Description:
Henry M. Scales was born March 13, 1869 in Holly Springs, Mississippi and raised on a farm near Memphis. He attended college at Vanderbilt University and Johns Hopkins before moving to Oklahoma in 1891 to work as a representative of Prudential Life Insurance. Scales was described as a "peerless young Democrat, lawyer, orator, parliamentarian, and student." He became mayor in 1907 and was mayor when Oklahoma became the 46th state. Although not a teetotaler himself, which he famously admitted in his "Mint Julep" speech while campaigning for re-election in 1909, prohibition had came about under Scales' watch, as Oklahoma entered the Union with it written into the state constitution. It was also during his tenure that Oklahoma also had its first state fair in October of 1907, a few weeks prior to officially becoming a state. Scales was the first mayor to serve two consecutive terms. He joined Harter Real Estate Company after his stint as mayor. He died of pneumonia on December 15, 1918 at the age of 49. He is buried in Fairlawn Cemetery.