Houston B. Teehee

Houston Benge Teehee (sometimes spelled Tehee) (October 14 or 31, 1874 – November 19, 1953) was an American lawyer and politician from Oklahoma most known for serving as Register of the Treasury from 1915 to 1919. Teehee was from a prominent Cherokee family, with his father serving in all three branches of the Cherokee Nation's government. Before and after statehood, he was elected to positions in city government in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, between 1902 and 1910 when he was elected to the Oklahoma House of Representatives, where he would serve two terms. After serving as Register of the Treasury he returned to Oklahoma and continued to practice law, until he was appointed assistant attorney general in 1926; in 1927, he was appointed to the Oklahoma Supreme Court Commission. He retired from political office after his Commissioner term expired in 1930.

Family, early life, and education Teehee He was five-eighths Cherokee. in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, and afterward spent one year at Fort Worth University. At the end of his term in 1909, he was succeeded by T.J. Adair. In June 1908 he resigned from the bank and opened his own law practice.

After leaving the Oklahoma House in 1914, he was appointed as a United States Probate Attorney in the United States Department of the Interior. Teehee was sworn in on March 24, 1915. As Register, Teehee personally signed so many Liberty Bonds that he experienced repetitive strain injury, permanently damaging his hand and arm.

After leaving the United States Treasury in 1919, he entered the private sector and was the treasurer for Seamans Oil Company and the R. E. Seaman Company. By 1921 he was one of the vice-presidents of the Continental Asphalt and Petroleum Company. His term ended on December 31, 1930.

Personal life, death, and legacy Teehee was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 1942. He was Presbyterian.