 1907. On August 25, 1959, Congress authorized the Choctaw tribal council to dispose of the remaining property that included 16,500 acres of land on which the tribe retained 1/2 of the minerals. It was with the disposition of this property that Mr. Simple was concerned during his third tenure as Choctaw Attorney. His book, Oklahoma Indian I.and Titles, published in 1952 by the Thomas Law Book Company of St. Louis is used in the universities as a text. He was an admirer of Judge Isaac C. Parker of Fort Smith and presented some of the Judge's law books to the University of Tulsa in 1960. Mr. Simple was awarded the Golden Legion of Phi Delta Theta in 1955. The wife of William Finley Semple, Clara Petty Semple, died on June 11, 1966, after fifty-six years of marriage. Mr. Semple's maternal great, great grandfather was Major John Pitchlynn, a former officer in the colonial army who came to live with the Choctaws in Mississippi in 1774. He is described in contemporary journals as "the man who knew Pushmataha best." Major Pitchlynn was appointed official Choctaw interpreter during President George Washington's administration and served for many years in this capacity. He was present during the negotiations at the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek in 1830, whereby the Choctaws gave up their lands in Mississippi and immigrated to the Indian Territory. He