Oklahoma Journeys

Week of December 2, 2007

The Impeachment of Governor Henry S. Johnston

Spooks, spirits and governors…what a combination! Oklahoma governors are known for getting into trouble but perhaps no other governor from any state can match the oddities occurred during the term of Governor Henry S. Johnston. His impeachment and the reasons for it are on this week’s Oklahoma Journeys from the Oklahoma Historical Society.

From the Oklahoma Historical Society, this is Oklahoma Journeys. I’m Michael Dean.

As far as governors go, Oklahoma has had its fair share of oddities, and according to most historians, Henry S. Johnston falls into that category. A well-liked and respected lawyer in Perry, Johnston also served in the first State Legislature and served as the President Pro Tempore of the State Senate. Johnston’s career seemed to hit a high point when he began his term as state governor in January of 1927, but the euphoria of success was short-lived.

As governor, Johnston had some success, but increasingly the press began to focus on the relationship between Johnston and his secretary, Mamie Hammonds. Both Hammonds and Johnston studied alternative religions. Both were interested in the Rosicrucian Order, a semi-religious mystical organization. In the 1920s the study of mysticism, the paranormal and religion became a fad of sorts, and in Oklahoma, Governor Johnston, along with his secretary, Hammonds, were on the leading edge of this craze.

The governor considered Mrs. Hammonds’ uncle to be a trusted advisor and consulted him on various matters, despite the fact that the uncle kept pet canaries in his office because he believed that they could commune with dead spirits and pass on information. It was said of Hammonds that she could turn herself into smoke or vapor and secretly spy on potential State employees, later reporting to the governor what she had witnessed.

While the allegations of supernatural ability were largely based on hearsay and not really taken seriously by most, they did severely damage the governor’s reputation and credibility, and as Johnston and his secretary bonded over their belief in the study of supernatural events and powers, many legislators began to question who was really running the State.

What brought the matter to a head was the apparent control that Mrs. Hammonds exerted over the governor’s schedule and the fact that she could pick and choose who was allowed into his office. Despite continued pleas from legislators to remove Mrs. Hammonds, Johnston refused. He was loyal to his friends, he claimed, and he was not going to sacrifice Mrs. Hammonds just because some people didn’t like her.

Enough people took issue with the secretary, however, and the governor’s handling of the situation to bring impeachment charges against Johnston, and it was in this week of 1928 that impeachment proceedings officially began. Because of the predicament involving Mrs. Hammonds, Henry S. Johnston became the second Oklahoma governor to be removed from office.

You can learn more about Oklahoma’s 26 governors, including Governor Henry S. Johnston, by visiting the special exhibit Inspired to Lead: First Families of Oklahoma. That exhibit will remain open until the end of December at the Oklahoma History Center in Oklahoma City on NE 23rd Street, just east of the State Capitol. Oklahoma Journeys is a production of the Oklahoma Historical Society, dedicated to the collection, preservation, and sharing of our state’s past. I’m Michael Dean.