This and That Newsletter
Vol 20 Issue 1039 Circulation 5,000 December 22, 2016
Ardmore, Oklahoma
My permanent email address: [email protected]
580-490-6823
I was in the Nance Home Furnishings business this week and there on display was an interesting piece of Ardmore history. It was the gray uniform worn by the professional Rosebuds baseball team. The Rosebuds were originally in Victoria, Texas, but when the team's owner had a heart attack, the team and their Jersey uniforms were transferred to Ardmore in 1961.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos16b/ArdmoreRosebudsBaseball.jpg
Thanks Keith Nance for the history lesson on the Ardmore Rosebuds and for saving this one-of-a-kind piece of Ardmore history.
As a follow-up, this week I found on eBay an Ardmore Rosebud baseball cap going for $65.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos16b/ArdmoreRosebudsCap1961a.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos16b/ArdmoreRosebudsCap1961b.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/BaseballinArdmore.html
Will Daniel, who opened one of the first public eating places in Ardmore, was also an inventor. Although a reference to this Daisy churn may draw a look of puzzlement today, it was, in its time, when every housewife who had to make her own butter, a great treasure. At the other end the of the spectrum, his cement burial vaults were also a luxury of sorts. -Sally Gray, Territory Town, The Ardmore Story published 2006
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos16b/WillDanielDaisyChurn.jpg
A GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST Jan 1, 1923
Ardmoreite half owner in Alaskan gold minehttp://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos16b/SykesGoldMine1923.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos12a/CharlesSkyesPhoto1910s.jpg
I'm always sadden when I hear about the death of any of my Readers. I just learned this week my friend Mr. Tifft in Pennsylvania passed away last year. He contributed often to my newsletter through the years with his comments and photos. Wilton was a professional photographer and writer as mentioned in his obituary below. He documented Ellis Island, the National Parks Service and much more. Rest in Peace Mr. Wilton Tifft. Alav Ha-sholom
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos16b/WiltonTifftPhoto.jpg
http://loweryfuneralhome.com/tribute/details/3504/Wilton-Tifft/obituary.html
Below a photo he took of the Boim Chapel in Ukraine, an area he documented over a period of 5 years throughout Ukraine.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos16b/BoimChapelUkraine.jpg
October 1932
Unemployed men who are to be provided with temporary work and paid out of the funds assigned to this county will be paid at the rate of $0.30 an hour for an 8 hour day. A man and his team will be paid an extra $0.15 an hour and if he brings a wagon he will get another $0.05 an hour making the full wage for a man, team and wagon $4 a day. The work will be done is on the secondary road system of the county. Older men, we won't be able to keep up will be paid 12.5 cents an hour and will be able to take off and rest whenever they feel the need.
October 1988
Sam Ford, a Long Grove man, has been named to the newly created position of Carter County Safety Director and Personnel manager.You can find current gas prices for a particular Oklahoma town by entering the name or zip code in the GasBuddy search box.
http://www.oklahomagasprices.com/Q. Where in Oklahoma is probably the most enchanting and magical Christmas display?
A. Yukon, Oklahoma's Christmas in the Park with over over 5 million lights.
http://www.travelok.com/listings/view.profile/id.18012Q. What was the last state to declare Christmas a legal holiday?
A. Answer in next week's newsletterBelow is from This and That newsletter archives of December 14, 2002
Last Tuesday, December 17th, a big crane pulled on the west side the First Presbyterian Church here in Ardmore and preparations started to remove the bells from atop the belfry. The bells have been in place above the church since 1920 thanks to a generous gift of Ardmore banker Perry Maxwell. But through the years the wood beams that held the bells in place deteriorated, so the decision was made to remove them for repair. The eleven bells will be shipped to The Netherlands for tuning, before being place back atop the church. Bill Lumpkin, a local architect, had me notified Tuesday about the bells coming down. Here are some pics from that morning. http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/bellphotos/presbell2.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/bellphotos/presbell3.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/bellphotos/presbell4.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/bellphotos/presbell5.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/bellphotos/presbell5a.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/bellphotos/presbell5b.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/bellphotos/presbell5c.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/bellphotos/presbell5d.jpgThis is the chiming console that was used years ago to "pull" the cables and chains to ring the bells, and play the music. When new these were highly polished oak wood handles. http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/bellphotos/presbell6.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/bellphotos/presbell6b.jpg
This is looking up through the hatch that goes to the outside where the bells are located. http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos/presbell7.jpg
This is the spiral stairway that leads to the belfry. It was made by Duvinage Spiral Stair Company of Hagerstown, Maryland.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos/presbell8.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos/presbell8b.jpg
http://www.duvinage.com/
This is a pic of Bill Lumpkin standing beside the Grand Bell. Bill was instrumental in seeing the crates made for shipping the bells overseas.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/bellphotos/presbell9c.jpg
Here are the eleven bells laying on the ground beside the church. http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/bellphotos/presbell9d.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/bellphotos/presbell9e.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/bellphotos/presbell9f.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/bellphotos/presbell9h.jpg
The chimes still can be heard over downtown Ardmore but they are electronic coming though speakers since 1955. A "chime of bells" consists of 9 to 22 bells. A "carillon of bells" is 23 or more bells. The Presbyterian church is a chime of bells. http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos/presbell9k.jpg
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"As I read the news article about the Presbyterian Church bells, as it often happens with newspeople, there are several things that are close enough to being correct that they are misleading. 1) "brass" bells (they are really bronze) 2) The bells didn't "go out of tune" in 80 years; they still sound just the way they did when they came from the foundry. But in 1919 the Watervliet foundry was still learning how to tune (and no other American bellfoundry ever even attempted that). The present work will bring the original tuning up to modern standards." Carl S. Zimmerman, St Louis, Missouri
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This time of year I always think back years ago, and to the man we all called "santa claus" in Ardmore because he had a full beard just like the real Santa. One time in the early 1970s he was riding his bicycle down my street and stopped, knocked on my door, and said I didn't have a tag on my 1971 Buick Skylark. I told him I did, and it was in the back window. He looked, and said, "Well I'll be, you do." I liked that old man, he was an interesting character to talk to. His name was Coleman R. Jones (1905-1981), at night clerk at the Whittington Hotel who lived at 803 Douglas Blvd. (Douglas Blvd was C Street SE before 1949.) He was the nephew of Jewel Whittington (1890-1979), who's father Wiley Francis Whittington (1848-1926) started the old Whittington Hotel the same year his daughter Jewel was born. It was located in the southwest corner of East Main and Caddo where Cooks Laundry is today. The Whittington was destroyed by the Big Explosion of 1915, but Mr. Whittington rebuilt. Whittington Park in the SE part of Ardmore was named after the Whittington family.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/colemanjones.html
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Someone asked me this week if that bullet hole was still in the door facing of the DAs Office at the Carter County Courthouse. So I took a pic for everyone to see.The story goes that a murder defendant, Wobblin' Willie Ballow, had a gun and fired at Judge Mathers. Judge Mathers pulled the gun from his desk, returned fire and killed the defendant. Just 3 or 4 years ago a person could still see the bullet holes in the entrance doorway to the DAs offices. Those bullet markings on the door facing was the result of that shoot-out between Mathers and the murder defendant.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos/dabullet.jpg
Willie is buried beside his mother, Gemmima Ballow, in the family plot in Lone Cedar cemetery (row 9) north of Ada at Francis, Oklahoma.
William M. Ballow 2/11/1871 - 9/15/1911
Gemmima Jane Smith Ballow 3/25/1840 - 8/10/1918
David Ballow 1/28/1869 - 2/6/1939
Walton A. Ballow 10/23/1873 - 12/6/1939Wobblin Willie is buried at Francis, Oklahoma north of Ada.
http://findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=28680921
PS. About 2008 the maintenance crew at the courthouse replaced the boards in the entrance way to the DAs office, not knowing they were removing a piece of history.
Historian Stephen Riner has done a lot of research on Wobblin Willie and below is his findings.
http://bsriner0.tripod.com/wblnwill.html
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"Well, Butch, you brought back some old memories for me again. I well remember the old jail; when I was reporting for the Ardmoreite back in 1954-55, Sheriff Enoch Watterson gave me a key to the jail so I could stop by any time I felt like it and visit with the dispatcher/jailer. At that time there was an older Indian fellow whose name has slipped my mind, who pretty much lived in the jail and was a trusty. He was an excellent cook, and many evenings I'd "just happen" to stop by the jail around supper time and have a meal of his beans and biscuits!"
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"Butch- This picture of Cub Scouts was taken at the Ardmore Air Force Base. I have put numbers on each individual hoping some of your readers can help with identification by emailing me the name and number. I think the boys are from Ardmore but there is a chance they may have been from Texas. A special train was run from Dallas, April 12, 1958, bringing 1,200 Cub Scouts to the base so this could have been part of that group. This was the largest special Santa Fe train group to have been assembled at Dallas to that date. I'm trying to get as much data as possible while people who know are still around and kicking. Thanks!"
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos/scouts58.jpg
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"Seasons greetings wishing you a joyous Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year." -Wilton, Iryna and Nina Tifft in Pennsylvania. The image is of the Boim Chapel in the Ukraine built in 1621. http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos16b/BoimChapelUkraine.jpg
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"Well I was reading about the new airpark and I remember when I was 16 yrs of age I had a bad wreck going to the base, it involved one car, an ambulance was hit by Ardmore police car, which made it a 3 car wreck. I also worked at Stromberg Carlson in 1974."
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----------------------------------------------------Some mail from this week's MAILBAG.....
"Mr. Bridges, The reason for my email is that I am a golf course architect. Doing some digging I found that you posted some information in 2005 that you had discovered a gentleman named Bob Kerr had assembled a pamphlet regarding the history of Dornick Hills. I was wondering if there was a way we could possibly see more of this pamphlet by either contacting Mr. Kerr directly or if you had any thoughts on it. Have a great week and I look forward to hearing from you!" -Doug
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos5a/DornickHillsBook.jpg
"Butch, I wrote you a note many years ago trying to locate information about my grandmother's hotel. You have so many new subscribers, that I thought I would try again. My great grandmother, Susan Jordan owned the Jordan Hotel, Babe's Rooms and possibly the Dixie Hotel. One of the addresses I have is 5 A NE (Caddo) off Main Street, Ardmore. I am interested in pictures of this business when it was booming." -Marsha Schott [email protected]
"Dear Butch, Enjoying and reading every word in your weekly. As we say in the navy, Bravo Zulu! In 1950 when the Ardmore boy scouts were heading to the National Jamboree at Valley Forge, PA, the train hit a cow just outside of Ardmore, threw it into a switch, which turned part way, and derailed the train. I think no one was seriously hurt but I also recall a few cars turned over. Would appreciate any photos, news articles, etc. that anyone might have of that event." -Emil Levine, Austria
"I thought it was an interesting photo in your T&T of the 1950 photo of Ardmore Police Officers. Especially the side arms carried. It looks like one is carrying a 1911 model semi auto with ivory grips. Several other have ivory or stag grips on their revolvers. We don?t see that much anymore." -Rick
http://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos13a/ArdmorePoliceCirca1950.jpg
At the link below are 10 more scans of old photographs this week. -Robert Hensley
http://oklahomahistory.net/postcards
BUCK GARRETT HOST TO COUNTY SHUT-INS ON CHRISTMAS DAY
The Daily Ardmoreite, Sunday, December 28, 1919. Ardmore, OklahomaAt the county jail, following his usual custom, Sheriff Buck Garrett was host to the prisoners on Christmas Day. And the sheriff lived up to his policy of not doing things by halves and put on a highly appreciated "spread". There was turkey and cranberry sauce and pies and all the "fixings" attendant at a Christmas feast. Besides all the good things at the dinner table, the "shut-ins" received candies, fruits, nuts, tobacco, etc., all of which helped materially to lighten the burden of feeling that they were denied the freedom of the average American citizen.
Merry Christmas everyone, and remember Jesus is the reason for the season.
See everyone next week!
Butch and Jill Bridges
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net
PO Box 2
Lone Grove, Oklahoma 73443Vicious Dog Attacks in Oklahoma
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/viciousdogs.html
Oklahoma Bells: http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/bellpage.html
Bill Hamm's Cemetery Database
http://www.usgwarchives.net/ok/carter/cartercm.htm
American Flyers Memorial Fund - Administration Webpage
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/crash66.html
Official American Flyers Memorial Website
http://www.brightok.net/~wwwafm
Ardmore Army Air Field/Ardmore Air Force Base Website
http://www.brightok.net/~gsimmons
Mirror Site of the Ardmore Army Air Field/Ardmore Air Force Website
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/airbase/
Carter County Government Website
http://cartercountyok.us
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