Police Department History
David R. Stubblefield served from 1900-1901. He was born in Tennessee in 1870. Little is known about his career except that in 1901 he was acquitted by a federal court in Vinita for the January 28, 1901 shooting death of B.F. McPherson on Main Street in Pryor. He died April 9, 1951 in Collin County, Texas and is buried in Wear Cemetery in Rhea Mills, Texas.
Robert L. Hicks served from 1901-1904. He was born in the Cherokee Nation in 1871. During his career he also served as a Mayes County Deputy Sheriff and Deputy U.S. Marshal. He died in Tulsa in 1927. He is buried in Fairview Cemetery.
E.O Brown served from 1904-1906. He was born in 1876 in Missouri. He died March 17, 1949 in Oklahoma City and is buried in A.J. Powell Memorial Cemetery in Hominy, Oklahoma.
John R. Reeves served from 1906-1908. He was born in 1859 in Georgia and died December 28, 1936. He is buried in Fairview Cemetery.
P. Earl Wilson served 1908-1909. He was born in 1877 in Murray County, Georgia. He left Pryor in 1910 and moved to San Antonio, Texas and became a 16 year member of the police department in that city before his death on April 21, 1926. He is buried in Fairview Cemetery.
J.E. Panter served from 1909-1911. He was born in 1859 in Georgia and died September 17, 1937. He is buried in Fairview Cemetery.
John J. Holt served from 1911-1913. He was born in 1862 and died December 29, 1925. He also served as the Postmaster of Pitcher, Oklahoma. He is buried in Fairview Cemetery.
James M. Coats served from 1913-1914. Born in Iowa in 1866, he is the only Pryor officer to die in the line of duty when he was shot and killed on December 17, 1914 by Jesse Moore at the Mayor Hotel located in the 100 block of what is now Graham Avenue. Coats was serving a municipal arrest warrant on Moore for a public drunk and failure to pay charge. City Marshal James McKenzie Coats who is ¼ Cherokee (Dawes Roll #6934), left his wife and eight children to mourn his loss. He is buried in Pryor's Fairview Cemetery.
Austin Whitaker served from 1914-1931. Born in 1876 in North Carolina, he came to Indian Territory in 1894 where he worked as a carpenter for his Uncle W.T. Whitaker. He was appointed to office following the death of James Coats. He defeated for re-election by Pop Kimsey and is the second-longest serving Police chief in department history. In 1933 he was offered a job as a Deputy U.S. Marshal for the Northern District of Oklahoma. He remained in that position until his death on February 22, 1945 and is buried in Fairview Cemetery.
W.E. “Pop” Kimsey served from 1931-1933. Born in 1880 in Tennessee, he came to Pryor about 1908 and worked as construction contractor and gasoline station operator. He was the father of professional baseball pitcher Chad Kimsey who happened to be the pitcher that gave-up Babe Ruth’s 680th homerun in 1933. He died September 29, 1941 and is buried in Fairview Cemetery.
Jess A. Nicholas served from 1933-1935. He was born in 1886 in Indiana. Prior to his election as Police Chief, he owned a soda pop plant in Pryor sold as Big Nick soda. He died September 16, 1972 and is buried in Fairview Cemetery.
Louis Barnes served from 1935-1937. A native of Howard County, Missouri. His family came to Mayes County in about 1903 and settled near Locust Grove. He had been a farmer, a Tulsa Police officer and Mayes County deputy sheriff. In 1933 he was hired as a Pryor police officer. He was elected in 1935 defeating his boss Pop Kimsey. He was overwhelmingly defeated for re-election coming in 6th in an eight-man race. He immediately resigned his office. He died December 10, 1949 and is buried in Fairview Cemetery.
Tom Rudd served from March to May 1937 as he was appointed by the city council to fill the remainder of L.E. Barnes term of office. He was born in 1896 in Fayetteville, Arkansas, was veteran of World War I, he also served many years as a volunteer fireman. He died March 18, 1963 and is buried in the Chouteau Cemetery.
John A. Birchfield served from 1937 to 1943. He was born near Locust Grove in 1883. For quite sometime he delivered mail in a horse & buggy on Pryor's rural route and also operated a service station. He also served two terms as Mayes County Sheriff from 1919-1923. While serving as police chief, his health began to fail thus ending his career He died on September 13, 1946 and is buried in Fairview Cemetery at Pryor.
Ira Chiles served from 1943-1945. Born in Missouri in 1896. He was a Mayes County Deputy Sheriff before being appointed to serve the remainder of John Birchfield’s term. He died December 2, 1961 and is buried in Fairview Cemetery.
Jess Baugess served from 1945 to 1954. He was born in 1890 in Arkansas and came to Mayes County at an early age. He was a law enforcement for over 30 years serving as a former city marshal in Locust Grove, Mayes County deputy sheriff, prison guard and Pryor Police officer. He died on May 3, 1954 and is buried in Hogan Cemetery at Locust Grove.
Leonard Barnes served from 1954-1960. Born in 1927 A U.S Army veteran and native of Locust Grove, a son of former Chief L.E. Barnes, he worked his way through the ranks and was appointed Chief in 1954 upon the death of Chief Baugess. He resigned his office in 1960 to accept a position with the newly opened Oklahoma Cement Plant in Pryor. After retirement he was elected to the City Council and remained active in the community. He died February 2, 2017 and is buried in Fairview Cemetery.
Fred Grimes served from 1960-1965. Born in 1897 and a native of Texas, he came to work for the department in 1946 and then left to join the Mayes County Sheriff’s office. He was a thorough criminal investigator. In 1960 he was appointed police chief upon the resignation of Chief Barnes. He was defeated for re-election in 1965 by Slim Weaver. Following his retirement as Mayes County undersheriff in 1968, he and his wife moved back to Texas where he died May 15, 1980. He is buried in Southland Memorial Park Cemetery, Grand Prairie, Texas.
L.L. “Slim” Weaver served from 1965 to 1973 . He had previously worked as a Mayes County deputy and as Salina City Marshal. Weaver was born in Kansas in 1910. Slim was elected as Sheriff of Mayes County in 1952 and served in that office from 1953-1965 until he was defeated for re-election. In the Spring of 1965, he was elected as Chief of Police in Pryor, serving from 1965 until retirement in 1973. He died March 19, 1983 and is buried in Graham Memorial Cemetery in Pryor.
Earl L. Proctor served from 1973-1975. He was born in 1909 in Adair County, OK. He worked as a store salesperson and was a member of the city council before joining the police department in 1964. He was named Juvenile Officer of Year for 1968 by the Pryor Jaycees Group and in 1973 was elected Police Chief. While chief, he formed the department’s first official detective division and pushed for public relations with Pryor and County youth. He died June 20, 1975 and is buried in Graham Memorial Cemetery.
Wiley J. Backwater served from 1975 to 1987. He was born in 1943 in Claremore, Oklahoma. A full-blood Cherokee, he was raised in the Salina area and was a 1962 graduate of Salina High School. After a stint in the army, he went to work for the Pryor Police Department in about 1967. He was chosen as Pryor Officer of Year by the Pryor Jaycees group in 1968. By 1973, he was Assistant Chief of Police and in 1975 was elected as Pryor's Chief of Police. He held that office until his retirement in 1987. After that he worked at Phillips Driscopipe before running for county sheriff. In 1988, he was elected Sheriff of Mayes County and served one term from 1989-1993. Following that he worked casino security the Cherokee Nation in Catoosa. He passed away on June 4, 2019 and is buried in Little Rock Indian Cemetery near Locust Grove.
Dennis R. Nichols served from 1987-2015 and 2016-2023. He was born in 1952 in Pryor, grew up in the Osage community and graduated from Pryor High School in 1970. He joined the police department in 1973 and worked his way through the ranks from patrol officer to patrol supervisor to detective. He was elected Chief in 1987 after the retirement of Chief Backwater. He served the longest of any police chief in history, dedicating 50 years of service with the department and 35 years as Chief of Police.
Steven W. Lemmings served from 2015-2016. Born in 1965 in Seminole County, Oklahoma, he was a U.S. Air Force veteran who worked his way up through the ranks at Pryor Police Department to become Chief. He retired from the department in 2016. After retirement he worked in real estate and safety consulting.
Jeremy Cantrell was elected in 2023. A native of Chouteau, he previously worked as a Pryor police officer, supervisor for the Grand River Dam Authority Lake Patrol Police and as a home builder.
2023 Group Photo
Past Police Chiefs
Below is a listing of our department heads since our beginning in 1900. We hope to continue adding to this page and provide a brief biography for each chief listed. Some of these will remain incomplete or missing until we have finished collecting information.
David Stubblefied From 1900 - 1901
Robert L. Hicks From 1901 - 1904
E.O. Brown From 1904 - 1906
John R. Reeves From 1906 - 1908
P. Earl Wilson From 1908 - 1909
J.E. Panter From 1909 - 1911
John J. Holt From 1911 - 1913
James M. Coats From 1913 - 1914
Austin Whitaker From 1914 - 1931
W.E. "Pop" Kimsey From 1931 - 1933
Jess A. Nicholas 1933 - 1935
Louis Barnes From 1935 - 1937
Tom Rudd 1937
John Birchfield From 1937 - 1943
Ira Chiles From 1943 - 1945
Jess Baugess From 1945 - 1954
Leonard Barnes From 1954 - 1960
Fred Grimes From 1960 - 1965
L.L. "Slim" Weaver From 1965 - 1973
Earl L. Proctor From 1973 - 1975
Wiley J. Backwater From 1975 - 1987
Dennis R. Nichols From 1987 - 2015
Steven W. Lemmings From 2015 - 2016
Dennis R. Nichols From 2016 - 2023
