Fred Severs Clinton
Fred Severs Clinton
“Let us hope the little acorn [American Red Cross] planted in the Indian Territory – Oklahoma area in early 1905 will continue to grow into a mighty oak with many useful branches…”
Biography
Fred Severs Clinton was born near Okmulgee, Indian Territory, in 1874. Educated in the schools of the Creek Nation, he received his medical degree from University Medical College of Kansas City and first opened his practice in Tulsa in 1896. Famous for drilling Tulsa’s very first oil well at Red Fork in 1901, Dr. Clinton was the first to erect a modern, fireproof office building in Tulsa and served as president and chief surgeon of the city’s Oklahoma Hospital.
Dr. Clinton was living in Tulsa in 1905 when he made successful application for the first American Red Cross branch to be organized in Indian Territory. He was a leader in the development of the Indian Territory Medical Association, which later merged with the Oklahoma State Medical Association, and was the founder of Morningside Hospital, known today as Hillcrest Medical Center. Dr. Clinton also organized and served as president of the Oklahoma State Hospital Association from 1919 to 1926.
Fun fact
On June 25, 1901, the first oil well in Tulsa County was drilled by Dr. Clinton and his partner Dr. J.C.W. Bland on Bland’s farm in Red Fork, a community in west Tulsa.
Oklahoma connections
Clinton was born in Okmulgee, Oklahoma.