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Below is April 6, 2002 to June 29, 2002.
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Saturday June 29, 2002 T&T Weekly Vol 6 Issue 271
I must tell everyone I hit a special spot in a lot of people’s memory when I mentioned the corner grocery stores in last week’s T&T. You will see in the Mailbag a lot of you wrote in and had a story to tell. I created a webpage to host the names of some of the corner grocery store of bygone years. There are so many I don’t know if we can ever list them all. In 1935 to 1940 era there were nearly 90 grocers listed in Ardmore! I hope some of you can help fine tune this list, getting more accurate dates and places and names of Ardmore area grocers. If you know of any photos of grocery stores of bygone years, pass it along, everyone would love to see it! This is a work in progress! https://oklahomahistory.net/grocers.html
Last week I mentioned a story I wanted to share, as told to me by one of my northeast friends of long ago. This actual event takes place before my time, but the people alive back then swears this incident really happened. And it all unfolded not to far from my house on 3rd NE and involves a pipe sticking out of the ground on one side of the street, and an old water well on the other side. So now I’ll turn this over to the person who lived just a few feet from where all this was supposed to take place. True? I don’t know, but you can be sure I won’t be camping out in that vacant lot next to their house, by that old deserted water well.
“Butch, this story took place in the late 1940’s or early 1950’s…it has been told to me by my mother many, many times – never changes. We lived in the NE part of Ardmore and one day when my Mom was out watering her flowers a neighbor from down the street stopped by. He asked her if she believed in “ghosts”, or “haunted places”. She told him that she had been told “ghost stories” all her life and even though she couldn’t prove it, believed that there were places which were haunted. He told her that the reason he asked is that on a recent evening just about twilight, he was walking back home from town. He was walking on the sidewalk which was across the street from our house. There was a fenceline that separated the two houses directly across the street, with the fencing supported by large pipes. Mr. “W” told my mother that just before he got to the corner fence-pipe which was by the street, a glowing yellow ball-shaped object floated out of the pipe and drifted straight in front of him, crossed the street, and went over to the abandoned well which was in the west side of our yard. He said that when the object got to the well, it seemed to go down into it and disappeared. He told my Mom that he had never experienced anything like that before and wondered if she had seen anything like that herself. She told him that she had lived there for quite some time and had never seen anything like he had just described. He also told her that there used to be a small house that sat right over the top of that well. It apparently was a one-room structure, and had a trap door in the floor which could be lifted allowing the occupant(s) to get water. The story went that the man who lived there liked to play cards and gamble. One night he and another man got into an argument while playing a card game. Mr. W. said that he had been told that one man killed the other and dumped his body in the well. My family had also heard that same story years before. During the drought in the 1950’s, when everyone in town was having water wells dug so that they could water their lawn and trees, our dad cleaned out that old well, and put a cover and pump on it so he could water our garden, etc. He cleaned it out real good and discovered that the well was actually being fed by an underground spring and that at one time, it appeared that the course of the spring had changed and the well itself was not very reliable. The point I am making from this is that my dad did not find any human skeletal remains when he cleaned out the well, so the story may have been just that – “a story”. Nevertheless, as a child, I always steered clear of the well, especially when it got close to sundown – always afraid of what I might see. As a matter of fact, even as an adult, I got an eerie feeling if I came close to the well after dark. Power of suggestion? Too many ghost stories in my head lingering from my childhood? Who knows! All I know is this, I don’t think you could pay me to camp out by the well…call me a coward if you want, but that’s the way I feel about the “old well”. Chalk this up as another Oklahoma ghost story.”
Here are photos I took of the old water well and pipe in northeast Ardmore. https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/wellne.jpg https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/wellne2.jpg
A Reader from Healdton gave me a neat little piece of Ardmore’s past the other day. A pop bottle opener advertising E.L. Keith’s Barber Shop at the old Ardmore Hotel on the handle. The Ardmore Hotel was remodeled around 1964 and is known as the Lincoln Center today. https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/ardbarb.jpg
Remember all those strange looking bottles druggest use to put medicines in years ago? There is a museum in Guthrie, Oklahoma which displays every kind of druggest’ bottle imagineable. http://www.oklahomadrugstoremuseum.com/
Those wanting to move the OU-Norman game to Norman every other year are still ahead, barely. If you haven’t voted, please do, and pass the word! https://oklahomahistory.net/thepolls.html
Several Readers the past few weeks have told me they cancelled their long distance carrier and just using the talk-around when they need to make a long distance call. This works fine. But you may want to think about just switching so you don’t have to dial those extra numbers. Whatever the case, at four cents a minute, it is a great price! By the way, our little group is going to close out Jume with over 12,000 minutes! I knew this was a good deal!! Thanks everyone! Help spread the word! And if you have questions call 1-877-955-5335 toll free and ask away! http://www.worldxchange.com/agent/228072
SOME LETTERS FROM THIS WEEK’S MAILBAG
“Butch, I was reading about all the neighborhood grocery stores in NE Ardmore. I lived in the NW and on C Street between 2nd and 3rd was Davis Grocery. There were two or three brothers and their dad…I remember George, Warren and can’t remember any of the others. One of them had a boy who worked there, also. The first store had an open front where they put all the vegetables and fruits. Then, they built a brick grocery store and I guess that’s when my mom and dad moved us out to the Plainview School district. Also, Mr. Couch had a grocery store across the street west from Franklin School. There was another store on the corner of E and whatever that street is crossing … maybe 5th or 6th..on the southwest corner of Franklin. Don’t remember who ran that one but seems to me it might have been the Dodds…… Boy… this is really going waaaaaaaayyyyyy back…….. Thanks for the memories.”
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“Enjoyed your reflections on the corner grocery stores and brought memories of Lee’s Grocery in Wilson back in the late 40’s. Remember the little cylindrical cardboard packs of peanuts (goobers) that had the possibility of having money in them? I also recall going into that little old store at Marsden. It seemed pretty big back then. Another good memory is the snow cone stands. Where did they go? I guess my favorites were pineapple, grape and orange.”
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“Good memories, Butch: The two I remember best is Harrison’s Grocery on P and 3rd Ave NW. My grandfather lived at 1422 3rd Ave NE. Also in 1965 I lived in a garage apt on G St. NW, I bought groceries from Moore’s Grocery Store. They would deliver to the house. I usually spent $10.00, yes that is ten dollars, a week there at Moore’s, and had them delivered. Can you believe that for $40.00 a month you could buy all you needed at the grocery store. That price would not buy much today would it? My granddad was James “Newt” Frakes. You might have known him when you were a child. When I was a baby, Granny Hart, (not my real grandmother), lived next door to my grandparents. I think they used to have a store. But the only one I remember there is Harrison’s. I came from California to visit my granddad when I was 16, my cousin from Tulsa was visiting him at the same time. He and I would walk to the swimming pool on “F” St. At least I think it was that street. And we would go over to Harrison’s Grocery, which was just across “P” St. and pick up our Granddads groceries. Thanks for bringing back good memories. BTW, anyone visiting webshots, just type in healdton in the photo search and see what comes up. Last time I looked there were 429 photos displayed under “healdton”, most of them are ones I have taken. Check them out. Thanks Butch for putting my webshots link in your T&T. because of that I found out what the name of the old School in Texas was. It is Bulcher School House. The guy that wrote me about it also sent a photo of what it looked like back when it was still used as a school. It is located in Bulcher, TX that is in Cooke County. Yes it is on the map. The album of the old school is on webshots in one of my albums I added the photo that one of your readers sent to me. I first saw it because I was looking for a bell for you. My husband thought that the old school would have a bell. Well it has a bell tower, but alas, no bell. Keep on bringing us “GOOD MEMORIES”. We all appreciate you.”
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“Hi Butch, What about Fraser’s Meat Market on East Main. Remember the chili they made? I also remember during the war the margarine we bought. You put in a yellow powder and mixed it good and it turned yellow. Also remember they cut your steaks and other cuts of meat Those were good Sirloin steaks! Those were the good ole days. Thanks for all the memories, your neighbor from F.St. N.E.”
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“The snuff dipping brings back memories for me too. My mother and Dad both dipped. Garrett and one with a rooster on it. I am down to 1 snuff glass now. My Uncle, Buddy Ward gave me 2 sets several years ago and my husband gave one away, not realizing I really needed all of them because of breakage. When my mother was a child, everyone dipped I guess. They would take one of those brushes made from a limb, dip it in the snuff and put it in the baby’s mouth to teach it to like the taste I suppose. I remember Basil Moran too and his store. When I was first married in the early 50’s we traded with him. We also lived in the little rock (former store building I think) just accross on the oposite corner. Basil carried that wonderful Priddy’s salad dressing too. I would love to have some of that now. I remember another store that was not mentioned too. Vanderburg Grocery. It was N.E. but I forget the exact address. Looking forward to the next issue.”
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“Butch, The Corner Grocery Stores brought back a lot of memories of growing up in Ardmore. There was also Payne’s Grocery on the NW corner of C St and 10th SE. I used to walk there every Saturday morning for my Grandpa and Granny Dry. I would pick up a 6 pack of Coke for Grandpa and a 6 pack of Pepsi for Grandma. I would get 10 cents to spend on myself. I could get a soft drink and a candy bar for 10 cents. There was also Hodge’s Grocery directly across the street from Jefferson Elementary School. Mr. Stanley Hodge’s made his own Corn Nuts and Cinnamon Toothpicks. They were great! Went to school with his son, Stanley Jr. I might be wrong, but I think the name of the Grocery on Carter and 11th SE was Keeton’s. My Dad, J. L. Price used to work for Mack’s Wholesale and delivered the Candy, Cigarrette’s and Sundries to a lot of these Corner Grocery Stores. Like I said lots of memories.”
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“hello, from Arizona…I’m an Okie tho. You mentioned a Mrs Copeland…My great Aunt Martha Armstrong married a Thomas Copeland…I can’t find out anything about her. Maybeso some of your readers might know, My family lived in Dill City, close to Cordell. IF someone knows any of the Armstrong family descendants I sure would like to hear from them. Enjoy your papers very much.” Ruth Armstrong Byrd [email protected]
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“I don’t know if you have this bell or not, but I was driving by Lake Murray Village and there was this great big bell. You can’t miss it. It is about in the middle of the village, set low to the ground. Also I was at Rod’s Small Engines the other day and he came out with a horny toad the he found out back. Maybe they are making a comeback hope so. First I have seen in years. Keep up the good work. Happy 4th of July Let Freedom ring from all the bells.”
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“The grocery on the corner of 11th and Carter S.E. was Bays grocery back in the 40s. Someone else had it after that. Mr. and Mrs. Bays had a grocery store in Marietta before they moved to Ardmore. On 10th and C st. S.E. was Trotter’s grocery, later Wayne Payne’s. On C St. and 5th. S.W. was Hearstill’s. Also in the Northeast about 6th or 7th. was Brook’s grocery operated by Lillian Brooks. It was West of the railroad track. I believe that the tornado that came through in the 40s was in 1946. My husband came home from WW II on Christmas Eve 1945 and he slept through the tornado a few months later. He lived by the fairgrounds and it blew away several buildings there.”
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“Butch, you brought back many memories when you wrote about the neighborhood groceries. Back when we grew up, it seemed each neighborhood offered many conveniences such as those grocery stores, laundromats, schools, churches, and sometimes even doctors. As you mentioned, there were a number of the grocery stores in the NE. We lived on 3rd and “traded” mostly with the Hickmans. We still use the term “traded” even today…guess it’s derived from when people went to trading posts to trade for supplies they needed. Anywho, I had gotten a bicycle for my birthday and also a basket which attached to the front on the handlebars. I thought my family bought it for me because they loved me…now I realize, it was so I could go to the store and bring back groceries in the basket (haha). My Mom would tell me to go to the store and I would write down the list of items she needed. I loved going…first of all, it got me out of the house and secondly, I was allowed to leave the block our house sat on. Otherwise, we kids knew that we were to ride, skate and play only on our block. I would get the things at the store which we needed, Mrs. Jesse Hickman (Bertha) would write each item down on a ticket and total it up. I would sign it and she would give me the original. Each family had their own ticket book with their surname printed at the top. At the end of the month, when my dad got paid, I would go to the store, pay the bill and Mr. or Mrs. Hickman would give me a half-gallon of Mellorine (remember that?) for free. Then I’d rush home and we would eat the “ice cream” and be thankful that our grocery bill was paid for the time being. We also used Hunt’s Grocery (esp. after Hickman’s closed). Before Hickman’s converted from being a laundry, we used Pittman’s store all the time. I remember riding my bike up there and getting some of Mr. Pittman’s delicious homemade chili and I’d get a half-pound of that good old rat cheese, along with some Dr. Peppers and sometimes a bag of those cookies that have graham cracker bottoms with marshmellow, covered in chocolate (early day S’mores). Didn’t we live wonderful, safe and happy lives back then, Butch! Simple things like that could delight even a teenager!! Hart’s Gro., was up by “P” St. NE and Mr. & Mrs. Hart lived in part of the store, if I remember correctly. My grandmother, Nona Ann Armstrong Pittman, worked for the Harts for a time. She lived on 3rd (farther east than we did) in the house where the Cryers live now. They have fixed it up so nicely and it is just beautiful, yard and all. My grandmother later moved to G St. SW and traded with Hammer’s Gro. which was just off Moore St. SW (I think). I stayed with her a lot, esp in the summer and we would walk up to Hammer’s, get her groceries and if she had a lot to carry home, one of the Hammers would drive us. Sometimes I would pull a little wagon she had and we would put the sacks in it and pull it home. There was a Mrs. Proctor who lived in a house just south of MawMaw, a lady named Mrs. Hickman and her son, Georgie, who lived on Drew St., Bill and Mary Huddleston, and many other neighbors that I can picture but can’t remember their names. Back in the NE we had so many conveniences, anyway we thought they were. We had Dr. Boyd just south of where the community pool now sits; Small’s Bakery where we bought delicious hot bread, cakes and pies; all the grocery stores; the pool; Washington School to which most kids walked; could buy gas at Hickman’s; Raymond’s Bar-B-Q up on “I” St. NE”; plus all the churches that offered Bible School at different times so all the area children could attend every one of them if they wished…I did. I remember the Woods family so well. Mr. Woods papered our house once. My older sister and my dad went up to Carmon’s and picked out the paper and we watched in awe as Mr Woods hung it so professionally. I loved that family (both families actually, the Carmons and the Woods) and they were so kind to everyone. I played with their grandchildren, Phyllis and Donald, when they lived in the brick house before moving across the street to the house they bought. I remember that there was a cellar in the yard, which usually had water standing in it. We would dare each other to run down the cellar steps and stick our feet in the water, then would run back up. We thought a den of snakes lived there. The adults probably told us that so we’d stay out of it. Someone wrote in and told the names of the Woods children…thank you. My sisters and I have been trying to remember their names and could only come up with LaNell. She came to our house a lot and visited. Not only was she friends with my oldest sister, Dorothy, but with my mom as well. My mother is now in a nursing home and we have a picture of Mom out there that she says LaNell took. She said LaNell came by one day and had a new Brownie camera and wanted to take a picture of Mom in her new dress (new to her but bought at a second hand store). The picture is still just as clear as the day it was taken. I believe LaNell moved to New York and had a set of identical twin girls – Linda and Paula. I remember her coming by to visit once before I married and moved away and she had lost her Okie accent and sounded just like a “Yorker”. I loved listening to her talk. Sorry this has been so long but I love to reminisce (?sp) about the good old days. I’ll write more later (Butch is saying “Oh, joy!!!).”
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“Good morning Butch, Speaking of the old corner grocery stores, there was one next door to my grandmother on 4th SE. It was Hodges grocery. Every Saturday when my brothers,sisters,and I went to my Grandmother’s house we would go to Hodges store and buy a funny book. We would go sit on the steps of the Jefferson school across the street read it and take it back then instead of making us buy another one, he would just let us trade it. That was really nice of him to be so decent to a bunch of kids. He didn’t have to do that. This piece brought back alot of good memories. Thanks!”
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“Butch, Whomever wrote in about their grandmother’s snuff twigs could have been my kin,but doubt it. My granny also sent us to get peach twigs for snuff brushes. My granny was Minnie Ola Wilson Willingham, born in or around Mannsville 1876. She died 1943 A very sweet Granny. My mom’s mother. Butch would you put your songs where they can be copied without copying the whole newsletter. Sometimes I like to have the songs but not the newsletter printed off. Thanks for the newsletter it’s great. I’ve never lived in Ardmore but lots of mine and my husband’s family have or do.”
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“Butch, it was before your time, but Mrs. Chowning ran the grocery store at the S.W. corner of 3rd and “I” Street, N.E. Across the street on the N.W. corner was the Creecy residence. He used to give haircuts for 5 or 10 cents and we kids played under his house with colored bottles representing vehicles.”
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“Hi– I just remembered another grocery store on Lake Murray Drive- Mr. Woods Grocery, also the old Eazy Way on the corner across from Colverts? Thanks a million for all the memories.”
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“Hi! Butch, Do you remember Hubbles Dairy Delight on South Washington? They had hamburgers for 15 cents a piece and you could buy a whole sack full. The only thing was that they were very small, but I really enjoyed them. They also had Lazy Dazys, which was a meat pie, that they served with mustard (or that was the way I liked them). I have never seen these since Hubbles closed. Gosh, my mouth is watering just thinking about them. Every once in a while we pass the building where Hubbles was and I just dream of having a 15 cent hamburger and a lazy dazy. Do any of you other readers out there remember Hubbles? If you do, and you have ever seen a Lazy Dazy anywhere, Please let us know.” “Talking about “corner” grocery stores. My mind needs a new hard drive I guess. My favorite neighborhood store and I can’t remember the name. The man who owned it was a very nice man and was a friend of my dad’s and his son worked for the OG&E as did my dad at one time. It was between 5th and 6th streed on E. N.W. Right by Franklin School. I would ride my bicycle from town and stop there and get a good and cold “grapette”. It was so cold because it was in one of those metal boxes with ice and water. Another store was on Wolverton ST. and 6th Ave. Right behind Franklin School I liked that one because I could drive my folks car up there when Dad came home for lunch. I started driving when I was 12 as long as I didn’t cross E. N.W. or K. N.W. and between 12th and 3rd streets. Those were my boundries. Driving at 12 was not too unusual back in the 1940’s. We learned to drive by going out in the country. If anyone can remember those store names please let me know. It’s hard forgetting those things. I just had a new hard drive in my computer, wish I could with my personal memory.”
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“I remember one thing we did when I was going to Washington. My best friend and I would go across the street during recess and buy one lemon and 2 peppermint sticks. We’d get Mr. Cox to cut the lemon and half and then high-tailed it back to Mrs. Brimager’s class. We’d stick the peppermint sticks inside our half of the lemon and when Mrs. B wasn’t looking we’d suck out the lemon juice through the peppermint. Mrs. B never knew we were doing this or if she did she didn’t care cause we never got into trouble for it. I can remember going to Mr. Cox’s store at lunchtime and buying a small bag of Guy’s Bar-b-que potato chips for a nickel and a bottle of pop (usually orange Crush or Grapette) for about a quarter. Sure can’t do that nowadays.”
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“Yep, I remember Mr. Cox. He always scared me and my brother. My daddy kinda got into it with him one time because he’d yelled at me for something (Lord knows what it was) and I ran home crying. Daddy wouldn’t let me go there for quite awhile, but I’d sneak down when he didn’t know it. :-))”
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“Butch, you mentioned Mrs. Copeland in your last T&T…she lived in the back part of Hickman’s Store…in the house section. Mr. & Mrs. Hickman lived in the other half. Anyway, for some reason we called her Mrs. Parker. I don’t know if that had been her last name at one time, but that’s what we always referred to her as…even though we knew her name was Mrs. Copeland. Before she lived by the Hickmans, she lived across the street (north) on the corner of 3rd & I Northeast in the front section of a brown shingled shotgun house, which was owned (?) by Mr. & Mrs. Creecy. It sat very close to the street, right on the corner. There was a big hill behind their house that sloped down from the north side of their back yard. Anyway, it seemed big to me. One day I was walking home from Washington School and cut through the Creecy’s back yard. It had been snowing hard since mid-morning and the snow had gotten pretty deep. Back then we didn’t have school buses in town school in Ardmore…the kids just walked or their folks drove them to their neighborhood school. Even though it had been snowing all day, we stayed in school until the end of the school day. When I got to the top of that hill in the back of the Creecy’s, I just had this compelling urge come over me to lie down in the snow and ROLL down that hill. It wasn’t the greatest idea in the world because the snow was so deep, and mainly because I had on a full skirt with a can-can slip under it. Boy was I covered in snow from head to toe!! I looked just like a snow ball on legs. Haha. When I got home, my mom was waiting for me at the door with towels and a warm chenille robe to slip into. Guess she knew me pretty well – knew I’d come home covered in that cold snow. She even let me eat my supper (beans, cornbread and fried potatoes) on a TV tray in front of the heater in the living room. It’s amazing when you think about the things you remember from over 40 years back. Back to Mrs. Copeland. She used to crochet and tat beautiful things which she would sell to help supplement her income. One of the things that I remember she made was a hot-pad. She would take those metal tops that you popped off of the soft drinks in the glass bottles and crochet around each one, then connecting a number of them to make a unique shape (with the rough edge of the pop lid down), and finally crocheting a lacey edge around it. We bought several from her and I think my mom still has one. My sister recently gave me a doilie (?sp) that Mrs. Copeland/Parker crocheted. It is beautiful – has a red rose crocheted in the middle of the white scarf. I will bring it over soon and let you take a picture of it. I have a couple of other items she made and wouldn’t take for them. She was a wonderful Christian lady and I only have fond, loving memories of the times I used to go to her house and sit and watch her crochet. It seems that making such lovely things is something that is nearly a lost art. I know how to crochet a little, can make a single and double stitch, but can only make rectangle afghans. Wish I could find someone to teach me how to do some other stitches and make doilies, scarfs, and other things. By the way, Butch. Do you crochet? If so, please teach me. (just kidding). I love to remember the people who made my childhood so pleasant, safe and memorable. Back then, when we lived on 3rd NE, a person didn’t have to worry so much about their children. We could play out until dark and our parents (well acquainted with all of their neighbors), knew that everyone in the neighborhood for blocks around, knew all of the kids and watched out for them, making sure that they stayed as safe as possible. Now it doesn’t matter what part of town you live in, a person has to watch their children and grandchildren all of the time. Remember how we used to walk to town to watch a movie and stay in the theater all afternoon, and evening and walking home late that night? My friends and I did that many times and were never afraid, even when we crossed the RR tracks to get home.”
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“Butch, talking about grocery stores just set me to thinking about how they were back in my day. Can you remember when they would set crates of fruit, etc. on the sidewalk in front of their stores? And every morning they would sweep the sidewalk in front of the store. People didn’t get the cans off the shelves themselves, they would tell the clerk what they wanted and they would get it for them. Once in awhile you might pick something yourself. So many things came in bulk, they would have barrels of stuff in the store. Like beans, etc. You bought it by the pound. People bought lard (shortening) in huge buckets. Syrup came in buckets. These made good lunch pails. AND they DELIVERED. All the stores had screen doors to keep out the flies. Some stores had fans in front of the door to keep the flies away. The best part was the meat market. You could tell the butcher exactly what you wanted and he would cut it then and there.Nothing was prepackaged. Bologna tasted much better back then and the big wieners were so good. Too many addatives now. Bread was 10 cents a loaf. We paid a nickle for the little pecan pies at the bakery. We bought penny candy bars that were almost as large as the big ones are now.You could get a sack of candy for a nickle. Pop was 5 cents. The bottles were smaller, were they 7 oz. bottles or 10? I remember the slogan when Pepsi came out with the 12 oz bottle. “Pepsi Cola hits the spot, 12 full ounces, that’s a lot, twice as much for a nickle, too. Pepsi Cola is the drink for you.” Double Cola was also in a larger bottle. Dr. Pepper’s slogan was “Drink a bite to eat at 10, 2 and 4.” Remember the Pepsodent jingle? “You’ll wonder where the yellow went when you brush your teeth with Pepsodent.” Morton salt “When it rains, it pours.” Bon Ami (a chick coming out of a shell) “Hasn’t scratched yet.” Our cookstove had a picture of a chick coming out of a shell but I can’t remember the name of the brand. You could mail greeting cards, invitations, etc. with a 1 1/2 cent stamp if you didn’t seal it. Penny postcards are now 23 or 24 cents. Big Chief tablets were a nickle. I go back a long way. And our school day lasted until 4:00 p.m. Then during the war (the BIG one) they changed to daylight savings time and my brother and I would be walking to school before daylight. I know that we all have it so much better now but those were happy, carefree days. We made our own entertainment and enjoyed it more. Bet you never went to a “Play Party.” They mostly had these in the country and everyone for miles around attended, old and young. It was fun. Guess that is enough reminiscing for now.”
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“Dear Butch — Enjoyed your writing about the neighborhood grocery stores, and identified with many of them, but you left out one that our family used daily for many years. It was run by Ed Davis, assisted by his family, and was located in the block between F Street and G Street N.E. (619 3rd NE) facing third avenue. It was a wooden building, with a back door leading to their backyard and house. I’m not sure when Mr. Ed Davis closed the store, but know through the 30’s and 40’s it was a very busy place. I remember we had a shortcut to it, out our back door, through the garden and up the alley and we were there in no time. He was the butcher and had good cuts of meat as well as fresh produce, a few canned goods, and, most popular with me and my sister, a Coke Box with iced “soda pop” as well as cokes. And, boy, did they taste good on a hot summer day. Just about everyone ran a bill and paid as they could at the end of the month, when Mr. Davis rewarded us with two or three packages of chewing gum. He was assisted by his twin daughters, Eddie Lou and Betty Sue and his wife. The Davis’s also had a great croquet court lit at night, at which many of the neighbors joined in the game, bringing their own special mallets. Am afraid we kids were never allowed on the court, but sometimes we got to play in the afternoon. It was a wonderful gathering place for the whole neighborhood. The Davis’s kept a milk cow in the back yard and milked it every night!”
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“I remember Taylor’s grocery on “A” Street N.E. and 11th. I think there is a second hand store there now. There also was a very small grocery on the corner of A street and 9th Avenue N.E. The old white board building still stands there across from the church. I was raised on 9th N.E. until the seventh grade when we moved to the N.W. I know live in Texas by my daughter. You bring back alot of memories in Ardmore. Thanks.”
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“Butch: I haven’t seen a horny toad in years. I often wonder what caused their demise. I have to tell you this story. In 1960 I worked for an international oil company. My office was located on Fifth Avenue in mid-town Manhattan in New York City. We lived in Bergen County, New Jersey, just across the Hudson River opposite upper Manhattan. Bergen County then was still very much a residential community with single family homes with lawns and space for small gardens. It still had a close community type environment with a local newspaper. One day the paper headlined “Prehistoric Creature Found in Local Garden”. The story went on to say the prehistoric creature was on display at the newspaper office. It was a Saturday and I thought I would drop by and see the “creature”. When I arrived there were a dozen or so people gathered about a small glass enclosure. They were seriously looking intently at something in the enclosure. I walked up, took a look and burst out laughing. Those people all thought I was nuts. I said, “That is a horny toad! They have thousands of them in Oklahoma”. I think a displaced “Okie” with a sense of humor brought a horny toad from Oklahoma to New Jersey and turned it loose in a neighbor’s garden. Oh, by the way, my grandmother also dipped Garrets with a peach tree twig.” -Don Davidson, Brenham, Texas
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“Thanks for the memories of Washington School and Mr. Connaly. I had wondered about what happened to the school. Not only did I attend all my years of elementary there but was fortunate enough to come back and teach Music and Reading during the early 60’s. I too loved the school, the neighborhood, and Mr. Connaly. Are his kids still around that part of the world? Thanks for sharing all you do and being the great person that little skinny kid on a motorbike turned into.”
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“Joe McMillan has a photo of the Ardmore depot in his book “Wheat Lines & Super Freights”. Joe says it was built in 1917 if that is any help to you.”
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“This is a very nice postcard showing the Union Depot located in Ardmore, Oklahoma from around 1910-15. The cardshows the depot with several children on the dock with their bicycles. There is even a dog in view.”
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“Hey Butch, I found your postings online while doing a search for Bitter Enders Cave (near Turner Falls by Davis, Oklahoma). I’ve attached a couple of pictures from 6-23-02. My friend Paul and I hiked back to the cave for a quick visit. It’s been about 5 years since we’ve been there last and we felt like it was worth our while to go back and visit that wonderful cave. I hiked my digital camera back with me so I could get these shots. Man what an awesome cave. The oxygen was full of CO2 and we both got very light headed and started shaking all over. That was about the time we decided we better head back out for some clean air. After a 10 minute refresher (including some yoga breathing techniques), we headed back in for a second look. The second time around was a lot better. Expectations were set before entering the second time. Anyway, I thought that you might enjoy these shots. Take care.”
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Here are two more winners for my free “History CD” this week! Over 3,800 files and 390mgs! If you have not entered the drawing, and want in, just send me an email! If you are trying out my long distance plan, let me know and I’ll see you get a History CD free! Just my way of saying thank you. Now here are the two winners for this week.
[email protected]
[email protected]
Independence Day will soon be here. We must stand strong, they say some evil people may try to hurt our country during that time. If you haven’t said the Pledge of Allegiance since school days, now would be a good time to renew that pledge. I hope we all meet back here next weekend safe and sound. See you then!
“I pledge allegiance to my Flag, and to the Republic for which it stands: one Nation indivisible, With Liberty and Justice for all.” -October 11, 1892
“I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States, and to the Republic for which it stands: one Nation indivisible, With Liberty and Justice for all.” -June 14, 1923
“I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands: one Nation indivisible, With Liberty and Justice for all.” -June 14, 1924
The last change in the Pledge of Allegiance occurred on June 14 (Flag Day), 1954 when President Dwight D. Eisenhower approved adding the words “under God”. As he authorized this change he said: “In this way we are reaffirming the transcendence of religious faith in America’s heritage and future; in this way we shall constantly strengthen those spiritual weapons which forever will be our country’s most powerful resource in peace and war.”
“I Pledge Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” -June 14, 1954
Butch Bridges
Lone Grove, Oklahoma 73443

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Saturday June 22, 2002 T&T Weekly Vol 6 Issue 270
I was thinking this week about all the little corner grocery stores that used to exist years ago, like in the 60s. So many of them are gone now. I know you can immediately think of a neighborhood grocery store that was near you. I can remember several within two blocks of my house on 3rd Northeast as a teenager and before. Let’s see…..
Of course there was Hunts Grocery just across the street catty cornered from our house at 805 3rd NE. Before the Hunt’s owned it, it was owned by C.B. Tanner. Then down 3rd street east one block was Hickman’s Grocery and Service Station at 824 3rd NE. It was owned by Jesse Hickman and was a washateria before he turned it into a grocery store. Boy I wish I had a photo of his washateria. He didn’t have automatic washing machines. Just those big almost square galvanized tubs. Everywhere you looked there was that round stick the ladies used to poke at the clothes they were washing. In 1963 Jesse had already turned his washateria into a grocery store because I’d ride my Sears Moped down there and to buy gas for it. That was the SW corner of 3rd and “I” Street NE. In the west end of his building Jesse had a little apartment he rented to Mrs Copeland. She had a little record player, and I’d go to her house and play records.
Then a couple of blocks south at 816 Roff Northeast was Hornbeak Grocery owned by Luther Hornbeak. And then only one block west of me on 3rd NE at 619 3rd Northeast was Paul Sperry’s Grocery. Paul Sperry originally had a grocery store around 1941 at 623 6th Northeast in the NE corner of 6th and “G” Street catty cornered across from Washington School.
A couple of blocks to the north of me at 827 5th Northeast was Carl Parker’s Grocery. I remember well in the early 60s my great grandmother Ida Miller lived around the corner from his grocery store on “H” Street. She’d put on her sunbonnet, and we’d walk down to his store to buy items she needed.
At 1123 4th NE was Pittman Grocery. Mr and Mrs Pittman lived next door to their corner grocery store, and my aunt Pearl Carmon lived next door to them. Then there was a little grocery store ran out of the front of Charles Wilson’s house at 423 “K” Northeast, the southwest corner. It was there for only a year or two around 1949 and 1950. That house was torn down just a couple of years ago, there’s only a vacant lot there today.
When I was going to Washington Grade School in the 60s, across the street north at 701 6th NE was Moran Grocery. Here is a photo Mr. Moran gave me of his second store for scanning a while back. https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/moran2.jpg
And here is a photo of Mr. Moran’s first store when it was wood. https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/moran.jpg
While I was still attending Washington School the Moran’s building was moved out on Highway 142 by the refinery, and Mr Moran built a new brick grocery. But before Mr Moran owned the old wooden grocery store, Mr Robert H. Cox was the proprietor, Cox’s Grocery. In the late 60s and early 70s when the brick grocery store was there, I’d work on their refrigeration units. I took Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration at the Vo-Tech, really the only thing I made straight “A”s in, and received the award for outstanding achievement both years I was there. About 1967 I took a piece of plywood out of the lumber yard and made me a sign to put in front of our house, telling I did refrigeration work and car air conditioners. Boy, I really stayed busy, and in the hot summertime, I worked til way past dark many nights fixing car air conditioning. I’d charge $3 service charge and $4 for the freon. I was able to buy freon for 50 cents a can and it usually took 3 or 4 cans to fill a car a/c up. For a teen I made good money in those days.
Back to the neighborhood grocery stores, including Robert Cox who had several grocery stores at different locations back in those days. He’d give me a call and say, “Butch, my milk box is going down on me, get over here quick” and away I’d go with my freon gauges and tools. You must realize, they’d have lots of money sitting in those refrigerated boxes, it might be over 100 degrees, and they need help now. Robert Cox even had a convenience store at Grand and “G” NW where I worked on refrigeration equipment. I worked on the refrigeration units of many corner grocery stores back in the 60s. I really enjoyed the work. I even remember Mr. Hoyle Holt calling me twice in the early 70s wanting me to quit the ambulance service and work for his company, but I turned him down both times. I really should have taken Mr. Holt’s offer.
Boy, now that I think about it, there were corner grocery stores all over town. Let’s see, Clara May Goodin’s, Hart’s Grocery, Bargis Grocery, Lamb’s Grocery, Keeton Grocery, Brownie Ford’s Grocery, Joe Dragg’s IGA, and Bud Coe’s to name a few. I remember one little grocery store at 11th and Carter SE, but can’t think of the name of it right now. Maybe some of you will remember it. It’s gone now too. So this doesn’t get too long, I’ll wait until next week to talk about some others. If you remember a grocery store in town, write and let me know. I think we will be surprised how many there were all over Ardmore. Things sure have changed in 30 or 40 years. Let me know about your neighborhood grocer! Surely you have a story to tell!
One of the things I remember buying at the corner grocery stores back in those days were red hots. I don’t know if kids today do it much or not, but years ago we’d put red hots in our soft drinks, especially the cokes to give it a cinnamon taste. We also put it in our hot tea. I haven’t had any red hots lately to put in my morning cup of hot tea, but if I did, I guess I’d try it again. I’m still a kid a heart! Also a lot of us kids would put M&Ms (the one’s with peanuts) in our cokes or pepsi drinks. But then a lot of times also we’d just buy one of those five cent baggies of salted peanuts and pour them into our coke. I didn’t particularly like mine that way, but a lot of kids do. Now there is a new color M&Ms coming out in August… purple! Boy, that don’t sound too good in a Dr Pepper. hahaha http://www.mms.com/us/index.jsp
Here is a great website that tells the history of the little red hots. I don’t know if it’s just my imagination or what, but if you take their “Red Hots Virtual Tour”, near the end of the tour there is a place where the boxes of red hots are coming out of the throat of a machine on a conveyor belt. For a few seconds they are coming out of the machine, then you blink your eyes and they are going into the machine. hahahaha http://www.ferrarapan.com/html/rh_history.html
Long time Ardmore resident Ernest Martin brought by a photo this week, something I had never heard of before. A photo of the old Central Baptist Church at West Broadway and “C” Street here in Ardmore. This is the same location of the proposed multi story parking garage suppose to be built, that I talked about in the last issue of T&T. This church was located at this location before 1930. Here is the story as told to me by Ernest:
“My mother was a good Bible scholar and was very active in various functions of the church. At the time of her stroke she was superintendent and teacher of the Junior classes at First Baptist Church which is located on the northeast corner of “C” Street and 1st Southwest. This church was named the First Baptist Church after it had recently been built by members of the “Central Baptist Church” (often called the Broadway Baptist Church) and had moved from it’s old location at the southwest corner of “C” Street and West Broadway…. just west of the Convention Hall (now after rebuilding it, it became known as the Civic Center but today is also referred to as Heritage Hall.”
“I may have been 5 or 6 years old at the time when mother and I were sitting at the back of the auditorium at the old Broadway Baptist Church… I managed to break the string of pearls that looped around her neck 3 or 4 times. The floor of the church was slanted to the front of the building all the way to the podium. I can still hear those beads rolling down that incline. I probably got in trouble. The years was around 1926 or 1927.” https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/bapt30a.jpg
The Poll I announced last week about moving the OU-TX football game from Dallas to Norman every other year has really turned into a horse race. All week long votes pretty much remained a tie, except a few times the YESs were ahead. I don’t think the NOs were ever ahead. On Friday night there was one more Yes then No votes. If you know someone who would be interested in voting in this poll, be sure to let them know. https://oklahomahistory.net/thepolls.html
Ever wonder how fast your surfing the Net? Here’s a great site for a speed check! http://www.numion.com/
I received an email from California the other day, it was sent by an x-Ardmoreite who lived in the Northeast part of town when we were young. She wanted to say thanks for letting her know about the 4 cents a minute Plan, because she calls Oklahoma nearly everyday from her home in California. She said the 4 cents a minute Plan has saved her hundreds of dollars in long distance calls. But now with the new 1 cent a minute interstate rate (a $14.95 monthly charge), she’ll save even more. I’m glad I helped an Okie be able to call home more! And the best part if you don’t have to switch long distance carriers, you can keep your AT&T, or Sprint or whatever. Just use the 1016-789 talk-around! Here is the details on the 1 cent a minute Plan…. http://www.worldxchange.com/agent/talkcents/default.asp?a=228072
And here is the info all all their Plans…. one that will fill your needs and save you money! By the way, if you live in Texas, Kansas or Pennsylvania, you really need to check out these long distance rates. Those 3 states charge more for calls made within their states then anywhere else. Our little group has exceeded 8,200 minutes already this month! http://www.worldxchange.com/agent/228072
SOME LETTERS FROM THIS WEEK’S MAILBAG
“Morning Butch, Your Grandmother, dipping snuff, brought back old memories. My mother used Garrett Snuff as far back as I can remember. She tried to keep it hid as she didn’t want anyone know she “had the habit”. When I was 5 or 6 years old, she would make me go to the store and buy her snuff in the “brown bottle”. (This was back in the 1930’s, so you weren’t carded or ID’) “Tell the store attendant, it’s for your Grandpa”, she always told me, “and be sure and turn the bottles upside down and look for the one with the most stars on the bottom”. They all had from 1 to 4 stars. Supposedly the more stars, the stronger the snuff. And you didn’t bring home a bottle with less than 4 stars, or you would have to go back.” -Ken Updike
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“Hi Butch, Enjoy reading the T&T newsletter every week. You mentioned Mr. Wood, the carpenter and wallpaper man. I think we always called him Mr. Woods, but I don’t remember for sure, but he papered the walls of our house many times. We lived at Harris and 10th ave. N.W. and I can still remember what he looked like…. I watched him papering the walls, and learned how, and tried my hand at it when away in school in Nashville, TN., and later at my own homes through the years. A tornado came through back when I was a boy and just pulled a corner of that wallpaper away from the wall, that he had put up, ….he must have done a good job, because brick houses and trees all over town were destroyed. I also remember what the tornado sounded like going overhead….like a freight train. Was sometime in the forties. Darn, I can remember back then, but can’t seem to remember what we had for dinner last evening.”
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“Hi Butch Old friend.. I enjoyed you article on your gr grandmother and her Snuff. My grand mother used snuff also. Her preferred “Brush” would be from a Peach tree if one was near by. If not, she would send one of us grand kids to cut her one from an “Elm Tree”. The “brush” was a small twig, about five inches long and about 1/8th of inch an inch in diameter. She would chew about 3/4 of and inch of one end until it looked like a brush. She would dip the brush into the snuff bottle or can and transfer the snuff to her mouth. Sometimes she kept the brush in her mouth and sometimes she removed it. “Nannie” loved to play “dominos” or “Shoot the Moon. On the floor, by the table, she would have a one pound coffee can for a “spittoon”. Woe be tied the grand kid who upset the can.We loved her very much but she would sure give you a slap across you face if you turned over her “spit can” he same result should we talked back to her or your parents if she was in hearing distance. She would say, “don’t sass me” and whop , you would get a good lick from her. We never had hard feelings against her, we knew we deserved it. She was a mid-wife and would be at a daughter’s or daughter-in-laws home two months before the arrival of a new grand child. And take on the cooking and cleaning chores and ride herd on us grandchildren. She would stay about two months after the child was born and make thing a lot easier for “MOM” we were always happy when she came to our house. she was an excellent cook and prepared meals that we never got unless she was there. When I think of her “cabbage rolls” my mouth waters even now. My children weren’t as lucky as I , they didn’t have any grand parents to love and be loved by. My father died while I was a teenager and Mother died before any of my children were school age. The family was so important in those days.”
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“Hello Butch. My brother found horny toad last Sunday. The horny toad was found in our front yard, I can only recall finding one in June of 98, and July of 92. Three sightings in 10 years they are not as common place as they used to be. When I was kid back in the 1970 I used see them all the time crawling along 3rd Ave NE. So I took some pictures so I can show everyone in my family! Thank you.” -Bruce A Wells
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“Butch, I moved to Ardmore in 1956 and the pool was already in operation, so it couldn’t have been 1959 when they started the earth moving.”
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“Hi Butch, Just finished T&T, and you done good again. Thanks for the poll re: OU football in Norman, I tried to post an opinion, but I couldn’t get the site to open. I firmly believe the game should be alternated between Norman and Austin to keep some of the money in Oklahoma that is going to Dallas. Even Ardmore would benefit each year by sooner fans southbound and (yuck) longhorns going north. If anyone can get this changed, maybe you can. Have a good one.”
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“Hi! Butch, Mr. Connely may have been soft spoken but his paddle wasn’t. My first day of school at Washington was in the fourth grade and we marched out at recess. As I started down the steps the 4th grade bully stepped in front of me. I crossed over to the other side and he stepped over. I tried to walk across the top of him and partly succeeded. We were sent to the office and Mr. Connely listened to our story then paddled the bully. I thought he had got what he deserved and started to leave. Mr. Connely said” Just a minute, I am not through.” Butch I want you to know that his paddle wasn’t soft that time nor the many other times I met it during the next three years. Mr. Connely was our cub scout master, our football coach, and our softball coach, along with teaching sixth grade and being the principal. I truly loved the man.”
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“Butch, I am writing to thank you for the bit of history about of Emory Wood. Emory was my grandfather and I worked with him on Saturdays and during the summers from the 7th grade until I graduated for Ardmore High School in 1961. Most of the years I worked with him he drove a Green Buick, we never had a pick-up truck to haul equipment and tools. I spent many good weekends in the home at 1001 3rd avenue. Ada Wood was Emory’s wife and they had several children, Alice Lucille, Doris, Orville, and La Nell. I worked many times at the John Small’s home and they were the nicest people you could hope to meet. Your newsletter is a wonderful connection to our roots, thank you for being such a good communicator and historian.” -Bill Thomas
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“Butch, I’m sorry to hear about this. I don’t understand why people always find it necessary to tear down old buildings to make room for new ones. Does Ardmore really need downtown parking that bad, that it’s necessary to tear down yet another Ardmore “landmark”. Yeah, it may not be a building that should be on the national register, but McCulloh motors is where my dad and my grandpa both bought their cars. Tsk-tsk on progress. It’s not all it’s cracked up to be.”
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/300wbdwy.jpg
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“Hey, Butch, My grandmother dipped snuff too. I remember those tins of snuff, too. That’s what we always gave her for Mother’s Day or for her birthday. I don’t have any of her tins or snuff glasses, but I do have one of my grandpa’s Prince Albert tins. Wouldn’t give that up for anything. It’s still got the date on it, too. Manufactured in 1967. Of course, I realize it’s not an antique or anything, but it’s the only thing of grandpa that I have. Thanks again for the memories.”
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“Butch. Mr. Conley was principle when I went to Washington from 2nd to 6th grade (1964 to 1969). Is he still living? My teachers were Mrs. Sherman (2nd), Mrs. Cox (3rd), Mrs. Dupy (4th, one of my favorites–graduated with her daughter, Joan), Mrs. Brimager (5th-best art teacher ever), and Mr. Homer Tipps (6th). Mr. Tipps was the reason I’d always wanted to be a teacher. We had some fun times back then. My son went there for kindergarten from 84-86 and I was heartbroken when the building burnt down. I remember hiding in the basement/Fallout Shelter during tornado weather.Thanks, Butch.”
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“Hello there. I have been searching on line the best way I know how to and I keep coming up with your site and a couple others and I don’t think IM getting anywhere, so maybe you can help me. I bought a sketch at a sell the other day and it is a sketch of an Indian boy. The name signed on it is PHLEAT BOYD if you know anything about him could you please get back with me. Thank you very much.” -Virginia Lee [email protected]
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“lost everything in a power outtage up here in Colorado; something to do with the fires.. which continue… everyone hacking and coughing due to smoke and ash… visibility is zero and has been for over a week… havent seen the mountains in as long… a really bad scene.”
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“Hey, You have probably already been questioned on this, but Tate’s date of birth, and death show him to be 34 years old, but the writeup in the Monitor says he was almost 30. The newspaper surely could not have been in error could it. Hahaha. See ya Butch. Keep on keeping on.”
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“East Texas Genealogical Society, Get-acquainted Luncheon, Thursday, June 27, 2002 starts at 11:30 (but you can come later). Ends at 1:30 (or earlier or later, depending on how chatty we get). Where: at Honey-B-Ham, 3400-A South Broadway, Tyler TX (corner of Amherst & Broadway). What to eat: Soups, sandwiches, special lunches, & excellent desserts. Hope to see you there. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.” -Scott Fitzgerald, President of ETGS [email protected]
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“EAST TEXAS GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY and ANDERSON COUNTY GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY Present A Special Program with JOHN A. SELLERS “Learning Where Your Ancestors Played, Prayed, Lived and Died.” This lecture deals with putting your ancestors in actual situations and places. Special census schedules will be covered. Methods to combine records to capture a complete picture will be discussed. Saturday, June 29, 2002, at 2:00 p.m. Palestine Public Library, 1101 Cedar Street, Palestine, TX. Contact for information: Anderson County Genealogical Society, PO Box 2045, Palestine TX 75802-2045. http://users.tvec.net/bonniew/acgs/acgs2.htm Palestine Public Library (903) 729-4121, East Texas Genealogical Society, PO Box 6967, Tyler, TX 75711 Scott Fitzgerald – (903) 592-6576 e-mail: [email protected]
http://www.rootsweb.com/~txetgs
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Gary Simmons and I went out to Wilson Monuments this week. There is so much to approve and finalize before they sandblast the new monument for the Airpark. We want to make sure every name and date is correct, and the beauty of the granite inscriptions is befitting and honors the men who died in training exercises at the base. But it won’t be long now, and the memorial will soon be ready to set next to the one already out there that honors those who died in 1966.
Here are two more winners for my free “History CD” this week! Over 3,800 files and 390mgs! If you have not entered the drawing, and want in, just send me an email! Hey, if you are trying out the 1 cent a minute Plan I mentioned above, let me know and I’ll see you get a History CD free! Just my way of saying thank you. Now here are those two winners for this week.
martha1114@@aol.com
[email protected]

I’ve got a story to tell everyone next week, if it don’t make your hair stand on end, nothing will. It all happened in the late 40s not too far from where I grew up in the northeast. My “old” friend asked me not to tell their names or the exact location, nor the person to who this event happened to, so I won’t. But if I did, many of you would know the names and have drove by this location many times. I know I have, and never knew about this story. More next weekend!
“Take An Old Cold Tater and Wait”
When I was a little boy around the table at home
I remember very well when company would come
I would have to be right still until the whole crowd ate
My Mama always said to me “Jim take a tater and wait.”

CHORUS:
Now ‘taters never did taste good with chicken on the plate
But I had to eat ’em just the same
That is why I look so bad and have these puny ways
Because I always had to an old cold ‘tater and wait.

And then the preachers they would come to stay awhile with us
I would have to slip around and raise a little fuss
In fear that I would spill the beans or break the china plate
My Mama always said to me, “Jim, take a ‘tater and wait.”

CHORUS:
Well I though that I’d starve to death before my time would come
All that chicken they would eat and just leave me the bun
The feet and neck were all that’s left upon the china plate
It makes you pretty darn weak to take an old cold ‘tater and wait.”

-Recorded by Little Jimmy Dickens 1950
See you all next Saturday!
Butch Bridges
Lone Grove, Oklahoma 73443
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Saturday June 15, 2002 T&T Weekly Vol 6 Issue 269
Friday June 14th was Flag Day and the Carter County Courthouse celebrated that grand old flag in a fitting way by having lunch on the lawn. Long time Carter county resident D. Allen Wint was on hand to serve up some delicious grilled burgers with all the trimmings to those in attendance. There was live music, and area speakers who told of a country stronger then ever, a people more united now than ever before. We had not had a Flag Day celebration on the lawn since June 1997 and this year’s event was enjoyed by everyone, young and old alike! https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/flagd6a.jpg
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/flagd6b.jpg
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/flagd6c.jpg

Back in the early sixties my great grandmother, Ida Miller (1874-1965), was already nearly 90 years old, and lived right across the street east from Washington School on “H” Street Northeast. Granny Miller dipped Garrett’s Sweet Snuff. She’d buy the snuff in the glass containers mostly, but sometimes bought the tin containers too. Since she dipped snuff, we always had a supply of empty snuff glasses in the kitchen for drinking water or milk or orange juice. I still have one of her glass containers of snuff and one small tin of snuff, also never been opened that belong to my great grandmother. The Seal’s are unbroken. But I also have about six glass snuff glasses, and I still use them for drinking liquids! Here is a pic of the snuff glasses along with the Garrett’s Snuff too! One other thing I remember her doing, she’d get a slippery elm twig, strip the bark off, and use the bigger end as a toothbrush! https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/snufglas.jpg
I took at pic of the old McCulloh Motors at 300 West Broadway this week. It is across the street west from the old Civic Auditorium. Or north of the old Lincoln Bank, which was the old Ardmore Hotel in bygone years. Before McCulloh Motors was in the building, Ken Milburn Ford was there… around 1965 and before. I heard they are going to tear the building down and build a multi story parking garage in its place. The present tenants have already moved out. https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/300wbdwy.jpg
I was talking this week to some “old” friends from 3rd NE and the name Mr. Wood came up. Emory Wood (1891-1972) was a professional wallpaper hanger who lived at 1010 3rd NE when I was a teen in the 60s. Mr. Wood bought all his wallpaper from my grandfather’s lumber yard at 801 3rd NE. He had a charge account with my grandfather Carmon and paid on the 10th of the following month for the previous’s months charges. Back in the 60s people like Mr Wood and my grandfather only needed a handshake between them, and that was good enough. In those days, business people like them had an honor to uphold…. you paid by the 10th of the month come hell or high water. Mr. Wood didn’t even need to sign the charge ticket. His word was his bond.
Mr. Emory Wood was a carpenter in the 40s like my grandfather. He rented the old Carmon home place at 1001 3rd NE around 1960, but sometime around 1970 he moved into a house he bought at 1010 3rd NE. Here’s a pic of the old Carmon house at 1001 3rd NE, rented by Mr. Wood before 1960. https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/carmonhh.jpg
So he didn’t move very far in all those years. But Mr. Wood didn’t stay a carpenter, he ventured off into the wallpaper hanging business. Good wallpaper hangers were hard to find. And when you did find one, if he was good at his work, his work did not come cheap. Mr. Wood charged $100 a day in the 60s and people needing their rooms wallpapered had to wait in line for him. Sometimes the wait was 3 or 4 months. Mr Wood catered a lot of the more affluent people in Ardmore, wallpapering their homes. Sometimes we go over to a house where he was working, and he’d have those saw horses out inside a room, with those long extra wide boards laid side by side, making a table. He’d have each run of wallpaper already cut to fit the wall, laying on the boards, ready to apply the paste too, which he applied using a large paint brush. But there was another step before you could put the wallpaper on the wall. They prepared the walls with wallpaper canvas, using a special wallpaper tack hammer with a magnetic head to hold those darn little wallpaper tacks. You’d put a handful of wallpaper tacks in your mouth, and push them out one by one attaching them to that magnet part of the hammer, and tack them to the wall to hold the canvas. This was a time consuming job, more time consuming then actually putting the wallpaper on. It would take Mr. Wood all day to wallpaper one average size room. Here’s pic of my small tack hammer from the 60s I used at the lumber yard. The magnetized end is as strong now as it was back then! https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/tackstan.jpg
I remember Mr and Mrs John Small, the Small’s Bakery people, who lived across the street from us, they wouldn’t let anyone but Mr. Wood wallpaper their house.
Something a lot of people today doesn’t realize, but in the very beginnings of Ardmore, the northeast part of town was developed first and that’s where nearly everybody lived. Most of the southwest and northwest was just open pasture land back around 1890s to 1920s. Even the Daube’s lived in the northeast where the “big swimming pool” is now. Sam Daube lived at 201 “F” Street Northeast around 1940 and before. After he moved to the southwest around 1940, Paul Sutton lived in the house. The house is gone now, and the Community Swimming Pool is located on that block.
I remember about 1959 when they started earthmoving to build the swimming pool. I’d ride my bicycle the two blocks west on 3rd and watch that bulldozer create what looked to me at the age of 10 years old the biggest hole in the world! Mr. George Holloway was the manager of the pool. I’d watch him carry is little box of bottles and chemicals out to the pool to test the water for whatever he tested it for….. he looked like a scientist at work to me.
When I was a teen back in the 50s and 60s the central focal point in my part of town was Washington Elementary School. Mr. George Conley was the principal during those years, and nicest, soft spoken guy you’d ever want to meet. Washington school ceased in name about 1973 and in 1974 was re-named the Early Childhood Center. In the early morning hours of Wednesday, November 11, 1999 the 67 year old school burned to the ground. Here’s a photo I took around 1972. https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/washschl.jpg
I have a webpage with some old report cards, student body directories, and the like. https://oklahomahistory.net/oldsch.html
Saturday June 22nd is pickup day for those of us in the Share Program. The semi will be bringing some real nice goodies to those of us already enrolled. Here is the listing: Chicken Drums – 2 1/2 LBS. Bratwurst – 1 LB. Bacon 1 LB. Ground Beef – 1 LB. Tube Ready to Cook Chicken Patties (5) – 1 LB. Onions – 4 Tomatoes Lettuce – 1 Head Slaw Mix – 1 LB. Cucumbers – 2 Granny Smith Apples – 4 Oranges – 4 Nectarines – 4 Velveeta Kraft Shells and Cheese Swiss Cheese (sliced) – 8 OZ.
If you want to know more about the Share Program give Carole Ellis a call at 223-5287, she has all the details!
Slideshow presentations available on CD for $3 each (includes postage)
Brown Springs, OK (15 photos)
Mannsville, OK (19 photos)
Bells of Oklahoma (over 155 photos of bells)
http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/ttphotos/manncd.jpg
I predicted last week that this might be a record month on our group using the long distant calling plans. Well, I’m not predicting that this week, I know it is going to be a record month! Over 5,500 minutes in long distance calls since June 1st. The good word is getting around!
Over the past several months several people have wrote in saying how good some of the pre-paid calling cards can be for making long distance calls. But be sure and read the fine print on them. Most of them charge per call to access their network usually 1 dollar. Some even charge an activation fee the first time you use the card, usually 1 or 2 dollars, others even charge a monthly fee if you choose to keep and use the card a little at a time. Secondly, the per minute rate they advertise is based on using the entire card in 1 phone call. Let’s look at an example: You buy a Brazil card that costs $10 and boasts 7? per minute, to call your cousin. The first time you use it you are charged a $2 activation fee and a $1 usage fee this leaves $7, your aunt answers the phone and tells you he is not in. Out of courtesy you spend 2 minutes on the phone with her. This call cost $3.14 for a 2 minute call or $1.57 per minute and leaves you with $6.86 worth of card for subsequent calls. You try again a couple of hours later only to get the answering machine, you don’t leave a message but the system has already charged you for the first minute PLUS a $1 access fee. That’s $1.07 for a ZERO minute call. This leaves you with $5.79 for subsequent calls. Now on your next call you finally get through to your cousin, but he only has 5 minutes to talk. $1 access fee plus 35? Hey thats 27? per minute, getting better right? Wrong…. figure it out… you’ve talked for a total of 7 minutes and used up $5.56 of your card….. that’s…… ummmm….. ALMOST 80? PER MINUTE…. I THOUGHT THIS PHONE CARD WAS SUPPOSED TO BE SUCH A GREAT DEAL. OK in all fairness the next call is picture perfect, you have $4.44 left on the card minus the access fee is $3.44 divided by 7? per minute is about 49 minutes and you use them all up on this call. FINALLY. Thats a grand total of 56 minutes from a $10 card or 17.8? per minute 10? more than the advertised price and 4.8? more than WxC would have charged. As you can plainly see phone cards work best in a perfect world without answering machines, busy signals, wrong numbers and where everyone stays home all the time.
I see some of you are starting to use their new 101-6789 Talk Cents:
1? per minute state to state long distance, includes calls to Alaska & Hawaii
Instate long distance from 1.9? per minute
Cheap International rates from 4? per minute
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If you make lots of long distance calls, then the 101-6789 Plan may be best for you! Check out all the Plans and hey, if you call overseas, you really should check those overseas rates! http://www.worldxchange.com/agent/228072
SOME LETTERS FROM THIS WEEK’S MAILBAG
“Butch, thought you might like this picture we took on Thursday evening of The Guardian before it went on top of the dome this morning. It was very impressive and Sen. Kelly Haney was there at the time we were there. Magnificent piece of art.” https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/guard6a.jpg https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/guard6b.jpg
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“Hi Butch, hope this mail find’s you well. I loved the coverage of the Raising of The Guardian, I managed to view it so much better on your New’s channel 4 it was crystal clear and very colourful. All those Indian’s in their national dress is a first for me to see, also their dancing too. It looked very warm there yesterday lots of people mopping there brow’s, it is 60 degree’s here today very grey and overcast, not a breeze anywhere very still, and I see your drinking your Iced tea again hahah very dinky machine you have there, I think I will stay with my hot tea though !!! http://www.channeloklahoma.com/okl/news/stories/news-150154120020607-090640.html
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“Butch you mentioned the picture of Dr. Hobson Veazey. This isn’t about the picture or the painter but a little bit of “you never know who you’ll see or will see you”. I moved with my family to Denver, Colorado in 1948 and about the summer of 1950 my brother and his wife and my mom and dad went to Colorado Springs for some outdoor show. There was a huge crowd and we had to wait in the car for a while to get out and a man walked past . I told my dad that man was Dr. Hobson Veazey, of course he was very sure it couldn’t be but in a few minutes here came the man again and I called attention to him. He had been our family doctor after his brother Dr. Lymon Veazey left town. Dad got out of the car and spoke to him and he knew all of us of course. But you never know when you’ll see someone you know when you go someplace.” [email protected]
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This IS probably the guy (“Spider” Webb) mentioned in your article this week. The author of the book “Aces….” Eric Hammel lives in Pacifica California. Mr Hammel has written a number of books about WWII in the Pacific and I spoke to him about one of his books a few year ago. He is a wealth of information. If some one wants info about Webb I would bet Hammel will supply any info he has. As always, enjoyed your writings this week. Thanks for the good work.”
Hammel, Eric
1149 Grand Teton Dr,
Pacifica, CA 94044-3710
(650)359-3699
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“I was in City Produce (Farmers Mkt.) there in Ardmore this week and went in to their office. Lo and behold there were old newspapers hanging on the wall. One was of the Arbuckle crash.”
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“Butch, I had e-mailed you earlier about one of your T&T readers. Who mention Wilbur “Spider” Webb. I had recalled reading his obituary here in Texas. Please visit the Notice and sign the Guest Book for W.B. “Spider” Webb.” http://www.legacy.com/Link.asp?Id=LS00291160X
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Benedictine monks first arrived in what is today the state of Oklahoma in October 1875. Fr. Isidore Robot, O.S.B., and Br. Dominic Lambert, O.S.B., monks of the French monastery of Notre Dame de la Pierre-qui-Vire, entered the Indian Territory at the suggestion of the Bishop of Little Rock, Arkansas. Spending their first few months in Atoka, the pioneer monks eventually settled with the Citizen Band Pottawatomi Indians. In 1876, they established Sacred Heart Abbey, near what is present-day Konawa, Oklahoma. Along with communal monastic observance, the pioneer monks also established a school for the children of Native Americans and white settlers of the region. The monastery at Sacred Heart was known for its strict observance, its generous hospitality, its model farm, and its beautiful formal gardens.—– “the above article continues with a fire in 1901 and a rebuilding thereafter, this might be the oldest catholic church in Oklahoma?”” http://www.monksok.org/history.htm
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“Butch, A couple of weeks ago a person had been to the Orr School area looking for the location of the O’Savior School (O’Savior Chapel). Maybe I can be of help. It was located East of Orr on the road that leads to Simon. It was west of the Simon corner (intersection). If the person would like more details they may contact me. By the way, we had our annual ORR SCHOOL REUNION last Saturday on the school grounds and Senator Johnny Crutchfield was our guest for lunch.” -Edgar Wallace [email protected]
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“This is a bell mounted at the First Baptist Church in Fletcher, Oklahoma”
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/fletchbc.jpg
“This bell is at the First Methodist Church in Fletcher, Oklahoma”
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/fletchmc.jpg
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“Hi Cuz, Love the tea stories – I still say the best tea you can drink is the tea you make yourself by putting your tea bags in a gallon mustard or gallon pickle jar, will the jar with water, screw the lid on tight to hold the tea bags so they hang in the bottle and not fall to the bottom, set the bottle out in the sun, and after a while, you have some of the best tea you can drink, pour it over some ice, use sugar (to taste) a little lemon if preferred, sit back and enjoy, enjoy, enjoy.”
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Butch, I was going to submit Walter Tate’s name to the Nat’l Law Enforcement Officers’ Memorial last year to be added with the other 36 fallen officers’ names from Oklahoman last month (May 13th) but I am a little unsure about his date of death. The Marietta Monitor article from Friday, Sept. 21, 1917, states the shooting occurred “…Sunday night…” which the previous Sunday was Sept. 16th. The Marietta Monitor article from Friday, Sept. 28, 1917, states that the shooting occurred “…Sunday night, Sept. 16th,…” and that Tate’s death occurred “…last Thursday night at 8 o’clock.” If they were referring to Thursday, the day before, then Tate died on Sept. 27th as stated in Ron Owens’ book “Oklahoma Heroes” but if he died the previous Thursday that would have been Sept. 20th. Then there is the tombstone for Tate which has his date of death engraved as Sept. 18th which is a Tuesday. So did Tate die on Tuesday, Sept. 18th and was buried three days later on Friday, Sept. 21st or did he die on Thursday, Sept. 20th and was buried the next day Friday, Sept. 21st and his tombstone is dated wrong? If I can obtain any other info that clarifies his date of death, like a death certificate, I would feel better about submitting his name to the Nat’l Memorial. His name is engraved on the Oklahoma Law Enforcement Memorial in Oklahoma City. If you or any of your readers could provide me with further info on Tate’s death I will submit his name for the Nat’l Memorial. I need copies of newspaper articles, pictures, death certificates, agency reports and surviving family information on any officer who died in the line of duty in Oklahoma for their permanent resource files. Visit our web site which is under construction at www.oklemem.com Thanks for all of your help in the past and I am looking forward to receiving information on Marietta officer Smith Redmon who is not on either law enforcement memorial at this time.” -Dennis L. Lippe, Chairman, Oklahoma Law Enforcement Memorial, Inc. Send items for fallen officers’ files to: 10600 Strawberry Hill, Oklahoma City, OK 73130. [email protected] web site: http://www.oklemem.com (under construction)
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“AOL has really been crazy lately. If anyone has tried to email me, and couldn’t get through, you can send me snailmail.” Sonny McClanahan, 50 Cherry Ave #21, Eaton, Co 80615 [email protected]
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“Hi Butch, Here is the story I found on Charles B. Hall. A native of Brazil, Indiana, he became a Tuskegee (Alabama) Airman. In January, 1943, he was one of the first 43 black pilots assigned to combat duty with the 99th Pursuit Squadron in North Africa. During a July 2, 1943 attack mission on Panelleria, in the Mediterranean theater, Lieutenant Hall earned the Distinguished Flying Cross for shooting down a German Focke-Wulf 190. In doing so, he became the first African American pilot to earn official credit for destroying an enemy plane in the Second World War. After retiring from the Air Force in the grade of Major, he became a popular insurance agent in Oklahoma City. Birth: Aug. 25, 1920. Death: Nov. 22, 1971. Burial: Hillcrest Cemetery at Ardmore, Carter County, Oklahoma. USA Plot: Garden of Devotion, Lot 160, Section B, Grave #3”
http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/history/prewwii/ta.htm
http://www.usafa.af.mil/pa/media/facts/tuskegee.htm
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“I was a flight engineer with AFA during those tragic day’s in the early Spring of 1966. I had just arrived on a Super Constellation in Houston, Tx. and Capt. Phleat Boyd was standing next to me calling in the flight close-out information while I was telephoning my wife in Ardmore. I could hear many sirens in the background and assumed that another tornado alert was in the making. I looked over at Captain Boyd as his face turned white with disbelief as one of our operations specialists was relating early information to him about what had just happened. The rest of the evening was spent with despair in our hearts and sadness which many of us have carried for many years. Thanks to the webmaster for making this website a reality.” Lee H. Hilton III, American Flyers Airlines employee 1965-1972. Born in Louisville, KY but Living in Shreveport, LA. http://www.brightok.net/~wwwafm
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“Butch, I heard on Fox SW last Wednesday night the question was asked, should the OU-TX football game be moved to Norman every other year? Have OSU go to Texas the year OU plays at Norman. Vote on this Poll at the link below. Should it be moved or kept the same?” https://oklahomahistory.net/thepolls.html
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“A report to let you know the Willingham Reunion at Coleman, Oklahoma was a really good one, lots of laughter and talk about old times. I stopped at the Farmer’s Market in downtown Ardmore (near Caddo) and picked up some fresh veggies and fruit. The watermelons were absolutely delicious. Watermelon is an important part of a reunion, especially in OK and Minnie Lou’s fried spuds (with cornbread and beans) were great. Didn’t see no Chick-a-pie tho.”
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Here are two more winners for my free “History CD” this week! Over 3,800 files and 390mgs! If you have not entered the drawing, and want in, just send me an email!
[email protected]
[email protected]
“What can I do for my country,
For all the right she’s done for me,
She’s give me peace of mind and constant liberty,
To do what I may do and be what I may be.
What can I do for my country,
For all the right she’s done for me.”
-Stuart Hamblin 1908-1989

See you all next Saturday!
Butch Bridges
Lone Grove, Oklahoma 73443
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Saturday June 8, 2002 T&T Weekly Vol 6 Issue 268
At 11:27am Friday June 7, 2002 “The Guardian”, a 17 foot tall statue by Oklahoman Kelly Haney, was hoisted to the top of the new dome at the Oklahoma State Capitol in Oklahoma City. It was a proud moment for me and it was a proud moment for Native Americans everywhere. Channel 9 in OKC carried the once in a lifetime event live for one hour, ending the broadcast at 11am. I only wish the thousands of Oklahomans watching by tv could have seen the finale 27 minutes later live on their television sets. The new dome dedication and raising of the 6,000 pound bronze statue was an event I wish I could have seen in person. The next time I am in Oklahoma City you can be sure I’ll go by and see this piece of history. http://www.channeloklahoma.com/okl/news/stories/news-150154120020607-090640.html
The hot summertime is upon us. I remember as a teen back in the 60s on 3rd NE I wasn’t allowed to drink all the pops I wanted, even though I could charge them at Hunt’s Grocery. Everyone said they weren’t good for us, and I believe that now. But what we had plenty of during the hot summertime was Lipton ice tea! My mother used saccarin instead of sugar. It was cheaper but it had that hint of a bitter taste, not like the good taste of plain ole sugar. Do you know when ice tea came on the American scene? It was first poured in 1904 at the St Louis, MO World’s Fair by an Englishman by the name of Richard Blechynden’s at his tea concession. And he created the tea completely by accident that hot sweltering day at the World’s Fair! But people loved it! http://www.holymtn.com/tea/icedtea.htm
I can not stand to drink instant tea…. so I brew my tea. A friend here in town told me about the Mr Coffee Ice Tea Maker, which I had never heard of until two weeks ago. I thought Mr Coffee only made coffee makers. But sure enough, after looking far and wide, our local Walmart store had just got a shipment in and was selling them for $19.31 including tax. So I had to try one, and let me tell you, the one I have is the cat’s meow. The perfect tea brewer! I just pour the base unit full of water, then place 8 small baggies of tea in the teabag holder, put the 3 quart pitcher under the spout, push the button on the side, and in about 20 minutes I have great brewed tea. The heated water is allowed to slooooly seep down through the tea bags, before falling into the pitcher. When its finished, I just fill up the pitcher with more water, add some sugar, place in fridge, and soon I’ve got iced tea ready to drink! So I guess I’m ready to quench those hot Oklahoma summers with freshly brewed ice tea! Here’s a pic of the Mr Coffee Ice Tea Maker. By the way, there are two models, one is the 2 quart maker, it comes with only one pitcher, and the newer model is the 3 quart maker, and it comes with two pitchers. http://store4.yimg.com/I/eatgourmet_1685_11640285
And here are the reviews!
http://www.reviewboard.com/Section/Household/mrcofteapot
http://www.epinions.com/hmgd-Mr_Coffee_Iced_Tea_Maker
I had the pleasure of meeting four ladies from Texas this week. They were all kin, like two sisters, an aunt and the mother of the two sisters, I think. I can’t remember their names, but they came up here to Ardmore from east Texas. They have a motorhome and spend lots of time at different camp sites around the bordering states. On this trip to Ardmore the four of them were staying 2 weeks. I asked what made them decide to come to Ardmore, and they really didn’t know. They even had second thoughts about coming here, thinking there was nothing here to see or do. But they said they sure were wrong about that! They were amazed at all the places to go in southern Oklahoma and things to do. I asked them what surprised them about the area there, they said the lack of flowers. I said what? Flowers? All four agreed that in their area of east Texas there are flower beds everywhere you look, in yards, on corners, along sidewalks, in front of businesses. They said everywhere they looked here, they see very few flower beds and potted flowers. I guess I never noticed it myself. But you know, I think its a wonderful idea, maybe some organizations here will launch a flower planting campaign. And maybe all the ladies with green thumbs will start nurturing more flower beds around town. Yep, sounds like a great idea!
Quanah Parker was the last Comanche chief in the southwest plains. When I was out at Lone Grove the other day visiting Mary Wilson at her monument business, she had a painting of chief Quanah Parker on her wall. It was painted by a former Healdtonite, now living in Sulphur, artist by the name of Keith Murray. It thought the painting was so good, I had to scan a pic of it so everyone can see this most famous Indian Chief. I have travelled down a highway named after him, Highway 62, west out of Lawton, Oklahoma… Quanah Parker Highway. Quanah Parker’s grandson presently lives in Duncan, Oklahoma. Here’s that beautiful painting of Quanah Parker by Keith Murray. https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/qparker.jpg
Here is some good historical accounts of the life of Chief Quanah Parker.
http://www.laotao.org/COLUMNS/loans.html
By the way, when you walk into the front door of Medical Arts Clinic you will see a painting on the wall of Dr. Hobson Veasey. This painting was also by artist Keith Murray. I”ve looked at that photo many times when I was at the clinic with patients during my years with the ambulance service, but I never knew it was painted by an artist Keith Murray.
The Daily Ardmoreite, January 21, 1909: “A YOUTH’S HORRIBLE DEATH. Team runs away with stalk cutter, cutting Sam Rogers’ body into shreds. Sam Rogers, aged 17, son of J.F. Rogers, a prominent farmer living three miles west of Hewitt (western Carter county), Oklahoma was instantly killed on his father’s farm yesterday afternoon, when the team attached to a stalk cutter became frightened and ran away. The boy’s body was horribly mangled. The funeral will occur at Bowman’s Point this afternoon.”
Now another mystery to solve: J.F. Rogers (1854-1927) is buried at Bomar Point. But Samuel Rogers is buried at Hewitt Cemetery according to cemetery records. Could the newspaper article mean Bomar Point instead of Bowman Point? Or in 1909 was Bomar Point called Bowman Point?
Also in 1908 there must have been one heck of a shoot-out in Marietta, Oklahoma. John Braziel shot and killed two men, one a policeman. The policeman was Smith Redmon, and the other person was T.C. Bridgeman. Three other men were wounded by Braziel according to the info I’ve researched so far. I’ll try to have more details on this next weekend.
With this week’s find about Smith Redmon, this makes the second officer I’ve stumbled across who was killed in the line of duty in Love county, and whose names are not on the law enforcement officers memorial in Washington D.C.
On September 4, 1999 I wrote about another lawmen being killed in the line of duty near Marietta, Oklahoma in 1917. I notified the powers that be in Love County about this death, and the fact that he is not listed in the Law Enforcement Officer Memorial in Washington, D.C. But I just checked the D.C. website and there still is no Walter Tate memorialized there. I know NLEOMF has tried to get Tate’s name recorded, but so far they have been unsuccessful in getting documentation and confirmation from Love county. I hope someday, someone, gets Walter Tate’s name added to the memorial in D.C. I know one of Tate’s relatives who talked to me in 1999 has been unhappy her Walter Tate has not been added to the memorial in DC.
The story of Love county deputy sheriff Walter Tate’s death in 1917. https://oklahomahistory.net/textfiles/wtate17.txt
1999 photo of Walter Tate’s tombstone at Oswalt Cemetery. It has since been uprighted by Wilson Monuments. https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/wtate17.jpg
Website of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund in Washington, D.C. http://www.nleomf.com/
From The Daily Ardmoreite microfilm archives…..
January 6, 1909: Battle of Honey Springs south of McAlester, Oklahoma in July 1863 (Civil War) is one of the “greatest and most serious in the southwest”.
January 1909: “Maywood the Beautiful” addition on the north edge of Ardmore is being sold lot by lot.
January 1909: Harper Bromide Water is being given away free each day at the Ardmoreite office by Ardmore Mineral Water Company.
January 18, 1909: Lee Cruce is President of Ardmore National Bank
January 11, 1909: Criminal Docket for February 8, 1909 includes W.M. Ballew, murder.
January 12, 1909: Guthrie, Oklahoma deputy sheriff B.F. Milligan of Cimarron county killed by Elra R. Revis. $500 dollar reward offered for Revis.
January 21, 1909: Tyler & Simpson commercial ad for flour.
January 29, 1909: Brown & Bridgeman Funeral Directors and Embalmers ad.
January 29, 1909: Sheriff Akers reports that 3 inmates escaped from a road crew near Baum, Oklahoma in eastern Carter county. They escaped from their tent during the night. Their sentences was from 60 to 90 days.
January 25, 1909: Postmaster Stephen A. Douglas is exonerated. The report of the postoffice department in Washington, D.C. on the charges against Stephen A. Douglas, postmaster of Ardmore, is favorable and his confirmation by the senate is now expected at any time. https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/doug09.jpg
This and That Webshots still the number one place of internet Hits of all my history info. This week we went over the 20,000 mark in Hits by visitors (total hits), and there’s been over 300 downloads. http://community.webshots.com/user/MokaXprs http://community.webshots.com/user/OklahomaHistory
I have all my back issues of This and That on my Mirror site now, plus my “Interesting Sites in Southern Oklahoma”. Boy, there are several thousand pages in those files if printed out. https://oklahomahistory.net/
A Reader was in the little town Krebs, Oklahoma a town of under 2,000 people just on the east side of McAlester, Oklahoma (Pittsburg County) the other day. Even though the town is small, its well-known, known for its Italian Food! Everyone there knows the place to eat is Isle of Capri and Pete’s Place for authentic Italian food. Guess I’m going to have to head up that way someday soon and give it a try! But this Reader noticed something else, a bell, in the steeple of St Joseph’s Catholic Church in Krebs. The church is located at 290 NW Church Street, and is the oldest Catholic church in Oklahoma. It was built by Italian immigrants in 1903! Here’s a pic of the bell, hard to see way up there, but its there! https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/krebs2.jpg
There are a couple of sites on the internet that hosts lyrics to songs. But this one is really awesome. View lyrics quickly from 120,000 songs, 10,000 albums and 2,000 artists with this free utility. You must download their program to access their database of song/lyrics. I looked for Grandma’s’s Lye Soap song, it wasn’t there. hahahaha http://www.100share.com/
Several times the past few years I’ve ran across a computer printing problem which has stumped many a people as to how to fix. Here is the scenerio: You get a new computer, and this especially applies to Windows 2000 and Windows XP, but all Windows operating system can have this problem. You set the new computer up, and hook your old printer and printer cable to it, or you hook up a new printer, but continue using the same printer cable you’ve had for several years. When you try to print something, even the “Test Print Page” it only prints a few lines at the top of the paper (may be readable, may not be readable), stops, and goes to the next page, print a few lines, then to the next page, and so on. If the printer is installed correctly with the proper drivers for the operating system, it could be that old printer cable. It needs to be what is called an IEEE printer cable, or an “I” triple E printer cable. Usually if the cable is a newer cable the letters IEEE will be written along the side of the printer cable. These new computers and printers require the IEEE printer cables to print properly.
Slideshow presentations available on CD for $3 each (includes postage)
Brown Springs, OK (15 photos)
Mannsville, OK (19 photos)
Bells of Oklahoma (over 155 photos of bells)
http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/ttphotos/manncd.jpg
T&T Photo Albums: http://community.webshots.com/user/MokaXprs http://community.webshots.com/user/OklahomaHistory
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In the last seven days our T&T group has talked nearly 3,000 minutes! At this rate we’re going to set another record for June!! Thanks everyone! Click your mouse here for all the details. http://www.worldxchange.com/agent/228072
SOME LETTERS FROM THIS WEEK’S MAILBAG
“Dawes Indian Rolls” http://www.comanchelodge.com/chickamauga-cherokee.html
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“Some readers might be interested to know that they can go directly to the National Archives in Ft. Worth webpage – not having to go through Rootsweb. I even found where my great-grandfather was prosecuted in Ft. Smith for making whiskey – imagine that.” http://www.archives.gov/facilities/tx/fort_worth.html
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“I am glad someone wrote in about the American Indian… I also went there and checked it out… been there a lot of time… I also will be waiting to see if there is anyway of getting to the list without paying to join.. They have a lot of files but can’t see if it is really worth it.. I am afraid after joining, it would not have what I need.”
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“Butch–Both of these pages should be a big help for the people wanting information on the Dawes roll.” http://www.archives.gov/research_room/genealogy/research_topics/native_american_records.html http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/enroll/
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“Here is another site which has some useful information on it about Native American genealogy. Like any web site–some of the info is very useful, some is not. 🙂 It does have a tremendous list of resources-most of which are excellent and free. And the few resource sites that have a fee connected are identified as such.” http://www.yvwiiusdinvnohii.net/genea.html
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“As far as NAIL… they should not access it thru ancestry.com, that’s crap! You have to go thru NARA – http://www.nara.gov to get to NAIL – and it is FREE. The person should consider going to Fort Worth to the National Archives, it’s an incredible experience.”
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“Enjoyed your newsletter, as usual. I wanted to let any cousins out there know that there will be a Willingham Reunion on June 8th at the Coleman, Oklahoma Community Center. Since most of us Willingham’s from OK descend from James and Jane Willingham from SC, we’re all related and all cousins are invited. Our Willingham’s were in the Chickasaw Nation prior to statehood and settled in Marsden. The day goes pretty quickly as everyone has a lot of fun visiting and there is always a “pot luck” food table that makes my year (as I gorge myself). This year Minnie Lou will be frying up ‘Okie-style’ spuds, so I’ll be at the table first. Stop by and visit for a spell Butch, we’d love to have you. Oh yeh, if you can, bring some of that apple Chick-a-pie, would you?”
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“Butch this last week I had received information from a lady about a supposedly attempted killing at Brock, it would have been in 1916 -1918 period, would the courthouse in Ardmore have records of that? she said that the Hammer Family (which is mine) had brought a Dr. with them when they move into the Brock area and the Hammer Family and Parker Family was going to shoot Dr, Merrick to get rid of him, and her father whose last name was Hughes had told Dr. Merrick and there was a gunfight and Dr. Merrick was shot. I had never heard of this but strange things do happen, My Father always told me not to look back too far there might be horse thieves in the family!!”
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“As usual, enjoying the t&t, Pennington dam brought back many memories. I swam there when the water was quite a bit deeper. It was a beautiful place. Take care.” Jerry Landrum [email protected]
https://oklahomahistory.net/photos2/pencreek.jpg
https://oklahomahistory.net/photos2/penncrk.jpg
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“Butch, I remember the Line Riders, I believe they had a show on KVSO radio, I seem to remember they always opened the show with a song called Under the double eagle. they were great musicians.”
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“Hey, Butch, I just watched the mini-movie of the 5th Street Viaduct burning down. I so remember that!! We had just moved back to Ardmore after being gone since 1958/59. Our house was on the corner of “G” St. and 7th Street NE, just a couple of blocks from the viaduct and the railroad tracks {I went to grade school at the old Washington Elementary}. We weren’t home at the time it burnt, but were at my grandpa’s house over on 12th and “D” NE and we could see the smoke all the way from his house. My dad and my uncle got in daddy’s car and drove back to our house cause they weren’t sure how close the fire was to it. My brother was 5 and I was 8, so daddy made us stay at grandpa’s. But after he came back, he and my uncle relayed seeing the fire to us. After it was out I remember daddy driving us by there as close as we were allowed to. Many of the streets were blocked off, but we had a good view from the railroad crossing on 7th street. In a way, I was kinda glad, cause I remember driving across that old creosote “bridge” and I hated it. I was always afraid it was going to collapse. But I do remember vividly the rebuilding of the viaduct. Gosh, thanks for all the memories you bring back to me. I hadn’t thought of that in years. By the way, I bookmarked your website and intend to check out all the pictures later when I have more time. I sure wish I had a scanner, cause I’d love to e-mail you some of my Southern Oklahoma photos. Between what my dad had and what I have, you’d be able to add a lot to your library. Thanks, Butch for the memories, again.”
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“Butch I scanned this from April,1971 True West, about Bud Ballew. Thought it might interest you.” https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/budmag.jpg
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“Tonight while reading through a paperback book about WWII fighter aces in the Pacific I came across a story about a fellow nicknamed Spider Webb whose real name was Wilbur Butcher Webb. The book is “Aces Against Japan” by Eric Hammel copyright 1992. My copy is a paperback printed in September 1995. The book is about fighter pilots with five or more verified kills in the Pacific War. Mr. Webb became an ace in one day with six confirmed Japanese kills and several probables. He is famous for having gotten into a Japanese fighter and bomber landing pattern at a Guam air field on June 19, 1944 while flying alone after circling over an airman who was in the water. His fame came from what he broadcast over his radio, “Any American fighter, I have forty Jap planes surrounded at Orote Airfield. I need some help!” He got his help and between him and them the Japanese paid dearly. He was shot up some but lived to fly back to his carrier, the USS Hornet and to finish the war. Since you are about as familiar with Ardmore history as anyone I thought maybe you’d heard of this fellow. The story says he is an Ardmore, Oklahoma native and he joined the Navy in October 1938 a few months after his 20th birthday so that might make his birth year 1918. The only real hit I found searching his name from Google was a comment on an obituary in the Dallas Morning News where one must be registered to view articles. Maybe you can find a little more on him. He was an enlisted pilot, something we don’t have today, and at the time of the Guam incident he was at the temporary grade of ensign. He was recommended for the Congressional Medal of Honor for his efforts that day at Guam but the award was reduced to the Navy Cross. Before the end of the war he got one more confirmed enemy plane. He remained in the Navy after the war ended and resigned in 1958. I have no other information about him and thought maybe someone remembers this WWII Ardmoreite.”
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“Dear Butch, As so many of your readers say, and I agree, Thanks from the bottom of my heart, for your interesting T&T. And Keep It going. I was born in 1928 and still live here, one and a half mile west of TOM COOPER FARMS. I could write so many good stories and good times we had, raised on THE BLUE RIBBON DAIRY FARM. We milked by hand and delivered all our milk and cream, door to door,. for years. Dad bought a machine that pasturized milk, it was stainless steel and they had a AAA rating, with the State of Oklahoma Health Department. We had such wonderful customers. We had a hand cream separator, it was large, quiet a machine. My Dad, James Perry Godwin, bought his first Golden Guernsey Bull from, the Cooper herd. Mr. Al Guerkink was the manager, also our good friend and neighbor. We delivered milk ,to about 1937, and dad lost his health and then they sold their milk, by bulk, in 10 gallon cans to Colverts Plant on South Washington. My Mother, my brothers, Theron and Bob, and sister, Venetia helped with all the dairy milking. I still have a envelope with the Blue Ribbon Dairy, on it. TOM COOPER, had a small Air Plane, and about once a week, he would fly down from Oklahoma City to the Dairy Farm. and he would fly over our home place and rev up the motor, to let us know he was down here, and if we could, we would jump into our pickup and go watch him land. That was a thrill, ever time. The farm hands always kept him a clean strip mowed, in the summer time, he landed on the south side of 12th Street, just across from where the beautiful Tom Cooper Home was. Mr. Tom Cooper and my dad was good friends. KEEP UP YOUR GOOD WORK.” -RUBY MARTIN
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“Here’s info about the Claypool Reunion (Jefferson County). Apparently, it is still a community located between Ringling and Waurika, Oklahoma off Hiway 70 West. However, the school, church, and service station/store is gone. My mother attended the 7th and 8th grades there she said their classes were combined about 13-14 students in all. The school housed grades 1st to 12th. They had an auditorium/gymnasium in the center of the school and the classrooms were located around it. Mother attended during the years 1946-47. The “Claypool Alumni Get-together” is opened to all alumni and their families and anyone in the community. It is scheduled to be held at the Claypool Community Building (located off Hiway 70 West on the South side) on Sunday, June 16th in the morning will be a “meeting” and lunch will be served at 12:30 PM. For more information, contact: Claypool Alumni Association, 409 E. C St., Waurika, OK 73573″
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“Education Briefs: ACS to provide school records to former graduates. Ardmore High School graduates from 1965 or any year from 1970 to 1991 who would like to have their cumulative folder may contact the superintendent’s office at (580) 223-2483, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. Any cumulative records remaining after July 1 will be destroyed. Please note that only the student of record or parent of the student will be allowed to remove this information. Identification will be required.”
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“I saw the picture of the builders of the Woodford dam and I hoped that you might have some information on my G-Grandfather John Henry Wakefield d. 1914, and my G-Grandmother Elizabeth Rachelle Hood Wakefield. I know they were in Woodford at some point in time. Is there a cemetery for Woodford, and if so where is it located? Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.” -Ron Staples [email protected]
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“Thanks for the great picture and story about Dow Braziel on the Carter Co., OK, webpage! I am just now discovering Carter Co. & Ardmore! My Braziel family had a couple of children born in “Indian Territory” OK in 1906 & 1908, then they moved to Wood Co., Texas, and on to Polk Co., TX. I never knew where “Indian Territory” was. My Great Grandfather was John C. Braziel & his wife was Julia Thacker. My Braziels trace back from John C. to John H., then to William C. Braziel son of William L. Braziel who died about 1809 (that’s as far as I know). Can you tell me about the family of Dow Braziel? Thanks.” -Rochelle Evans Cochran, [email protected]
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“This link has info about the Comanche Code Talkers of WWII.” http://www.comanchelanguage.org/code_talkers.htm
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“butch…trying to locate Sue Carol Hess Miller, formerly of Healdton. She wrote for the Ardmoreite and the Lone Grove paper. I suspect that she is still writing since she is so talented in that area. She came to church with Joy Jenkins every Sunday…back in the late 40’s. She might see this in your column and respond. Thanks.” -Sonny McClanahan [email protected]
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“There is an old school bell mounted on a post outside the rock bluff school in the Elk City Museum Complex in Elk City, Oklahoma. The school is an old one room school that has been moved into the complex from South of Elk City. The Complex is located on the corner of West Third Street and Pioneer Avenue.” https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/elkcity2.jpg
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Here are two more winners for my free “History CD” this week! Over 3,770 files and 380mgs!
[email protected]
[email protected]

“Every time it rains, It rains pennies from heaven,
Don’t you know each cloud contains pennies from heaven.

You’ll find your fortune’s falling all over the town,
Be sure that your umbrella is upside down.

Trade them for a package of sunshine and flowers
If you want the things you love, you must have showers
So when you hear it thunder don’t run under a tree
There’ll be pennies from heaven for you and me.”

-Frank Sinatra 1936
Here is a wav file (song) of “Pennies From Heaven” by Frank Sinatra for downloading, its about 450k so it takes a few minutes to download to your computer
https://oklahomahistory.net/wavfiles/penniesf.wav
See you all next Saturday!
Butch Bridges
Lone Grove, Oklahoma 73443

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Saturday June 1, 2002 T&T Weekly Vol 6 Issue 267
I been working on my Mirror site, and is it slow going. But I’ll have a contingency plan this time, so I can be up and running in the matter of hours, if need be, should this mirror site go out of business or whatever. While we are talking about contingency plans, this is the very reason I have been giving away since last Fall my History CD. Before it had always bothered me that if something happened to me and I missed 3 Brightnet payments, my friend at Brightnet, Jackie Bates, would have no choice but to click his mouse a couple of times and send my website into oblivion. But I know now with dozens of my CDs out there, with not only the thousands of photos on it, but the actual html Pages, someone somewhere in the world could FTP my files from one of those CDs to a Server somewhere, and Presto! Everything would be back online. Just knowing all those T&T newsletters/photos are out there on CDs, has given me peace of mind. And hey, isn’t that 2001 photo shot of Turner Falls magnificent! Turner Falls has to be one of the most beautiful spots in Oklahoma, and to think I live just 17 miles away! https://oklahomahistory.net/
While I am talking about my Mirror Site, I just have to share the stats for the website. I”ve only had it up and running about three weeks and the Administrative Stats Page shows over 6,800 Hits! 82 percent of those hits were by users of MS Internet Explorer, 9 percent Netscape, and 3 percent WebTV. 49% were using Windows 98, 12% Windows 2000, 11% Windows Me, 7% Windows XP and 6% Windows 95. Don’t you just love all that number crunching? hahaha. Anyway, that’s the way it is, more or less. https://oklahomahistory.net/
But let me repeat myself… webshots ain’t doing shabby. Over 12,000 hits! Thanks everyone! http://community.webshots.com/user/MokaXprs http://community.webshots.com/user/OklahomaHistory
Another project I plan to have up and running soon, is an actual FTP site where anyone who knows how to use an FTP program can get their hands on any photo(s) I’ve mentioned in my newsletters. Quite often someone emails me and asking for a photo I’ve mentioned in a previous T&T. They have gone to my Home Page, and can’t find it, or try the link in the newsletter, and it is a “dead link”. Hopefully soon I’ll have that problem resolved.
Regularly I receive emails from someone (even this week) asking if they can use a photo I have on their website. Of course, I always say yes, I have no problem with anyone using my photos and textfiles. I remember one lady here in Ardmore (she is deceased now) stopped me in the post office about five years ago, and told me I need to copyright all my writings, etc., to prevent people from using my material. I told her I understood where she was coming from, but that was contrary to the very reason for my newsletters. Sharing is what each and every newsletter is all about. Anyway, when I burned that first CD with all those photos and textfiles, at that point and time, I created a “fixation” of my materials. So I have my credit. But you know, I’ve said in previous issues of my T&T, that it is not really my T&T. It is all my Readers contributing their part of history that makes the newsletter. That is what really makes the T&Ts unique and interesting. Thanks to each and every one of you who makes all this possible each week!
DANIEL’S BARBEQUE AND MEALS
“In 1899 William Allen Daniel came from Colbert Bend, Indian Territory, to Ardmore, then in Pickens County, to serve as Federal Court Juror for eight weeks. While here, he bought a grocery store. The address was given on an old sales slip was Ardmore, Indian Territory, West Main Street, near Court House.
At the close of the court tern, Will moved his family to Ardmore and began operating the grocery store. But not knowing anything about the grocery business, Will soon lost his shirt. He then opened a barbeque stand across the street.
This was a three-room building made of old planks. Behind the front eating area, there was another room where, as was the custom of the times, the blacks ate. The Indians always ate with the whites. A sign on the front of the building said, MEALS 15 cents.
Not only barbeque but complete meals were served in this rudely constructed shack. Breakfast was started at 4:30am. Daughter Belle made the biscuits. Two other daughters, Mollie and Lula, with Will’s wife, Lucy, worked long hours, cooked and served the customers. Lula made the pies. Lucy wore the “cash box” on her belt. Will did his own butchering and cooked a half beef at a time. Water was carried across the back yard from their residence, the old Joe F. Robinson homeplace, located behind the Opera House on “C” Street SW., where they also kept roomers.
Unpaved Main Street was lined “bumper to bumper” with wagons loaded with bales of cotton as the farmers lined up to sell their new bales to cotton buyers fro all over the world. Not only farmers and cotton buyers ate with the Daniels, but many townspeople as well; Roy Johnson, who became one of Ardmore’s leading oil men; Mr. Cruce, a brother of the second Governor of Oklahoma, said he ate there because of the good biscuits.
Will Daniel continued in the restaurant and roominghouse building for 15 years, until age 70. In September, 1915, at the time of the Great Explosion, the Daniel family was running the old Bruce Hotel on E Street S.E. as a rooming house.” -INDIAN TERRITORY AND CARTER COUNTY PIONEERS BOOK https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/danbbq.jpg
I have several fingernail files that were imprinted by different candidates when they were running for office from bygone years. Years ago I threw stuff like that away. Now I could kick myself in the seat of the pants for doing it. https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/candfile.jpg
I received some of pics this week of interest. One is of the old Mary Niblack School with the school children out front, and others. We are pretty sure the lady with the hat on is Ms. Mary Niblack. I left the pic large for better detail, so give it time to load. https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/marynibg.jpg
This is a photo of a group of country singers from the Marietta and Ardmore area. The name of their group was the Line Riders. Maybe someone out there will remember this singing group? https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/lineride.jpg
Another photo they sent was of the Methodist Church of Randlett, Oklahoma. Is that a bellfry I see? I bet there is a bell in there! Randlett is south of Lawton, Oklahoma. https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/methrand.jpg
I have my “sites around south central Oklahoma” back online. My Favorite is the Pennington Creek swimming hole and dam at Tishomingo. One pic I took in 1996, the other in 2001. https://oklahomahistory.net/sites.html
Friday May 31st was the last day of work for Ann Blizzard at the courthouse. She is taking retirement from her work with Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) to enjoy time with her family. Ann has been the Director of the CASA office on the forth floor for 11 years. Her smile is sure going to be missed around the courthouse…. her smile was always contagious wherever she was at the time. And she loved the deprived kids she worked with, and they loved her. Yes, Ann is going to be missed, especially by me, because sometimes when I stopped by her office, she would have some kind of chocolate candy hid in her desk she was saving for me! https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/anngran.jpg http://www.brightok.net/cartercounty/casa.html
Skip Joers (Dr. Joers son) sent me a link to an excellent Oldies website that has many of the 50s and 60s songs streaming out 24 hours a day! http://www.netoldies.com/
I saw on the news this week where the Guardian Statue is now on display at the north steps of the Oklahoma state capital. It will be hoisted to the top of the new dome June 6th. Boy, I sure would like to see that historical moment!!
Gary Simmons is still recooperating, and doing fine from his bypass surgery. In fact, he and I are going over the proofs we got from Wilson Monuments right now, checking spellings and all, we’re almost ready to sandblast the names on the new memorial that is to be placed at the airpark. Gary sent me a pic of him from his hospital bed. They might have helped his heart but they sure didnt do help his looks one bit! hahahaha. https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/gsimbed.jpg http://www.brightok.net/~gsimmons
For those of you are are computer savvy, we all know how frustrating it can be when Windows is messed up, or won’t even start up. Or even worse, when there is no CD Rom, usually Drive D, available to put the Windows CD in, to try and fix problems. Here is a website that is dedicated to helping with those problems. A wealth of help and information just for the song! http://www.startdisk.com/
Here is a great website as a legal resource guide. All kinds of help. http://www.ilrg.com/
Slideshow presentations available on CD for $3 each (includes postage)
Brown Springs, OK (15 photos)
Mannsville, OK (19 photos)
Bells of Oklahoma (over 155 photos of bells)
http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/ttphotos/manncd.jpg
T&T Photo Albums: http://community.webshots.com/user/MokaXprs http://community.webshots.com/user/OklahomaHistory
I guess the good word is finally getting out! Our little “T&T group” talked over 11,500 minutes for the month of May!! And greater savings plan are on the way. They have one Plan right now that only cost 1 cents per minute state to state and less than 2 cents per minute instate!
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SOME LETTERS FROM THIS WEEK’S MAILBAG
“In your last T&T (May 25), someone wrote in about looking for ancestors using Rootsweb.com, and then clicking on Native American database. The reader said it would give users access to the Dawes Commission Rolls, housed in National Archives in Fort Worth. I have used Rootsweb for several years and am pretty familiar with it. However, I did not recall a Native Amer. database in the menu. I went into the site and could not find that listed so clicked on several other sources that were available thru Rootsweb. I ended up in Ancestry.com (which is affiliated with Rootsweb). In order to be able to access the Dawes Indian Roll data, one would have to be a member at a fee of nearly $70 per year. If the person who wrote in about this knows another means to access the Dawes info thru Rootsweb, I would appreciate hearing from them…as I’m sure some of your other readers would. I know that my gg grandparents were on the Dawes Census, but were not listed on the FINAL rolls. I am still searching to find out why…as they were not listed as “denied” or “rejected” on the copies I received from NAIL in Fort Worth. I ordered these at $10 each and they are copies of the original handwritten census, along with an affidavit (notarized) which stated that the family was descended from a Native American (Cherokee) from NC. I was able to access NAIL through a free 4 week trial using Ancestry.com. If anyone knows of a free source where a researcher can access Dawes data, please write to Butch and let me know. Thanks in advance.”
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“Butch, I wonder if your reader who sent this in could offer a little more information? I went to RootsWeb.com and couldn’t find the words “Native American Data” anywhere.”
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“Hi Butch, I remember a couple of things about Fred Beaver. He had a lovely tenor voice, and the first time I saw him, he sang “Somebody Bigger than You or I” at a YWCA get together of some kind. Also, the last time I was in the Smithsonium in Wash. D. C., they had one of his paintings, with a notation that one of his strong points was the total correctness of the Indian dress of the people in it. If some of you remember he used to come to the birthday parties for Ardmore in Whittington Park; I was home for one about l959 or ’60 with my children. My 3 or 4-yr old son was standing facing me, and I greeted Mr. Beaver to say how great he looked in full Indian regalia. I told my son to turn around and say hello to Mr. Fred Beaver; and when he saw a very tall, especially to him, Indian, he almost backed right through me!! He and I both had a good laugh out of the look on my son’s face. He will be 46 in August, so that was a long time ago!! Thanks again for your Newsletter.” -Berlin, Maryland
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“Really enjoyed reading about Fred Beaver. I have a piece by an artist that I have not been able to find out any information about. The piece is of an Indian Chief and is signed W. Morgan. Anyone know who that might be? I am thinking it may have been a local artist but have not been able to find anyone that knows. Anyone out there have any ideas?”
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“Butch, quite likely you have covered this subject before and I missed it. I need a source of information about the wooden viaduct – who designed it, when it was built, etc. Any clues will be appreciated. Thanks.”
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“One of the interesting things about the Colston Building is how long people stay there. Attorney Ezra Dyer officed there from something like 1918 until his death. James Dolman, Sr. pretty much did the same. This speaks well for the building and its management. Some people in there now have been there for twenty-five years or more.”
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“Dear Butch, Would appreciate your announcing in this week’s T&T that Healdton High School is having its annual alumni banquet this Sat., June 1 in Healdton. All alums and former students/teachers welcome. This is the 50th anniversary for the 1952 class and we are hoping for a good turnout. Thank you.” -Jo (Fronterhouse) Long
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“I live in a old victorian farm house. Up in the attic there is vents which look like church steeple vents. They are louvered. Im thinking of putting a bell up there and running the rope down through the upstairs floor and having it in the hallway by the door. This might sound a bit odd but I think it might serve as a conversation piece or even a burglar alarm or just me being eccentric.”
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“Dean Schroeder, who is one of the Pawhuska, Oklahoma City Councilmen and former co-owner of Walkman-Schroeder Oilfiled Service used to have (and I assume still has) a large collection of bells. I do not know Mr. Schroeder personally but remember there was an article in the Tulsa World about his bells.”
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“Hi Butch, Over the last couple of years, I have noticed more and more people are having welders cut them ornaments for the gate entrances to their “spread”. Some are quite elaborate. I have started taking pictures of them and thought I would share them with you. Hope you enjoy the couple I send today. I have others if you would like to see them, and will fwd as I get them put on the computer. ” -Ken Updike, Lone Grove https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/taliaf.jpg
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========================================================================

Here are two more winners for my free “History CD” this week! Over 3,770 files and 375mgs!
[email protected]
[email protected]

“Everywhere I go, all the places that I’ve been,
Every smile is a new horizon on a land I’ve never seen,
There are people around the world – different faces different names,
But there’s one true emotion that reminds me we’re the same.
Let’s talk about love, Let’s talk about us, Let’s talk about life,
Let’s talk about trust, Let’s talk about love.” – Celine Dion

See you all next Saturday!
Butch Bridges
Lone Grove, Oklahoma 73443

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