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Whitaker McDonough Grant was born in Seale, Alabama on April 26, 1851. Grant came from a quite accomplished family. His father was a doctor, as was one of his brothers who performed the first appendectomy in America, and another brother was the first Democratic governor of Colorado. Whit Grant certainly fit in with them though. Before coming to Oklahoma in March of 1893, Grant served as US attorney for Alaska, and City Councilman in Davenport, Iowa, and in the Iowa legislature. A pioneering member of the Oklahoma bar, less than three months after arriving in Oklahoma City Grant opened a law practice. He was a member of the Democratic National Committee from 1896 to 1899, and represented Oklahoma at the Democratic conventions of 1896 and 1900. In 1911 Grant became Oklahoma City’s first mayor under the Commission form of government, an office he held until 1915 despite two recall attempts. Grant died on December 10, 1927 and is buried in Fairlawn Cemetery.