Eli H. Whitmire was born June 13, 1859, the son of George Whitmire and Elizabeth Faught. George Whitmire settled in the Going Snake district in 1828, being one of the early settlers. He was for some time judge of his district, and gave his name to the school where his son received his early education viz., the Whitmire Primary School. Here Eli attended until old enough to go to the Male Seminary in Tahlequah, where he studied for some time, leaving that institution to enter the Indian University, where he remained from 1876 to 1880. Having received an excellent education, Mr. Whitmire devoted himself to teaching his first school being that of Tyler’s Valley and the next the Whitmire school, above referred to, where he taught for seven years. In 1886 he married Mary, daughter of Elias Wright. After clerking in a mercantile house in Cincinnati for one year, Mr. Whitmire returned to the Whitmire School, where he taught for a term and a half. In 1887 he was elected to the Senate, and during his office term of two years rendered himself remarkable (in conjunction with R. W. Lindsay) by holding out for a high price of lease for the grazing privileges of land west of 96, always sustaining the chief in his various vetoes on that occasion. By this effort the amount was raised from $125,000 to $200,000. At the expiration of his term Mr. Whitmire was elected secretary of the Board of Education. During the past year he has not sought an office, although he takes a lively interest in politics, having done so ever since he left school. Mr. Whitmire was probably the youngest man that ever obtained a seat in the Cherokee Senate, and he secured a larger majority than anybody else in the district. He has a farm of 100 acres in cultivation, on the Barren Fork. Mr. Whitmire is a Master Mason, and belongs to the Flint Lodge. He is a gentleman of good appearance and address, quiet, dignified and well educated. He is very popular, and calculated to make a success in public life, although he has no political ambition at present.
