This and That Newsletter
www.OklahomaHistory.net
Vol 25  Issue 1,262   Circulation 5,000      April 8, 2021
Ardmore, Oklahoma
My email address:  [email protected]
580-490-6823

"What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us,
What we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal."

A Glimpse Into The Past by Senator Ernest Martin,

Most citizens of Oklahoma have some knowledge, or at least have heard, of the illustrious W. H. Murray a.k.a. Alfalfa Bill Murray. The things that come to mind by many Oklahomans is a recalling of some outlandish or gutsy something he performed when he was Governor of this great state. Most everyone will know that he was Governor of the State of Oklahoma but few will know that he was the 9th Governor, serving from Jan 1931 to Jan 1935. Many people will recall reading that he practically wrote the Constitution of Okla when he served as President of the Constitutional Convention (the Con-Con) when the delegates were meeting to create the laws that would govern this Great State, all before the Territory was approved for Statehood and its ratification and approval by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1907. Many citizens wont know that he was Speaker of The State House of Representatives from 1907-1908. Later he was elected to, and served as a member of the 63rd & 64th United States Congress.

February 1968
For area schools stand a chance of losing their high school students to larger school districts next year. Woodland, Berwyn, and Zaneis High School students will be forced to transfer due to the new average daily attendance rule which requires 55 students enrolled. Woodland students will go to Davis, Berwyn and Zaneis students will go to the high school of their choice. The Mannsville high school currently has an ADA of 50.22 students.

February 1968
A group of citizens interested in water in rural areas of three Ccunties met and decided to call themselves The Southern Oklahoma Water Corporation. The group is spearheaded by chairman Herman Day of Gene Autry and is currently in the process securing approximately 1 million gallons of water from the Lake of the Arbuckle's for rural areas in Carter, Murray and Love counties. Dickson residents are pursuing their own water system but are interested in initial start up cost.

February 1951
Windows shattered in Las Vegas as two separate shocks from the fifth atomic blast in 11 days rocked the city. The US Atomic Energy Commission, in an unprecedented protest announcement, warned residents to stay away from Windows.

February 1927
The school at Glenn is coming along fine. Nearly every pupil is doing good work. Lay Smith will soon have his school house completed, and the boys are building a new basketball court. Mrs. Church organized a Boys & Girls Club Tuesday of this week. She enrolled about 30 members.

February 1927
Members of the state legislature will not be allowed to receive $4 a day expenses in addition to the regular salaries of $6 a day and railroad mileage to and from their homes. The state supreme court said mileage and per diem constitutes compensation. "Any other allowance out of public funds for use in payment of hotel rooms and meals, is purely personal and prohibited by the Constitution.

Thanks to Cleta Hipley and several others putting in countless hours recording graves, I've uploaded a webpage for the McAlister Cemetery at Overbrook. There are over 1,000 names in the database. Check it out at the webpage below.

http://www.oklahomahistory.net/mcalistercemetery.htm

Ardmoreite Kerry Tully snapped this picture today of someone driving an old fire truck around Ardmore.

http://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos21a/OldArdmoreFireTruck.jpg

On March 30, 2021 I received the message from ancestry.com that a lady by the name of Murel Parnell was possibly my 2nd or 3rd cousin. I have been doing family genealogy research since the mid 1960s as a teenager. It was in the mid 60s I started filling out forms on my old manual Smith-Corona typewriter and I have never heard of a Murel Parnell in all my years of genealogy research. So, with that said, I have created a webpage about this Murel Parnell in hopes that someone out there can help me find this cousin.

http://oklahomahistory.net/MurelParnellMystery.html

A couple Scout pavers I sandblasted.

http://oklahomahistory.net/bricks/SpencerAndWestPaversBSA.jpg

And a grave marker with a lighthouse on it that turned out nice. God is our lighthouse shining a beam of light in the darkness.

http://oklahomahistory.net/bricks/SherryOllerGraveMarker.jpg

As of today we have reached area people about unclaimed property totaling over $753,644. And the search continues....

So with the above being said, how long has it been since you checked your name or a family member's name? Its easy to do a search at the Oklahoma State Treasurer link below. I think every state in the union has a unclaimed property website through the respective state treasures website.
https://apps.ok.gov/unclaimed/

Q.  According to the FBI what city is the most dangerous city in Oklahoma?
A.  Shawnee, located in central Oklahoma, ranked the most dangerous city in the state. They have the 5th worst rate of property crime in the state but the good news is, they had a 52% drop in violent crime between 2017-2018.

Q.  What old west magazine recently named an Oklahoma museum the top museum in the country in their "Cowboys, Indians, Lawmen, and Outlaws" category? The museum is dedicated to preserving the history of the American West. Where is this museum located?
A.  Answer in next week's newsletter

Some mail from this week's MAILBAG.....

Butch, are any of your Readers from the Ardmore HS class of 1952? Do you know any birders? -John Wolaver [email protected]

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Below is from This and That newsletter archives of April 9, 2009

I had a couple from Turlock, California come through town this week, seeking information on their family genealogy.   They had a record stating their kin was buried at Nickel Hill by the Washita River near Ardmore.  They asked everybody they could here, including their relatives, where is Nickel Hill.  No one knew.  So someone sent them to me.  I didn't remember anything on a Nickle Hill, but said, 'Let's check my website".   At the main webpage I entered Nickel Hill in the search engine box, and told it to do an EXACT search for those two words.  Sure enough, two mentions, one in 2002 and one in 2005, spelling it Nickle.  I found another mention in 2008 from Roy Barnes in Purcell, and he spelled it Nickel Hill.  But all mentions, even one newspaper clipping, indicated Baum, Oklahoma was Nickle Hill at one time.  Baum is about 6 miles north of Dickson on Highway 177.  But this is not the end of the mystery.  To top it off, the book Oklahoma Place Names does not list a Nickel Hill.   So, Roy or someone, tells us more about this Nickel Hill.
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 Baum, Oklahoma.  Formerly Boland.  In Carter county, 3 miles east of Gene Autry.  Post office name changed to Baum, September 21, 1894, and discontinued March 15, 1918.  -Oklahoma Place Names 1965
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Speaking of my website, after 7 years with one web hosting service, I've switched to another in Utah.  I have copied the thousands and thousands of files (1.3 Gigs worth) to the new Host, so in a few days I'll change my Domain Name Server numbers to point toward the new Host.  To continue with the old Host would have cost me $90 a year, and the new Host for 3 years is $142.   A big savings, plus I'll have unlimited storage space, unlimited bandwidth, unlimited emails, and unlimited transfers, just about everything is unlimited.  Speaking of emails, if anyone wants a free email address, let me know.  Example:   [email protected]  so if someone sends an email to [email protected], it is automatically Forwarded to your real email address.
http://www.hostmonster.com/
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Keeton Grocery. "I just always knew it as Chuck & Louise Keeton's store. It was located on the SW corner of 6th street and Lake Murray Drive, directly across from Hardy Murphy Coliseum. It was a small one main room with a side room where he put feed and pops. Dad paid his bill twice a month when he received his check. I feel sure it was there for at least 50 years or more. Chuck's brother that we knew as Lem Keeton had his store on the corner of 9th street and Lake Murray Drive but I don't how long it was there. You sure bring back some wonderful old memories. Thanks so much."  -Letha Blevins Fair
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 "Butch I remember a couple of stores from the late 20s and early 30s that are not on your list. One was on the corner of 2nd and H Street NW ran by a man by the name of Whitney. We lived a block north of there when I was growing up. Another is out of town in the Lone Grove area. NW corner of Prairie Valley road and Newport road. This was run by an elderly couple by the name of Roach. I was taught to call them by Grandpa and Grandma by my parents. Remember the red soda pops which I always knew I would get when visiting the store. Another was ran by Homer Beatty at the SW corner crossroad of Oil City and Dillard road. Sure brings back memories. Enjoyed the article of the old timer stores."  -Troy Seedig
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The Daily Ardmoreite
10-21-1917
Slacker Cases To Trial Here

   The United States court, for the eastern district of Oklahoma will convene tomorrow, forenoon at 10 o'clock, at which time the "slackers" cases will be called.  There are more than 200 men held for trial.

   U. S. Marshall Enloe will arrive Sunday with sixty or more of those under indictment.  The remainder are out on bond.  Sheriff Buck Garrett has arranged to care for these extra prisoners.  There are now about forty prisoners in the county jail, including seven charged with conspiracy, sedition and draft resistance.

   In the United States district court room, extra chairs have been placed but there will be little room for spectators.  It is the intention of the court officers to have the prisoners kept in confinement in the front rows of the courtroom, and then with those out on bond and the witnesses, as well as large number of deputies and guards, also lawyers, there is scarcely any accommodation for visitors.

   It will be remembered that these prisoners are those arrested in connection with armed resistance to the draft made in Seminole, Pontotoc and Hughes counties.  There was for a few daysm in the section, great excitement.  Railroad bridges were burned, officers shot and some of the slackers killed.

   The United States grand jury at McAlester investigated the charges for several weeks and returned indictments against those who are to be arraigned in federal court here tomorrow, totaling over 200.

   Judge Ralph Campbell stated that the trials will be completed before adjournment.
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Yes, I deserve spring, I owe nobody nothing. -Virginia Woolf

See everyone next week!

Butch and Jill Bridges

"Friends Make Life Worth Living"
Ardmore, Oklahoma
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net

Oklahoma History Website #2 (backup website)
http://www.okiehistory.net/

Vicious 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
Ardmore Army Air Field/Ardmore Air Force Website
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/airbase/
Carter County Government Website
 http://cartercountyok.us

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