This and That Newsletter
www.OklahomaHistory.net
Vol 25  Issue 1,278   Circulation 5,000      July 22, 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
Residents of Gainesville figured prominently in the history of the Ardmore Milling Company.

In 1898 J. C. Whaley & Associates of Gainesville bought a small flour mill in Ardmore from Thomas and Plummer, and soon built a new mill of 200 barrel capacity and a 55,000 thousand bushel storage the elevator. This business was operated by WM Gywn, H. L. Griffin and Jim Floyd, all of Gainesville. About 1920 the mills capacity was increased to 300 barrels.

In 1922 T. J. Underwood cross the River from Gainesville and became manager. He is now the firm's president. A fire in 1926 destroyed the old elevator and a new concrete one of 135,000 bushel capacity was erected. This building is about 150 feet tall.

Ardmore Milling Company employs about 30 persons in the manufacture of flour, cornmeal, bran, shorts and about every conceivable type of animal feed. Field seeds are also handled. Chief trade names are White Wave Flour and Blue Ribbon Feed.

The firm has purchased the grand champion steer several times at the Junior Livestock Show and gives liberally to churches and charitable organizations.

J. F. Wilmoth and M. C. Rall are vice presidents, W. C. Wilson is the firm's secretary and treasurer.
-from Carter County History Book 1957

http://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos21b/ArdmoreMillingCompany.jpg

http://oklahomahistory.net/BirdsEyeView/FeedMill5b.jpg

Fleet Cooper Motor Company. 712 West Broadway in Ardmore.

http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos21b/FleetCooperMotors.jpg

Last week we had a picture of the old Mode O Day store front at #10 West Main being uncovered and restored to its original state. In 1910 before Mode O Day, the occupant was J. M. Hoard Jr., an Ardmore clothing store.

http://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos21b/ModeODayStoreFront071021.jpg

June 1983
No clues have some surfaced about the disappearance of a 75 year-old man from a boarding house in Lone Grove area. Aaron "Punk" Gay, a Love County native, had been staying at the Persimmon Hill boarding house southwest of Lone Grove for four months when he walked away on April 30th.

June 1983
Carter County Commissioners formally offered the city of Ardmore $15,000 for five acres of property located near Washita Construction on State Highway 53 near Springer for the purpose of finding a suitable location for a county jail.

June 1983
Long Grove Board of Trustees appointed Dearl Cathey as acting chief of police. He was previously dismissed as police chief on January 11, 1983 and is currently under investigation by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation around the use of funds from a police association account.

June 1951
Four County Hunters treed and killed 110lb wildcat, ending a six-month-old hunt for the animal, which has killed two calves, pigs, a mule and terrified packs of dogs. The men were hunting wolves when their hounds treed the cat. One man climbed the tree to kick the cat out but decided against it when he saw the cat's eyes. So rocks thrown that bounce the cat out of the tree and the dogs killed it after a vicious fight.

June 1927
Ewing C. London, Carter County Sheriff, and his deputies won their suit against the board of County Commissioners for money allegedly do them for expenses, mileage, criminal fees and transportation in May. The total settlement was $2,000.

June 1927
Charges of contempt have been filed in District Court against Sheriff Ewing C. London over timely transfer of a prisoner to the state penitentiary. According to authorities, London let a prisoner go free before 11 days while the man settled his affairs.

June 1927
Three Carter County men are dead and four are severely burned as the result of a burning gas well fire at Sanford, Texas. The dead are Elmer Richards of Graham, and Bryan Daniels, and Lester Nelson. Severely burned were Fred Harris and Claude Daniels of Graham, and Jimmy Dailey and Cowboy Petty.

June 1927
J D Williamson, nine years old, was riding on the running board of a Ford roadster driven by Miss Allie Reed of Milo. Miss Reed said her car was struck by a truck of the Hudson Houston Lumber Company when the truck swerved in front of her car. The driver of the truck said there were no collision, but the driver of the car swerved and struck a stump, throwing the body to the ground. J. D. Williamson was fatally injured during the incident.

We've gone over the $948,000 mark, so we are making progress locating people or their kin with unclaimed property at the State Treasurers office in OKC. And the search continues....

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.  What town is known as the Crown Jewel of Oklahoma?
A.   Edmond

Q.  Where in Oklahoma is the rock formations "Old Maid" and "Wedding Party" located?
A.  Answer in next week's newsletter

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

Robert Hensley sent in an interesting picture this week. The copper roof gazebo that sat at the north end of the depot, has been moved to the south end. Lots of construction and renovations going on at Ardmore's depot.
http://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos21b/DepotGazeboMoved072021.jpg
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Carter Seminary School
My name is Kay Gibbs here in Youngtown, AZ. I'm the person who called you on the phone Tuesday evening 20 Jul 2021 about any info you might have about this school starting in 1966. My questions are:
1) Are there any records located locally that would name students attending this school?
2) When did Carter Seminary on Chickasaw Blvd officially close down?
3) Does the Chickasaw Nation still have any holdings in this school?
Any help is appreciated.
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One of a kind—Aunt Effie
My aunt Effie Dobson and her husband were the managers for the SEA ranch owned by Noble at the north edge of Ardmore as you enter the city from the north. Now Effie wasn’t just any aunt ,she was a wholly terror. When I first moved to Ardmore I was shopping in the old Dicus store in the N.E. one day when an elderly woman rammed her cart into mine and muttered something like “get the hell out of the way”. I responded with I’m sorry. Well, after a few aisles later the same thing happened but with much more force. This time I decided to look under the wide brimmed hat and much to my surprise it was Aunt Effie. We both had belly laughs that rocked the carts before exchanging pleasantries about weather and family. Now, NOBODY could fish the Noble lakes unless they knew somebody. You see these beautiful lakes were stocked each with a different type fish Catfish, Crappie, Sand Bass etc. I saw this startlingly meeting as an opportunity. I told my aunt Effie the only way I would forgive her was for her to let me fish the lakes. She agreed if I would do two things. One I had to call ahead each time and if she so desired she would go fishing with me. Aunt Effie loved to fish although she never requested to go with me. She did provide me with a lot of information about where to fish and not once did she turn down a request by me to fish although I didn’t abuse the opportunity. R.I.P. Effie -Jim Hefley
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Butch, my brother and sister were both born at home when my parents lived on Glover Street. Do you know where Glover Street was? We drove all around the NE and SE and no Glover Street. My siblings were born in 1947 and 1949.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/maps/GloverStreetSEArdmoreMap.jpg
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Below is from This and That newsletter archives of July 23, 2009

My uncle, Donald Bridges in California, wrote in this week to share something funny.  After we talked about drivers licenses last week, he remembered his Oklahoma driver license issued in 1945 had an F on it for the sex (FEMALE)!  He carried it around for 3 years before he even noticed it.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos9a/OKDriverLicense1945.jpg
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 Not to far from our place here south of Lone Grove is an Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association sign hanging in front of the rancher's front pasture. I remember back around 1980 an investigator for the Texas and Southwest Oklahoma cattle raisers and lived at Sulphur by the name of Joe Ramer. Ramer carried a special ranger commissioner from OSBI and the Texas Rangers when he worked across the state line in Texas. He was a professional special officer dedicated to finding cattle rustlers and bring them to justice. I would see him on a regular basis at the sheriffs office since he worked closely with sheriff Robert Denney when there were cattle thieves working the area.

One of Sheriff Robert Denney's field deputies was Lloyd Hudson who had a large collection of pocket knives hanging on the wall. He collected them wherever and from whoever he could through the years. He must have had a couple hundred attached to a sheet of plywood on display for anyone to see who came in the office.

One day Joe Ramer was visiting the office and decided to play a little joke on Lloyd. Joe removed one of Lloyd's knives from the wall when he wasn't looking and put it in his pocket. When Lloyd came back in the room, Joe asked him if he wanted to buy a pocket knife. Lloyd asked to see it, and replied he already had a knife like it, but what would he take for it. Joe said he'd take $2. Lloyd gave Joe Ramer 2 bucks for his own knife and everyone starting laughing. Lloyd was a wonderful guy who'd give you the shirt off his back if you needed it, as would Joe Ramer. Lloyd Hudson (1921-1991) has since passed on to that big ranch in the sky. Here's the pic of the Cattlemen's Association sign I took just the other day that brought back to me some great memories of three great men.
 http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos9a/OklahomaCattlemensAssn.jpg
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 This week the Carter county commissioners put on an employee Appreciate Day for everyone. There must have been about 80 in attendance at noon to partake in the BBQ and hamburgers with all the trimmings at the Annex Building. Everyone had a really great time. Its during that one hour at noon when it really confirms what I've known all along: I work with some of the best co-workers, and 3 excellent bosses, Bill McLaughlin, Dale Ott, Kevin Robinson. I'm really thankful I work there.
 http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos9a/AppreciationDay072209a.jpg

Of course, I had to take a picture of my hamburger the county commissioners cooked for everyone. It was good to the last bite. And those home grown tomatoes really topped it off!
 http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos9a/hamburger072209.jpg
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 To test eggs for freshness, lower them into a bowl of water. If they lie on their sides at the bottom they are quite fresh, if they float to the top they are stale and probably bad.
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 "The springs are running again and the visitors are in Chickasaw National Recreation Area enjoying them. There were so many people at Little Niagara last weekend, you couldn't have "stirred them with a stick!"
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 I'm attaching a picture of swimmers enjoying Little Niagara on Saturday. The dam that creates the falls has been repaired and the diving area dredged out. I'm told the deepest part is now 12 feet. It will silt in some eventually, but for now it is quite deep. Also attached is a picture of the bison named "Crooked Horn" who died and is now stuffed and on display at the Nature Center. Visitors can see some interesting displays and informative films at the Nature Center." -Mary Lou
 http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos9a/LittleNiagara09a.jpg

http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos9a/LittleNiagara09d.jpg

http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos9a/CrookedHorn09.jpg
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 "Butch, Lynn McCumber's picture below have some funny long necked animals in the picture. Did he know the Giraffe were in the field? It sure caught my eye." -Claude in Juneau
 http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos9a/WashitaValley071309.jpg
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 "Have you ever seen the picture of the hanging in Ardmore that happened in 1904? On the back of the picture, it says a guy by the name of Rufus Binyon was hung for murder, the gallows in the Federal Jail SW corner of Main & "B" St. S.W., present day location of The Old Fashion Soda Shop."
 http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos9a/ArdmoreHanging1904.jpg
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 "This picture is the Mother Bear looking for salmon coming up the creek. I think she probably ate the last one earlier in the morning. Her tummy sure looked full in the first picture of her. She looks brown but it is a brown phase black bear. For the last three years, she had been escorting around twins but got rid of them this spring so she could raise the new family. With her last twins, one was black and one was brown. They are around somewhere but she keeps them away. They are very protective of their young." -Claude in Juneau
 http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos9a/MommyBear.jpg
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 11-18-1912 ~ A Masonic Lodge building, two stories high is to be erected at once in Wilson by the Masons of Hewitt, who yesterday closed a deal for lots on which to erect the building. This is the first secret order to commence a building in Wilson, but practically all of the church organizations have secured locations to be put up in the near future.
4-14-1912 ~ New Wilson, the infant city on the line of the ONM&P, is proud of the new high school building just completed. When the town was first organized, it was decided to invest ten thousand dollars in a new high school building. Each room is equipped with its own heating plant, which makes each independent of the other. Prof. A. A. Rogers will be the head of the school, and will be assisted by Mrs. A. A. Rogers, Miss Florence Corley, Miss Ruth Hewitt, Miss Marian Prater, Miss Alice Woods, and Miss Helen Goff.
11-11-1912 ~ Wilson is the "Wonder city of Carter County, the fastest growing place in the state at the present time." Only in an oilfield where faith has been followed by rapid development could a town grow so fast within sixty days time. With the telegraph service being installed by the Ringling Railroad, and a complete telephone system throughout the town and surrounding country now in operation, Wilson is in direct connection with the entire world. Wilson now has 800 people and 500 teams. Everything that goes to the Healdton field must come to Wilson by train. The town has four lumber yards, three oil supply houses, two hotels, a half dozen restaurants, a steam laundry and a moving picture man in town.
12- 8-1912 ~ New Wilson. Mr. Foster has just completed a hotel on the west side of town which will be known as the Teamster's Beanery. Miss Shannon of Marietta has built one of the finest rooming houses in the city. Rhodes Brothers of Stroud have purchased the dry goods business of Mobley, the tailor. Work will soon begin on the grading of the streets and oil will be sprinkled daily, which will be one of the greatest boosts for our little city of nearly 3,000 people.
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There is a lot more juice in grapefruit than meets the eye. -author unknown

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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