Andrew P. Watson was an American farmer,politician,and confederate officer who served as one of the first Oklahoma Corporation Commissioners from 1907 to 1915. He was frequently referred to as the "Potato King of Oklahoma" and was a member of the Democratic Party.
After being impeached in 1915,he was later elected a Justice of the Peace in Tulsa in the 1920s and was appointed as the Oklahoma Pension Commissioner by William H. Murray on January 14,1931,serving until November 26,1932.
By 1902 he owned a 75-acre potato farm northwest of Shawnee.[4] In 1902,he was elected vice-president of the Oklahoma and Indian Territories Agricultural Horticulture and Irrigation Society.[5] In 1905,he served as the group's secretary.[6] He was sometimes referred to by the press as the "Potato King of Oklahoma."[a] In 1904,he was the general of the territorial United Confederate Veterans association.[11] He was also a member of the Woodsmen of the World.[12]
In February 1915,the Oklahoma House of Representatives opened an investigation into the corporation commission.[15] After investigating the commission,the house impeached Watson.[16]Washington E. Hudson served as one of his prosecutors during his impeachment trial.[17] In April,the Oklahoma Senate found him guilty of two of nine articles of impeachment related to a loan made to his wife by R.K. Wooten which he had endorsed.[18] He was the third Oklahoma politician to be impeached and the second to be removed from office.[b]Walter Davis Humphrey was appointed by Governor Robert L. Williams to replace him on the commission.[20]
He immediately launched a re-election campaign for the office.[21] In August 1916,he placed fifth and last in the Democratic primary.[22]
Return to politics after impeachment
In March 1921,state senator Bob Wallace attempted to reopen the senate impeachment inquiry into Watson in order to 'reverse' his impeachment. The Oklahoma News described the actions as an attempt to "whitewash" the conviction.[23] Watson served two terms as the Justice of the Peace for Tulsa,Oklahoma between from 1924 to 1930.[24] He briefly resigned in 1928 due to illness,[25] but won re-election.[26][10] On January 14,1931,Governor William H. Murray appointed Watson as the Oklahoma Commissioner of Pensions to succeed C.J. Stewart.[27] He resigned on November 26,1932.[28] He was succeeded by J.E. Stinson on December 1,1932.[29]
Watson died in the veterans hospital in Ardmore,Oklahoma on October 24,1936.[24]
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