Charles E. Creager: Newspaperman, Congressman, Oilman, and Mason

By T.S. Akers

 

 Charles E. Creager, c. 1909

(Courtesy of the Library of Congress)
 

Herodotus is known as the “Father of History,” and it is to him that all Historians pay deference. The Masonic Fraternity is one steeped in tradition and owes a great deal to the generations who have come before. Throughout the years, the deeds of the Craft have been faithfully recorded by those Brethren with a historical mind. One such Brother in Oklahoma was Charles Edward Creager. 

Creager was a native of Ohio, born April 28, 1873. He attended Northern Indiana University and then became a newspaperman.[1] When war broke out in 1898, Creager enlisted in the 4th Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment serving as Sergeant Major. [2] His return from Cuba would see Creager’s first foray into writing history when he composed the history of the 4th Ohio Infantry in 1899. 

In 1904 Creager was initiated an Entered Apprentice in Harmar Lodge of Marietta, Ohio.[3] Shortly thereafter he left for Oklahoma with his wife Elizabeth and children Margaret and Baron.[4] Creager completed his Masonic degrees in Muskogee Lodge No. 28 of Muskogee, I.T.[5] While in Muskogee he again worked in the newspaper business and served as a clerk in the Indian Agent’s office prior to being appointed Special Oil Inspector for Indian Territory. [6]

Creager was later elected as a Republican to the Sixty-first U.S. Congress.[7] Serving as the first representative of the Third District from Muskogee, he lost reelection in 1911.[8] Creager then remained in the employ of the United States Indian Service and later the oil business until his retirement in 1934.[9]  

 

The 1908 Webber Memorial Class of the McAlester Scottish Rite Valley. Creager is in the second row (no. 50), Will Rogers is in the third row (no. 37).

(Courtesy of the McAlester Scottish Rite)

During this period, Creager was very active in Freemasonry in Oklahoma. He served Bedouin Shrine as Potentate and the McAlester Valley of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite as Orator.[10] Creager joined the McAlester Scottish Rite as part of the Webber Memorial Class, held on April 16, 1908. Another candidate of note in that class was Will Rogers.[11] In 1920 Creager was elected Illustrious Grand Master of the Grand Council of Royal and Select Masters of Oklahoma. He went on to serve as Grand High Priest of the Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of Oklahoma in 1925.[12] Creager became a prolific writer of Masonic History in Oklahoma, penning A History of the Cryptic Rite of Freemasonry in Oklahoma in 1925 and History of Freemasonry in Oklahoma in 1935 along with numerous other articles.  

 

A York Rite jewel representing Creager's service as a Past High Priest of Royal Arch Masons and a Past Illustrious Master of Royal & Select Masters. 

(From the collections of the McAlester Scottish Rite)

Creager departed this world for that “house not made with hands, eternal in the Heavens” on January 11, 1964, at the age of 90. He is buried in Greenhill Cemetery in Muskogee, Oklahoma.[13] A newspaperman, Congressman, and oilman, it was Creager’s work as an Historian that left a lasting mark on Freemasonry in Oklahoma.

Charles E. Creager

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[1]  Linda D. Wilson, "Creager, Charles Edward (1873-1964)," The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, accessed September 3, 2021, https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=CR005. 

[2]  Norman E. Angel, et al., History of the Grand Chapter of the Royal Arch Masons of Oklahoma (Oklahoma:  1964), 118.

[3]  Angel, 118.

[4]  Wilson.

[5]  Angel, 118.

[6]  Wilson.

[7]  “Creager, Charles Edward,” Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, accessed September 3, 2021, http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=C000897.

[8]  Wilson.

[9]  “Creager, Charles Edward,” Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

[10]  Angel, 119.

[11]  "Souvenir of the Fall Reunion, November 4-7, 1935, The Will Rogers Memorial Class" (pamphlet, The McAlester Valley of the AASR).

[12]  Angel, 119.

[13]  “Creager, Charles Edward,” Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.