Gaylord Newell Bebout

(1878-1941)

Assistant Attorney General of Michigan

Gaylord Bebout was born near Mt. Vernon, Michigan in 1878 and his family moved to Gatesville, Texas when he was just five years old. He grew up on his father’s farm there until the family again relocated to Winfield, Kansas. Gaylord went to Oberlin College in Ohio and then to the University of Michigan where he finished Law School in 1905. Meanwhile, his parents returned to Gatesville.

As an attorney, he proved capably versatile but specialized in all matters corporate and realty. He initially moved to Topeka, Kansas where he was first sworn in as a lawyer but on the advice of his lawyer friend, R.B. Welch, he surveyed the “Indian Territory” of Oklahoma and found a place as one of the first settlers of the town of Vinita where he soon became involved as corporate attorney for most of the area businesses. He served as city attorney for Vinita in 1907. Gaylord moved to the Waco area about 1910 in order to be closer to his family in Gatesville. During his time in central Texas, he was very fond of making trips to Austin to stay at the Driskill Hotel with his wife and friends.

He became a member of Waco Masonic Lodge by affiliation on December 18, 1914. He was an officer for three years rising as high as Junior Warden before stepping out of the officer lineup due to a career opportunity in Detroit, Michigan. There, he co-founded the “Welsh, Bebout, and Hill Law Offices” and worked as a major corporate attorney of the Midwest until he was made an Assistant Attorney General of Michigan in 1936, a role in which he served  until his death on April 9, 1941