(This from vol # IV, 1916 edition "Thornbums History of Oklahoma)
Soam J. Castleman attended the common schools in Pella, Texas, as a boy and from 1887 to 1892 he was employed in the railroad service. In 1892 he was injured in an accident, a circumstance that brought a sudden termination to his career in that field. He then turned his attention to the matter of furthering his education, and he spent the ensuing year in attendance at the Pella High School, after which he went to Thorndale, Milan County, Texas, and read law in the office of Nat Tracy.
In 1898 he was admitted to the bar, and he initiated the practice of his profession in the town of Cameron, in Texas. He remained there until 1902, when he came to Lawton, Oklahoma, and for fourteen months was engaged in practice. From then to the time when he located in New Wilson in May, 1914, he made a good many changes of location. He moved from Lawton to Snyder, Oklahoma, staying in the later place two years. From Snyder he went to Comanche, Oklahoma, remaining there two years. Thence to Tucumcari, New Mexico, where he spent something like nine months in practice, and then on to Altus, Oklahoma, in which place he was occupied for five years. In September, 1913, he settled in Cornish, Oklahoma, and in May, 1914, he came to New Wilson. He is now permanently established, and is conducting a civil and criminal practice with excellent success. In the years of Mr. Castleman's practice he has defended about 300 criminal cases, and of that number only seventeen have received sentences. He has a splendid reputation before the bar as a pleading lawyer, and his standing in the profession is most creditable. Mr. A. C. Tiser, an old law associate of Soam's once said; "That old man could pick out a point in a case that everyone else, even himself, would overlook, and knock them dead with it."
Mr. Castleman is a Democrat, and when a resident of Snyder, Oklahoma, he served as city attorney. After a two year's residence in Altus, Oklahoma, he ran for the office of county attorney, but was beaten by a narrow margin of seventy-five votes. He is a member of the County, State and National Bar associations, and fraternally is connected with the Independant Order of Odd Fellows, Wilson Lodge No. 417. He and his family are members of the Church of Christ.
Mr. Castleman has been married three times. He was first married in 1882 in Milan County, Texas, to Miss Nannie Crow, daughter of James Crow, a prominent farmer of that place, now deceased. She died in 1902 leaving two children, William August, a mechanic now living in Wilson, Oklahoma, and Ira Saul, attending the New Wilson High School. In 1904 Mr. Castleman married Miss Lydia Matilda Keithley, in Lawton, Oklahoma, the daughter of Judge Marion Keithley of Missouri, now deceased. Four children have been born to them. They are LeRoy Bates, Francis Marion (Later changed to James Francis, after both grandfathers), Jessie Jennings, and Albert Castleman. All of them are attending the local schools. The family enjoys a good deal of social prominence, and they are well known in the city and county, though their residence in New Wilson has been a brief one thus far".
note: This short narration was excerpted from a longer story that mentioned his father and siblings,it was written prior to a third marriage (see below). Many of the details have since been found incorrect and would have appeared to have been given by Soam to the author to make his family a little more gentile than they were.
Soam married for a third time on 9 August 1919 to Gladys Rebbeca DeQuasie-Cope, widow, and the daughter of William M. DeQuasie and Dicie L. Burdette-DeQuasie; they had three children. Stanley Jean, Shirley Fay and Bonnie Laurel. They later adopted Mildred VeNoy.
note: Mildred was probably the daughter of one of Soam's clients. Alice Castleman-Preston daughter of James Francis Castleman cared for her father his last years and one of the stories he told her of his younger years was about the time Soam came home, presumedly from court, with a young girl. He told James and the others, "this is Mildred, she is your new sister" (sic). One wonders, did he lose a case and fullfil on a promise to "Take care of my daughter?"
Other stories that James told Alice concerned the fact that Soam had quite a temper and his life as a lawyer suffered some as he was once disbarred for slapping a judge. He also had part of his nose bitten off in a fight with either a client or another judge...