Ada attorney and Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice Orel Busby, born in Arkansas, was only a few months old when he came to Indian Territory with his parents in 1889. The family lived in Allen, then moved to Ada and Konawa before Busby left home to attend the University of Oklahoma for two years. He transferred to East Central Normal School at Ada (now East Central University), where he was a member of the school’s first graduating class. He taught in Seminole County and was serving as principal of the school at Konawa when he was elected the town’s mayor in 1910. He returned to OU and received his law degree there in 1914. He served as Pontotoc County judge (1916-1920), as district judge (1927-1932) and Supreme Court justice (1932-1937). Busby also was the president of the Oklahoma Heritage Association (now the Oklahoma Hall of Fame) and held extensive ranching interests near Ada, where he was a strong proponent of conservation and propagation of game.