Ardmore, Oklahoma
Email: [email protected]
11:11 PM 3/22/2022
Phone: 580-490-6823
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Below is March 2, 2005 to 31, 2005.
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March 31, 2005 – Circulation over 4,000 Vol 9 Issue 425
This week an old gentleman from Madill was doing some research on the town of Gene Autry and if the singing cowboy Gene Autry originally owned the land where the Ardmore Airpark is now located. I could tell by his conversation he thought a lot of Gene Autry. I couldnt resist putting in my two cents. I told him I didnt think much of the man Gene Autry. Gene Autry, Oklahoma was called Berwyn before the towns people renamed it Gene Autry in 1941 in honor of the 34 year old screen actor. Gene Autry owed around 1,200 acres just west of the Airpark and made his home there in 1939 and early 40s. His rock house and very large rock barn is still there today. Some reports say over 25,000 people attended that day in 1941 including the governor for the renaming. But that same year Gene Autry left town, and never looked back. You would think he might help out the town of Gene Autry financially, but he never did. He died leaving an estate estimated at 50 Million, mostly going to the Gene Autry Museum in California, not at Gene Autry, Oklahoma where a fabulous collection of the actor Gene Autry memorabilia is housed in the old Gene Autry School. Seems like I did read where he sent a small donation years ago to the museum at Gene Autry, Oklahoma. The article went on to say he was contacted many times through the years, but he never responded. I think that is sad after the towns people admored him enough to rename Berwyn to Gene Autry, and that is the thank you they got. Maybe the towns people should look at changing it back to Berwyn. Anyway, this is just my two cents worth. <—– Click Here
Last weekend, each evening when I was walking downtown, on top of the First Methodist Church I heard this sqawking and hollering from some kind of bird on top of that building. I dont think it was a grackle. My first thought was a hawk had caught some small animal for its dinner. I heard the large bird 2 evenings in a row.
Speaking of old Carter county towns, the long gone town of Deese was located a few miles NW of Ardmore years ago. I heard this week a man is putting in a grocery store at that intersection, the same location where the old Deese water well is located. I’ll try to get some pics of it when the owner has the store up and running. There hasnt been a store out there since the haydays of the old boom.
I gearing up for the big fight with the weeds in my yard. Maybe someone can identify the two weeds below. If I know what they are, then I might develope a plan of attack. This first one is quite prominent in places in my yard… really dark green. <—– Click Here
This second weed is more like a fern??? Any help appreciated in naming either weed. <—– Click Here
A T&T Reader left a Billy The Kid Casino token on my desk this week. This particular casino is in Ruidioso, New Mexico. Boy, I sure wish I had a 1,000 of these. lol <—– Click Here <—– Click Here
From reading the Mailbag below, it looks like we’ve stumbled on to another law enforcment officer killed in the line of duty, but yet to be honored on a memorial. He is Constable F.M. Woods of Eufaula, Oklahoma who died in 1908 after being shot.
Seems like most of my days the past few years has been partly devoted to fighting and removing computer viruses, spyware and malware. Its a never ending battle. I have relied some on several free programs to help keep them cleaned off, mainly Spybot, Adaware, Stinger, and the online virus scanner trendmicro.com to keep them at bay. It seems like one scanner may catch certain ones, leaving others, and then another scanner will catch other ones, and leave on your computer other viruses, etc. I dont think there is one that does it all. But this week I did find a website that will scan your computer for viruses and tell you the names of the viruses. They do not remove the viruses with the online scan, but at least if you know the name, you can go research how to remove them. <—– Click Here
SOME LETTERS FROM THIS WEEK’S MAILBAG
“That is the old Paramount theatre in the picture. Can you tell from the original the name of the movie playing?” <—– Click Here
The movie playing is Nora Prentiss a 1947 film with Ann Sheridan. <—– Click Here <—– Click Here
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Berwyn, Oklahoma, became officially Gene Autry in honor of the radio and screen singing cowboy star at exercises in his honor on November 16, 1941. <—– Click Here
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Butch, It’s a minor point and not really about Carter County, but the aerial picture of “Alamo Stadium” in San Antonio is actually the Alamodome. Alamo Stadium is a beautiful old public school bowl-type stadium next to Trinity University about three miles north of the Alamodome. I live close to both.” <—– Click Here
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“Butch thanks for all the pictures. They are a lot of enjoyment. The picture of the old Mary Niblack school reminds me that on a couple of occasions the teachers let us take paper airplanes up to the belfry and throw them off the roof. I am afraid that mine did not sail quite as good or as far as the boys in the high school room.” <—– Click Here
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Healdton, Carter County, Oklahoma
<—– Click Here <—– Click Here <—– Click Here
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“hi butch, You were talking about hamburgers awhile back. Does anyone remember a little hamburger place on the north side of the street. they served real small burgers, about the size of a silver dollar. they cost about a dime. they were really good but it took about 10 to fill you up. i don’t remember when this was but i think it was about the middle or late world war two.” -james singleterry
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“Dear Mr.Bridges, My sisters and mother live in Texas and I live in St. Louis. All these years I have been going through your state to get to Texas. I think Oklahoma is one of the most beautiful places I have seen. We were supposed to have a full blooded Cherokee for a great grandmother from Oklahoma, but we are not real sure about it. I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoy your pictures and stories you have posted on your site. I dont know how I found it but I wont lose it. I always wondered why no one will renovate the old train depot in Big Cabin, Oklahoma. It is such a beautiful old building. I get sad when I see it. Thank you for sharing your memories with us.” -Bill Nevins, St. Louis, Mo.
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Mr. Bridges! I do not want to waste your time, but I am hoping that perhaps you can help me. I stumbled upon your very interesting website today while doing a google search on Sulphur, OK. I am currently in McAlester. I’m an engineer and a geologist and am, at this time, performing what we call Phase I Environmental Site Assessments on several properties in downtown Sulphur, for the purpose of aiding a potential buyer in making his decision. As you may know, I’m required to present a history of the site(s) and adjacent properties as far back as possible, and using any number of historical sources to do this (city directories, old phone books, maps, historical aerial photos, interviews, etc.). My particular goal in this is to identify any past property uses, especially those that may have handled or stored “hazardous materials”, such as gasoline and petroleum products (gas stations), dry cleaning chemicals, solvents, paints, etc. Basically anything that may have conceivably contributed to any sort of “pollution” of the soil or groundwater. In any case, I must do my best to put together as contiguous a history as possible for my reports. I had been very disappointed in the initial lack of data obtained when I visited the Sulphur City Offices and County Offices last week. However, a set of Sanborn Fire Insurance maps I ordered just came in, and this has helped me somewhat. The dates of the maps are 1905, 1906, 1911, 1918, 1928, 1944, and 1954, and show more or less what sorts of businesses occupied the areas I’m interested in. What I am hoping is that you may know of some persons who would be willing to speak with me, possibly even let me visit with them, that could simply tell me whatever they remember about the businesses in this part of town. I’m sure such fountains of information exist, but it is very difficult for an out-of-towner to locate them. I’ve been attempting to contact a gentleman at the Sulphur Historical Society, who is reputed to be a local expert on this, but he has been MIA for several days. Plus, the Society has very limited open hours when I can visit. I have a fairly short deadline on this project. I would be greatly in your debt if you were able to put me in touch with anyone who can tell me anything about this history of this neighborhood. Specifically, I’m looking at a one-block radius around the intersection of West 1st Street and Muskogee Avenue. This is the intersection that included Braden Ford Motor Company for some time. I have a great deal of flexibility, and would be willing to meet with, call, or email anyone that could help me. In exchange, I’d be willing to donate copies of what historical documents I am allowed to share (old aerial photos, Sanborn maps) to your collection, if you desire. I thank you in advance for any help you may offer.
Quentin Graham 918-423-0740 [email protected]
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“This figure has been on the workbench (aka Kitchen table) for quite sometime. Finally finished him today. It represents 2nd Lt, Senator, and Presidential Candidate Robert “Bob” Dole. A special thanks to Jim Barr for helping me with reference material for this one. I don’t know if Jim is getting his email. If anyone here is in contact with him please share this with him. Also, in searching for reference photos I contacted the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics. They were very interested in this figure and I am happy to say it will be displayed at the Institute during the month of April which tentatively includes Senator Dole’s scheduled book signing. I left a spot on the nameplate for a signature just in case. Got an email the other day that Senator Dole was “sending me a note”. I’m very excited about this. Who knew that being 33yrs old and painting figures would get you an audience with a man of this stature? lolThanks for all your support and feedback on these. I do them to honor the veterans, and because I really enjoy doing them. Some of the details on this are: Headsculpt was completely painted from scratch, painted boots, rifle was painted using acrylics and pastel chalks (I’m getting $15 each on ebay for others I’ve painted), the clothes were starched with “scenic cement” then weathered with acrylics, added the lift dot fasteners to pouches, and chain to the canteen. God Bless the men of the 10th Mountain Division.” -Bryan Pullen, Davis, Oklahoma, Descendant 85/M [email protected]
<—– Click Here <—– Click Here <—– Click Here <—– Click Here <—– Click Here <—– Click Here
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“Butch, happened to find a bell to add to your collection. It is located at the Powell Holiness Church, Powell, Okla., I believe in Marshall County.”
<—– Click Here <—– Click Here <—– Click Here <—– Click Here
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“In ref. to the Concord Baptist Church. We were invited there to sing when we were traveling back in the Mid 70s. We were supposed to be the featured singers that night. As Murphy’s Law would have it we got detained and were about 20 Min. late at appearance. When we walked in the door they had all their amps & sound system set up and they begin to applaud for us. There had already been a group or two sing and those people were ready to have service.We got up to sing and When Donnell hit the first verse of the song every body got in there with us and before it was over it was around midnight. I never sang so much and enjoyed it so much in my life. It was a night to remember.” -Don Waters <—– Click Here
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The Evening News Ada, Indian Territory, Monday Evening, November 5, 1906ORRIS L. NOW LANGUISHES IN THE ARDMORE JAIL
(From the Ardmoreite)
O.L. WILLIAMS, late of Ada, who for the past two weeks has been a resident of this city, was placed in the federal jail here Friday night under the charge of obtaining money under false pretense. Williams, during the time he has been in Ardmore, or rather since Oct. 16, has been proprietor and editor of the Ardmore Republican, a partisan newspaper edited in this city. He came here from Ada where he formerly ran a newspaper.
Mr. Williams it is alleged came with a proposition which he presented to the leaders in the republican party and the republican campaign committee of this district. This proposition it is said, is no more or less than that the members of the party agreed to lend Mr. Williams $500 with which he was to pay the freight on the printing establishment at Ada and also had paid for the plant which was at the depot in this city. Without investigating the truthfulness of this statement, it is said that Mr. Williams negotiated the loan. The agreement was entered into that this amount should be paid back from the receipts derived from the Weekly Republican, a copy of which has never appeared. It is also alleged that Williams borrowed $80 from JAKE BODOVITZ of this city on the same assertion. William’s arrest is said to have been brought about from offers he had made to democratic leaders in regard to the use of his paper which lead republicans to believe that there was something amiss.
On investigation it is said to have been found that Williams owned no such printing establishments as he had represented. He was arrested Friday night and has not yet made an attempt to get bail, although his attorneys will do so Monday.
J.W. HARRELD, chairman of the republican committee, stated yesterday that Williams arrest came as a surprise to the republican committee. Mr. Harreld said that Williams was running the Republican without the backing of any member of the party, financially other than a loan of $500 made up by prominent republicans of this section and loaned him just as the bank would have done with good security. Certain it is that he had the good will of the party and was running a party sheet, but other than that no one else was connected with the paper as proprietor. Arrangements were made for publishing the paper yesterday afternoon. For further publication, however there have been no arrangements.Orris L. Williams is well known in Ada through his meteoric career as publisher for a few weeks of the Southern Republican. From all reports he grafted the local republicans shamefully. Depending upon protestations that he had plenty of money to run a first-class paper and wanted no bonus, leaders of the party here contracted to guarantee him 1,000 subscribers, or in effect to advance him $1,000. In return he was to publish the paper for at least one year. These gentlemen assert Williams’ intent was fraudulent from the beginning and he broke at the start. Altogether he secured from local republicans between $600 and $700, and they say they will file a bunch of complaints against him charging his procuring money under false pretenses.
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Big Battle on Between Officers and Outlaws
Shawnee, OK–Advices received here state that the sheriff of Lincoln county and a posse of deputies have been engaged in a desperate battle with the SANDERS outlaws for 48 hours, in the hills east of Meeker, fourteen miles north of this city.
–?– of shots have been exchanged but the meager reports do not give account of any fatalities, as both the officers and outlaws are entrenched behind the rocks. The Sanders, it is believed, will fight to the death, while the officers are determined to capture them dead or alive. Members of the Anti-Horse Thief Association are participating in the affray.
ARTHUR and SAM SANDERS, together with several prisoners, recently escaped from the jail at Chandler. Arthur Sanders is wanted for the murder of his brother-in-law, J.B. HOWARD.
After the escape the fugitives drove the officers from the Sanders home, where they took refuge, with Winchesters.
The outlaws had escaped to the hills east of Meeker. Bloodhounds were put on their trail and lead the officer to the hiding place when the battle occurred.
It is believed that the outlaws are heading for the Seminole nation with the intention of hiding in the practically impenetrable hills.
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Marshal Porter Selects Horde of Specials for Election Day
Ardmore, I.T. –Marshal PORTER Saturday appointed 100 extra county marshals for the election which will be held next Tuesday for the selection of delegates to the constitutional convention. Marshal PORTER has given strict orders to his field men to confiscate whisky and arrest all offenders who surreptitiously introduce malt goods of any nature. The marshal’s force is keeping a sharp outlook for whisky peddlers and they will be vigorously prosecuted. It is stated that no intimidation of voters will be allowed.
The marshals are given orders to preserve the peace and they are not to interfere in any way with voters. In several sections Marshal Porter has been asked for officers on election day.
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June 6, 1908
SHERIFF GARRISON KILLED
Oklahoma City–A long distance phone message to Sheriff TOM SMITH informs him the GEO. GARRISON, sheriff of Oklahoma County, was killed in Oklahoma City last night while undertaking to arrest a black wife murderer, and two of his deputies wounded, one of whom died this morning. It is further stated that this murderer killed six other citizens this morning and had escaped going south and that officers and citizens all along the Canadian river were on the lookout.
However, a message from the Oklahoman since the above was written, states the facts which vary somewhat from the report to Sheriff Smith. The news stated that the murderer went east instead of south.
Excitement was intense following the killing of Mr. Garrison, that whom there was not so popular a citizen in Oklahoma county.
GEORGE GARRISON was a lovable man and unusually popular throughout the state for an officer whose official duties were limited to our county. The Pontotoc officers are on the lookout for the black fiend.
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June 8, 1908
Wounded in three places and believed to be in all but a dying condition, one bullet in his hip,, another in his abdomen and a third in his shoulder, ALF HUNTER, black desperado, who shot and killed Sheriff GARRISON in a field battle in the Gyp hills near Watonga Friday night spent the night in hiding near Kingfisher.
Weak from the 24 hours of almost unceasing flight, during which one man has been killed another wounded and the black man himself driven into close quarters only to extricate himself when the posses believed their quest was at an end, he may not be alive when found unless his rendezvous is discovered within a few hours. Governor HASKELL has offered $500 reward for his capture.
HUNTER was first discovered in a dugout three miles east of Watonga Friday afternoon by Sheriff GARRISON and his deputies. He has been warned of the approach of the officers by a confederate, who was on the lookout and when the party drove into the wheat field where Hunter and a companion had sought shelter behind a strawstack, both of the black men opened fire upon the officers.
The first shot hit Sheriff Garrison in the neck, while a second bullet penetrated his abdomen, either wound being (according to the physicians) equally fatal.
Just as he fell he cried: “WARDEN, come here,” and died in three minutes.
When SANDERS fell, he cried to Warden: “Get down, TODD; he has got us and will get you.”
Sheriff Garrison was taking deliberate aim when the first bullet struck him, and both the black men and the sheriff’s guns were fired simultaneously. The officers continued their fire riddling the straw stack with their bullets until their supply was exhausted.
The black men knowing the sheriff evidently centered their fire upon him, since he was the first to receive wounds quickly in succession. Deputy M.L. SANDERS’ wound is not dangerous and the bullet has been extracted from his hip.
After the sheriff dropped and his deputy was wounded the black men again sought cover behind the strawstack, where they remained under guard of the deputies while the remaining ones returned to Watonga for more ammunition. Having one dead, another wounded, and no ammunition, there was nothing for the officers to do but stand guard until reinforcements arrived. Despite their vigilance, however, under cover of darkness, the black man made his escape and when they later set fire to the stack he was not to be found.
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FRIENDS ANXIOUS TO AVENGE DEAD
Oklahoma City–With posses forming in many places, bending every effort toward the capture of ALFRED HUNTER, alias JAMES KINGBURY, who killed SHERIFF GARRISON, intense excitement prevails in the entire western section of the state.
Taloga, Arapaho, Chickasha sheriffs and peace officers from other districts have joined in the search, while the posses of civilians are large.
BUCK GARRETT, chief of police of Ardmore and close friend of the dead man, passed through Oklahoma City yesterday, hurrying to the scene. Garrett shipped his own mount and vowed that he would take to the field when train service fails should he be unable to reach the immediate vicinity.
BILL TILGHMAN, sheriff of Lincoln county, another close friend of Sheriff Garrison and BILL GRACE, sheriff of Pottawatomie county, are on the trail. Grace reached here yesterday noon. He had learned of the tragedy Friday night, shortly after it occurred, and tried in every way to get in the chase, but could not get the early start.
Major A.J. RAGINGTON (sp?) of the state rifle team, FOREST VAN SKIKE, one of the expert riflemen of the state, and SAM BENDER, another man who has established a record as a shot, have volunteered their services in the hunt for the black murderer, ALF HUNTER, and left the city yesterday to join the posses in their chase into Kingfisher.
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June 9, 1908
FOUGHT OVER COUNTY SEAT
Eufaula, OK–In a fight between about fifteen Checotah persons and citizens of Eufaula this afternoon on the streets of Eufaula, F.M. WOODS, deputy constable of this place, and JOSEPH PARMENTER of Checotah, were shot. Woods probably will die. He was shot once through the body. Parmenter’s wound is not dangerous. The trouble started when Constable Woods attempted to disarm Parmenter. About fifteen shots were fired in all. Immediately after the shooting J.C. SMOCK of Eufaula stated a subscription list for paying for medical attention of both wounded men.
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June 10, 1908
Dogs To Be Placed On The Trail Of Murderer
Oklahoma City–The man hunt is about over. It has been unsuccessful. With several of the posse returning to Kingfisher after having scoured the surround country, including hay stacks, thickets, lofts, huts and every fence corner that suggested a hiding place, and with others expressing the belief that it is useless to chase further, it is given out by the officers who have led the search most vigorously and determined the black man, ALF HUNTER, who shot down SHERIFF GARRISON, near Hitchcock, Friday afternoon last, has crossed the Cimarron river to the east and is now making his escape.
The officers have ordered bloodhounds from Wichita, but have little hope of picking up the trail anywhere, since it is believed to be (even in the vicinity of Kingfisher) more than 48 hours old. Another thing being considered is that all of the surrounding conditions favor the fleeing murderer, the water in many places being up to the buggy bed, thus effectually covering up the trail.Guthrie, OK–Alf Hunter or JIM KINSBURY, the black murderer of Sheriff Garrison of Oklahoma City, is believed to be surrounded in the woods near Lowell, 22 miles north of here. He has traveled from Dover in Kingfisher county, adjoining, since last night, which he spent at the home of MAC KING, seven miles north west of Kingfisher. United States Marshal ABERNATHY and a posse left for Lovell late this afternoon to join in the hunt.
Fully 20 men are beating the brush in the vicinity of Lovell and Crescent City and the country is aroused.
A long distance telephone message to the Oklahoman from Sheriff MAHONEY of Guthrie, indicates that the foregoing message is exaggerated. A black man is under arrest at Lovell, but Mahoney does not believe that he is Hunter. At the request of Mahoney United States Marshal Abernathy, Deputy Sheriff MOXLOW and “BILL” TILLMAN have gone to Lovett to see the black man.
A posse from Oklahoma City, headed by Deputy Sheriff ROY HOLCOMB left yesterday afternoon for Kingfisher, where they go to give aid, if necessary, to those who have been keeping up the hunt for several days. At the time they left the city, it was thought that the posse had located the black man.
GEORGE JONES, the black man now in jail at Kingfisher, had an exciting time with the officers who placed a rope about his neck and threatened to string him up if he refused to tell the whereabouts of KINGSBURY. Quivering and weeping, he was led to a nearby tree, the rope was passed over a limb and the old black man was asked if he had anything further to say.
Pleading for mercy and declaring that he wished that he had never heard of Hunter, that he did not know any thing about him or where he went, the officers desisted.
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County Seat War
Muskogee–Two dead men another wounded and a fourth man in the federal jail at Muskogee awaiting a preliminary trial for murder, two widowed women and five orphaned children, is the harrowing record up to date in the county seat war in McIntosh county.
At 11 o’clock last night City Marshall WOOD, of Eufaula, died in the doctor’s office at Eufaula, where he had been removed after having been shot by Special Deputy Sheriff PARAMETER of Checotah, who himself was shot twice through the hand during a battle on the streets of Eufaula late Sunday afternoon.
The dead marshal was 42 years of age and came to Eufaula about five years ago from West Virginia. He leaves a widow and four children.
Still another chapter was added to the deadly feud between Checotah and Eufaula over the location of the county seat of McIntosh county and as a result General DUNLAP lies dead at Eufaula and County Clerk ED C. JULIAN is in the federal jail in this city awaiting his preliminary for the killing of Dunlap.
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August 8, 1908
HUNTER IDENTIFIED BY TWO BLACK MEN
Oklahoma City–Aug 7–Despite the fact that ALF HUNTER, alias JIM KINGSBURY, slayer of Sheriff GEORGE W. GARRISON, has been identified to a reasonable certainty by two black men, one of whom has known him since he was 14 years old, and the other one who has known him more recently, especially during his stay in Oklahoma City, when the two were together daily and gambled, there seems to lurk a doubt in the minds of certain officials as to the identity of this black men. Both of the men, FRANK DAUGHERTY and HUSE WILLIAMS, are positive in their identification of Hunter. Williams was taken to Kingfisher yesterday and carried before the man held as Hunter. When the prisoner first was brought face to face with Williams, the two men looked at each other and Hunter’s eyes dropped. The fact that he had shaved between his eyebrows and had let his mustache and beard grow for more than two months caused Williams to look closely and for several seconds before speaking. Then came the reply: “THAT IS KINGSBURY.”BOB ROLAND returned from Kingfisher and El Reno Friday night. At the former place he saw ALF HUNTER, who was then in custody of officers. They took him from the baggage car, shackled hand and foot, and guarded by four men. The prisoner, he said, denies that he is the man, claiming that his name is JOE VANN and lives near Holdenville. DR. LOWE, of Holdenville, went to Kingfisher to see the prisoner and says positively that it is not Joe Vann, that he has known him twenty years. Roland says that the identity of the prisoner has been established and that there is no doubt but what he is the murderer. For the safety of the prisoner, he will be retained in Kingfisher temporarily.
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August 25, 1908
ALF HUNTER CAUGHT
The Oklahoman reports today that a message from Little Rock, ARK., informs the Oklahoma officers that ALF HUNTER, the slayer of sheriff GARRISON, has been arrested and confined in jail at that point Oklahoma officers will go after Hunter.
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March 4, 1910
HUNTER SENTENCE AFFIRMED
Guthrie, OK–ALF HUNTER the black man who was convicted of having killed Sheriff GEORGE GARRISON of Oklahoma County, near Watonga, Blaine county, June 5, 1908, will be hanged at Watonga on April 8, according to an opinion by the criminal court of appeals, delivered by Justice DOYLE today, affirming the sentence of the lower court. Hunter killed a woman in Oklahoma City, and, while Sheriff Garrison was leading a posse for his capture, in Blaine county, the sheriff was killed. The black man was captured in Arkansas and returned here for trial. While Hunter’s case was on appeal, the prisoner was removed to the State penitentiary at McAlester. He will be executed there.
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March 25, 1910
ALF HUNTER TAKEN FROM PRISON TO WATONGA
McAlester, OK–ALF HUNTER, who was convicted of the murder of Sheriff GARRISON of Oklahoma county, was taken from the state penitentiary, where he had been for safe keeping today, to Watonga, Blaine county, where he will be hanged April 8.
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April 9, 1910
OKLAHOMA DESPERADO HUNG
Watonga, OK–Apr. 8–With HARVEY GARRISON, son of his victim acting as assistant executioner, ALF HUNTER, alias JAMES KINGSBURY, was hanged at the Blaine county jail, Watonga, Friday morning. With his death the murder of Sheriff G.W. GARRISON of Oklahoma county was legally avenged.
To the last moment he maintained an unfaltering demeanor and while on the scaffold delivered himself to a length oration in which he offered an explanation of his crime. It ended with a prayer. The execution was witnessed by about seventy-five persons who were admitted inside the twenty foot walls of the enclosure by Sheriff GEORGE McARTHUR, who directed the proceeding and sprung the trap. Among them were several women, and officials representatives from all over the state.
JACK HUNTER, brother of the prisoner, and GEORGE WOODRUFF, a black minister from Anadarko, were the only black men present. JOE HUNTER, the prisoner’s father, would not witness his son’s death and listened for the dropping of the trap door from the rear of the county jail, praying. He claimed his son’s body immediately after it was cut down.
Originally planning the execution for 7 a.m., Sheriff McArthur, was persuaded to delay the proceedings by County Attorney boardman, who wished to extend courtesy to Oklahoma City visitors whom he knew to be coming on a morning train.
Promptly at 10:30 the procession from the death cell to the gallows commenced. It was headed by Father P.P. SCAHEFFER of Union City who carried a crucifix and who was followed by Sheriff McARTHUR, Deputy Sheriff W.B. SKEENE of Watonga and Colonel O.C. ALLEN of Hydro, who held Alf Hunter by either arm.
The man needed no support and firmly ascended the steps of the scaffold. As he entered the enclosure the spectators doffed their hats and stood bareheaded under the blazing sun until the man was pronounced dead, some, 40 minutes later.
On the scaffold were waiting Sheriff M.C. BINTON of Oklahoma county who had arrived early in the day in an automobile, T.L. GARRISON, former sheriff of Montague county, TX, and now of Duncan, OK the brother of G.W. GARRISON and HARVEY and BRICK GARRISON, the murdered man’s sons. The formal question as to whether he had anything to say was answered by Hunter at length.
“I am bound here like a sheep for the slaughter,” was the statement of the prisoner in brief. “I can’t get away and I know I am going to be killed. The cause of my being here is the fact that no justice is afforded to the black race. I could obtain none in Arkansas and I could get none here, so I was forced to become a fugitive and carry a gun. I am sorry for the death of Sheriff Garrison. I know he was a good and brave man. I killed him in fair fight, however, and if I had been white, I would not have hung for the deed. I am not a criminal nor a habitual lawbreaker but am a victim of circumstances. In conclusion, I would say that although I am not a brave man, justice is the only thing that I ever begged for, and right in this court house men stood up and swore falsely against me and against ELLIS, who is at present in jail because he was supposed to have been my accomplice. They swore by the God that gave them life and I pray that He will forgive them as I do now. Well, friends, I bid you good-bye, I die in great faith and pray for you all, that you may meet me in the land of rest. Amen, amen.”
Before reading the death warrant, Sheriff McArthur read a telegram from Mrs. G.W. Garrison from San Antonio TX. It was addressed to the Rev. G. McMANIS, pastor of the Watonga Presbyterian church and read as follows:
“Read this to Alf Hunter before his execution. By your act on June 15, 1908, you took from me all that was dear, my husband, and left me to a cold, cruel world, alone and without support in my old age. I send you this message of peace, and God be with you and forgive you as I have.”
The death warrant with its terse legal phrases was then blundered over by Sheriff McArthur, who was visibly nervous, and Deputy Skeene requested Hunter to take his place in the center of the trap. His legs were pionioned by Col. O.C. ALLEN and Harvey Garrison, stepping from the rear, adjusted the hangman’s noose, with the knot precisely behind the man’s right ear. Skeene placed the black bag over Hunter’s face, and stepping back motioned the sheriff to spring the trap, and in a moment Alf Hunter was swinging in mid-air. A few quivers and Dr. W.R. KELLEY, attendant physician, pronounced life extinct.
The body was taken from the gallows and laid on the steps of the county jail and motley crowd which had gathered outside the death enclosure filed past to view the remains. JOE HUNTER stood at the head of the corpse and a collection was taken in order to pay funeral expenses and transportation back to Little Rock, AR. About $75 was collected and turned over to the dead man’s father, who placed the body on an express wagon and drove it to the local undertaking establishment. It was shipped out of town Friday night.
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=========================================================================When Johnny comes marching home again,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
We’ll give him a hearty welcome then,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
The men will cheer, the boys will shout,
The ladies they will all turn out,
And we’ll all feel gay
When Johnny comes marching home.See everyone next time!
Butch Bridges
Lone Grove, Oklahoma~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
March 23, 2005 – Circulation over 4,000 Vol 9 Issue 424
I received a package in the mail this week from Voncille Shipley. Voncille is an author of fiction books and lives up by Elmore City, Oklahoma. But she grew up right here in Carter county over at Healdton, Oklahoma. Her book This Raw, Red Land (over 150 pages) centers around a man named Matt Conover and his big family. In 1906 he moved with his family of ten from Texas to Indian Territory to keep his son Buford out of jail. A year later Ben returns from Texas to help his family through the winter before he departs from Texas to live. That night he meets Esther McMasters and falls in love at first sight before he discovers she is his brother Jed’s sweetheart. But Jed has other problems that impact both Ben and Ester.
Buford has not quit his criminal ways and, before the night is over, one brother lies dead from ambush and the family is thrown into such turmoil that Matt is afraid it will send his frail wife, Lillie, back into deep depression. As each adult in the family copes with grief differently, Matt says, “This move up here was probably the worst decision I ever made in my life.” The story was so action filled Voncille came out with a sequel to This Raw, Red Land with another book, Land of Sun and Flowers. These are some great reading, and you get so caught up in the lives times of the people, you can hardly put the book down, because you can easily put yourself back in those times, before Oklahoma statehood. <—– Click Here
To learn more about Voncille Shipleys books and even make a purchase, just go to the link below and do a search for the author Shipley or send Voncille an email at [email protected] <—– Click Here <—– Click Here
There has been several mentions the past few weeks of the Mary Niblack School east of Ardmore. The school was not located on Mary Niblack Road as some might think, but was one mile over at Dogwood Road and Concord Road in the southwest corner of that intersection. Everyone in that area refers to that location as “where the underground house” is located. The foundation of the school can still be seen on the property. The Mary Niblack school was torn down around 1955 to 1957. <—– Click Here
The grill located on the ground floor of the Colston Building (1918) on Main street came under new ownership March 1st. The new owners are Sandy and Ken Rasmussen. This week I couldn’t resist, I stopped by at non and Ken fixed me an old fashioned hamburger on the grill while Sandy manned the cash register. Ken puts out a pretty good hamburger and fries, stop by anytime your in the area of Main Street and A Street and try one for yourself! <—– Click Here <—– Click Here <—– Click Here <—– Click Here
A Reader suggested some of us might get together some warm sunny saturday morning at Brown Springs area and cemetery south of Thackerville and clean up the cemetery some and a tour. Let me know if you are interested and we’ll set a day to meet at the infamous Brown Springs. <—– Click Here
After posting the pics taken from 125 feet up looking out from the courthouse cupola, I received some good response from all over the country. I have put the emails in my Mailbag below. More on this in the weeks to come. <—– Click Here
I’m always looking for a better and hopefully no-cost way to get rid of all the spyware and malware we get on out computer nowadays. I ran across a really good freeware program that works great for malware removal. Malware Bouncer is an unique malware removal utility with a new and fast featured scanning engine! It only takes about 10 seconds to scan the whole computer for over 5600 real targeting definitions. The current version supports most types of malware’s like, adware, trojans, worms, spyware and dialers. The program also has built-in Live Update feature for stay up-to-date with latest software version and definitions. <—– Click Here <—– Click Here
SOME LETTERS FROM THIS WEEK’S MAILBAG
“Butch, I sure enjoyed your pictures from the top of the courthouse. The one of the Baptist Church reminded me of earlier days. My uncle, Ira Peak was pastor of that church during the mid 1940’s. I wonder if any of your readers are old enough to remember him? If so, I would like to hear from them.” -Roy Miller, OKC [email protected]
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“Good pictures from the Carter County Courthouse Butch. Nice job.” -Ron Brown
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“Butch, I just have to tell you how great this addition of your This and That is. The pictures from the court house are awesome. I haven’t had time to see all of them, but what I have seen is fantastic.” -Virginia from Washington State
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“Butch, Thanks for posting the pictures you took from the cupola! I have never seen Ardmore from that view and I had no idea you could see Lake Murray from town! I only get back to Ardmore once every year or two, so that was a treat! I even unexpectedly saw the house that was my “dream house” when I was growing up in one of the pictures! I was just telling one of my friends here in South Carolina about that house just a couple of weeks ago.ah, memories!” -Sherra Scott
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“Butch, You out did yourself with the cupola shots of Ardmore; for sure, on a clear day you can almost see Wapanucka. That was clever of you to scout the site and take the pictures. I have seen Ardmore from the air many times but your pixs are the best. Thanks for the view!” -Gary Heartsill, Baja, Oklahoma
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“Hi Butch, I reviewed the camera pictures of Ardmore that were of excellent quality. I can see the importance of securing a camera in the tallest building of a town or city. One could prove invaluable. For your viewers attached is an aircraft aerial view of the AlamoDome in San Antonio, Texas. The write-up pertaining to baseball teams springing up immediately after WWII reminds me when I in 1946, at the age of 16 in Gainesville, Texas, I competed with other teenage boys for the baseball that was knocked over the fence. The name of our town baseball team was the Gainesville Owls. The cost for an entry ticket was .75 cents. A retrieved baseball would allow free passage for one into the baseball stadium. You can imagine the severe competition among all of us boys.” -Elmer G. West <—– Click Here
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“Matt and George Kimes were bank robbers in 1926 and 1927 here in OK and after hearing a story from a family member about them I became interested and decided to do a search. I searched the OK history site for awhile and could not find anything on the Kimes gang. Perhaps I overlooked it. Found a pretty good site on the Kimes brothers if you or anyone is interested. There is till one thing I am interested in. Does anyone have a short bio on their early boyhood days? I am trying to confirm the family story.” -melinda taylor <—– Click Here
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“The Carrollton, TX, Babe’s which you list as on Belt Line Road, not only offers delicious fried chicken and chicken fried steak but you can also order fried catfish and/or baked chicken.” [email protected]
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“Dear Ones, I wish you would log on to Mom’s site and read “Our Friend Jesus” for I just sent it in for her. Mom writes under the name “Phoebe” for that was her Grandmother’s name. She also loves getting email on her site! Happy Easter and blessings to all.” -Helen Tweed and Tweed <—– Click Here
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“Butch, I am attaching a photo that my mother-in-law (Bessie Gilstrap) took of Gene Autry the day that Berwyn was changed to Gene Autry. My wife (Virginia Gilstrap) and her entire family were there that day. I am also including an article that was written about that day. I hope your readers enjoy looking at them. My wife also mentioned she thought possibly the parade pictures were of one the many rodeo parades that were held in Ardmore. We were in Ardmore that summer of ’47. She also thought it was possible it was one of the parades that Gene Autry was in (although she’s not sure). Please note that I have a new e-mail address that I would like everyone to start using. Please update your address books with this new address: [email protected] – I will be switching to that soon.” -Bob Farrington <—– Click Here <—– Click Here
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“The painting was done by Harvey Pratt.”
<—– Click Here <—– Click Here
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“Butch: I am not sure; but, I think that the ole Ardmore Santitarium(sp?) was torn down in the summer of 1962 or 1963. I helped tear it down, and helped to haul all the bricks to a brick yard, somewhere in or just outside of the city limits of Ardmore. I had an uncle who was of California Portugese decent, and that man had a way with bricks like no one around here had ever seen up til that time. We sat and cleaned bricks at a penny a piece. On a good day, one could usually clean a thousand bricks and stack them, for $10 a day. That was a pretty good wage for a highschool kid back then. Me and another fellow used to load about two or three thousand bricks into the back of an old bobtailed ford and haul them to where ever someone was building a new home. I know there are several homes in and around Ardmore that were built with these “used bricks”. Back in the 1960s era, used brick sold for more than new brick. I think my uncle sold them for 5 cents to 6 cents a piece. We also tore down what was left of the old Artesian Hotel in Sulphur after it burned, I think, somewhere in the same time frame. We set up a ‘brick yard’ just east and north of Davis. I expect that there are several homes in Ardmore and Davis and Sulphur that were built with some of the Artesian Hotel bricks. I know I cleaned a lot of them with an old hatchett. My uncle hired an older gentlemen who wore an old cowboy hat, and drove one of those ‘famous’ Spyder Corvairs. This old man claimed to be a nephew of Cowboy Copas, who was killed in the plane crash with Patsy Cline in 1963. Another thing that I can remember, is how rough old Highway 77 used to be up through the Arbuckles from Davis to Ardmore. Used to hear my Dad say that after driving on that highway, you needed to go and have your car’s front end realigned. I can remember several ‘big rigs’ falling down into the canyon when trying to get around the “S” curve in the Arbuckles just above the entrance into Turner Falls. I remember the Friday night when that plane crashed into the Arbuckles carrying all of those soldiers. I had never seen so many hearses and ambulances come through Davis at one time. I still remember when Kenny Stockdale played football for the Ardmore Tigers…..wonder what ever became of him? Just remembering….. Me and Possum love to remember old times….growing up in Big D….Davis.” -Scott Bumgarner, Class of 1963
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“That is the old Paramount theatre in the picture. Can you tell from the original the name of the movie playing?”
<—– Click Here
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“Mr. Bridges, well baseball season is almost here, and with all the problems, and steroid and everything else, I don’t think nothing will stop the best sport in the World (my opinion). The kids today are very smarts, the teachers are very smarts and the parents are very smarts and they will teach our children what is right and what is wrong, There is a very low % of ballplayers that made that mistake and they know what they did is wrong and that is not good for their health. I read the article of Mr. Peter G. Pierce of Norman, Oklahoma and is very interesting, here are some statistics that I have and maybe he would like to see, These are the Championship winners:1947 – LAWTON
1948 – McALESTER
1949 – PAULS VALLEY
1950 – ADA
1951 – McALESTERMcAlester defeated Ardmore 4 games to 2, in 1951 and I think the attendance was very good that year. Hope everything is good with you Mr. Bridges and enjoy those big hamburgers you always mention in your articles , I always have to get something to eat after I read your Emails. Thanks for sending your E’Mails are really very interested and I learn a lot about Ardmore’s History.” -Ernie in NJ
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“The 1891 view of Ardmore also was drawn by T.M. Fowler. The town is portrayed from the southeast looking to the northwest. The Santa Fe Railroad is a prominent feature in this image. Other important structures identified by keyed references below the sketch are three churches, a court house, the Ardmore Male & Female Institute, Western Hotel, Odd Fellows Hall, four lumberyards, and a cotton gin. Both the Gilcrease Museum and the Ardmore Public Library have original prints of this view.”
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#1 – Main Street in Davis has not changed all that much (SMILE).#2 – The parade in the photo of Ardmore was a Homecoming Parade – we were there visiting our Grandpa Prater and he took us over to see the parade.
#3 – Mumbly Peg – we were taught the game by our Uncles (Mothers side) and was played with pocket knives – they learned it from our Grandpa Prater. You would throw your knife and where ever it landed your opponent had to stretch out with feet or hands to reach that point. The first one to fall or chicken-out was the loser. The object from how we were taught was to get as close to your opponents hands and feet as possible without hitting them or if you were really into the game – stick them if you could. This may not be the right way to play but it was how we were taught.
Love the photo of the monkey at Turner Falls – brought back good memories of the old “Horseshoe” curve and Falls as well.” -Poss
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hi butch, please put me on your mailing list, i was born just west of hennepin in 1935. was raised around hennepin and later davis. i went to school at woodland school between hennepin and davis. woodland was consolidated with davis in the late 50’s. if any former woodland students are intrested we have a school re-union every year. it is not a class reunion but a school re-union, if you ever went to school there you are invited.” -james singleterry, moore ok. [email protected]
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“Perry’s “Great Big Band” will perform again Monday evening, March 28 at 7:30 P M in the Perry High School Auditorium. This band is similar to the “kicks band” we had a few years ago and is made up of volunteers (primarily alumni from several years ago). My daughter-in-law Juli (Franklin) Kendrick plays baritone-saxophone in it. The band director is “twice-retired” award winning director, Bill Rotter. They play numbers from: Glenn Miller, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Stan Kenton and others; and you’d swear that they’re better than the originals. Admission is free but this time they’re requesting donations (at the door) for the Perry High School band’s trip to Orlando, Florida in May.”
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Ramsey Theater and Vaudeville, 2nd St. W. Sulphur, Okla. <—– Click Here
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The Daily Ardmoreite, July 10, 1899
We have information of trouble in the little town of Willis, near Red river, last Friday. BRIT WILLIS, formerly Chickasaw district judge, lives there and it seems he had some trouble with an old man named BLY, who is 65 years old. The story is that Brit went gunning for the old man and shot into his house. In self defense the old man took deliberate aim from the window with a single barrel shot gun and gave Brit a load of turkey shot in the breast. The old man at once got on his horse and came to town to surrender. Judge BRADFORD was out of the city, consequently no warrant could be issued. The old gentleman then said he would return home, which he did. No papers have yet been issued. Willis was alive when Mr. Bly left there.
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Saturday evening, WILL O’MILLION, a youth of 19 years, arrived in the city accompanied by a preacher and armed with a license of marriage, procured at some of the towns north of here. Some time after dark he was married to Miss QUINTILLA, the 14 year old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. S.T. LINDSAY of this city. They departed on the midnight train for the youthful benedicts home near the line of Oklahoma. S.T. Lindsay, the enraged father of the girl, left on Sunday’s train.
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July 25, 1899
J.S. ALVERSON of Woodford is in the city.
J.F. WILLIAMS went to Wynnewood today.
T.C. BRIDGEMAN went to Dougherty this afternoon.
O.T. TYLER, mother and sister are visiting at Sulphur.
Mrs. HARRY JONES is visiting at her home, Emparia, Kas.
D.J. CANNON, post master at Brock, was on our streets today.
Mrs. C.L. STOWE has returned to her home at Sherman, TX
Mr. H.T. RUTHERFORD left today for an extended visit at Sulphur.
Miss NORA FITCH of Sherman, TX, is visiting Mrs. O.M. REDFIELD.
D.J. MOSTELLO is slowly recovering from a two week’s siege of fever.
SAM DAVIDSON of the Ardmore Oil and Milling Co. returned today to Chicago.
Mrs. J.B. WALL and baby are visiting with friends in Ft. Worth and Dallas.
Mr. and Mrs. W.M. ROBINSON left today for a several day’s stay at Sulphur.
WILLIAM NEWMAN went to Davis and Sulphur today to look after the hide industry.
W.R. MOORE, manager of Ardmore Oil Milling company’s business here, went to Davis today.
MIKE GOLDMAN, who is now engaged in the mercantile business at Cheek, was here yesterday.
Mrs. W.T. WRIGHT of Sherman who has been the guest of Mrs. PORTER STAPLES has returned home.
WILLIE DAVENPORT of Gainesville came up yesterday to visit his cousin.
J.C. FRANKLIN was placed in jail this morning by Deputy CLEMENS for disposing of mortgaged property.
BILL CHAPMAN, one of the trusties was released, his time being served out. Workmen have opened the sidewalk in front of the Wisnor hotel ruins for the benefit of the traveling public, and all loose bricks overhanging the front walls will be taken down.
Nice line of the latest new ties just received at W.O. DUSTON’S.On Thursday (day after tomorrow) the first of the photographs for the Ardmoreite’s “Good Times” edition will be taken. Mr. J.K. JENKINS, the photographer, requests those people who have decided to have their places of business illustrated to get everything in readiness.
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July 23, 1899
Licensed to Wed
Following is the list of those granted marriage certificates from the United States clerk’s office in the Southern District, for the week ending Saturday, July 22:T.E. CHOATE and DESSIE SURBER, Ardmore
W.L. APPLETON and LIZZIE DEAMAN, Marietta
CULLIN JACKSON, Graham; LINA BROWN, Woodford
OSCAR PENDLETON and ANNA JAMES, Ardmore
L.L. MOORE and FRANCIS C. BOTTOMS, Paoli
J.F. LONG and MAUD IRENE JOHNSON, Terral
JOSEPH W. WINTERS and DAISY D. YEAGER, Chickasha
OSCAR G. HASKILL and KATY BARTON, Wynnewood
JOHN R. HIGGINS and RITTER WOOD, Wynnewood
J.T. HUGHES and MAUD CONDREN, Ada
JOHN WEAVER, Center, NANA INMAN, Iona
PARKER SAMUELS and REBECCA KEMP, Purcell
M.B. GUEST and MARY B. DANIEL, Linn
G.W. LASLEY, Post Oak; NORA LOAN, Jesse
W.P. GOOLSBY and LUCY O. BROOKS, Lone Grove
A.T. SHANNON, Siloam; MARY NANCE, Mill Creek
WALTER HIXON and CATHERINE ELLIS, Reagan
EUGENE STRANGE and MAGGIE COLLIER, Marsden
G.W. STUMP and NETTIE PRICE, Wilson
J.P. DAVIS and ALMA F. DICKSON, Baum
ROBERT BISHOP and ABBIE RHODES, Dolburgh
T.N. BASSETT and H.R. REDLEO, Beefcreek
A.J. HUGHES and BETTIE WILLIS, Center
J.F. REDMAN, Pauls Valley; DORA STEPHENS, Davis
JOE HARRIS and EVA VINCENT, Pauls Valley
A.L. ROMBO, Viola; RUTHIE LEWIS, Mill Creek
WM. WHEELOCK and LEE ROBERSON, Simon
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July 26, 1899
Work on the GORMAN building has progressed rapidly in the past few days. The walls are now almost completed to the top of the second story. Work on the CRUCE & JOHNSON building is also under excellent headway. These buildings when completed will be ornaments to Main street and our city.
***
At the Jail
ED SUMNER was placed in jail today from Judge WINN’S court on a charge of larceny. BILL CHAPMAN, time out and released. FELIX GOODWIN and WILL DONAGHEE, released on bond.
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A Coming Enterprise
It is rumored on our streets today that TYLER & SIMPSON, wholesale grocers at Gainesville, will establish a similar business in this town. They have secured the iron store building soon to be vacated by SASS & CRAWFORD. Messrs. SASS & CRAWFORD will occupy the JOHNSON & CRUCE and CAMPBELL & FOSTER buildings that are now in course of construction.
******
Born last evening to Mr. and Mrs. Y.B. LYNN, a daughter.
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The Daily Ardmoreite July 2, 1946
RAMBLING REPORTERBOBBY DAVIS is a little boy but he is gradually making a place for himself in the office of The Daily Ardmoreite. He owns a power scooter he bought with his own earnings and he will be astride it Tuesday night carrying election returns to KVSO and other designated places.
HAL MORGAN with the Carpenter Paper company was at work July 1 for the first day in seven months. He suffered a broken leg bone and it seemed it would not ever heal back.
E.D. SHOCKEY took bream with worms for bait Sunday in Lake Murray.
BEN PEEPLES has a home at 435 H street Southwest with Mrs. GRACE McEWEN and her daughter. Mrs. Peeples a Georgia girl, will arrive from Atlanta Saturday to join her husband. And the most interesting of all is that Ben Peeples, jr., is coming too, he is 18 months and there will be no dull days at the McEwen home. Mr Peeples is with American Airlines.
SID HARRELL has sold his grocery stock at 1111 Third avenue southwest to Mr. Milford who is moving from Oklahom City to Ardmore.
Mr. and Mrs. WILL ST. JOHN and Mr. and Mrs. L.N. COX have gone on a motor trip to California.
Mrs. RUPERT MARTIN and Mrs. MARGUERITE WHITTENBERG are representing Daube’s at a gift goods show in Dallas.
On the Woodworth-Gibbons lease in the West Hewitt field a poke weed is growing in the forks of a pecan tree.
Mrs. D.B. JEFFREY, the former LOTA GILL, was visiting BEN TOM GILL and family Sunday from Stilwell. Mr. Jeffrey was visiting his parents in Madill.
Mr. and Mrs. G.E. McCULLOUGH at 708 11th avenue northwest came here from Chicago to be connected with the American Airlines.
CLAUDE ARNOLD purchased the top mare and colt at the Plainview, TX, horse show and brought them to his Woodford ranch.
MAJOR and LILLIAN BROOKS gave E.A.WALKER $13,500 for the land about the stadium. The price was $50 an acre.
SCOTTA’S and WOERS BROTHERS sent The Daily Ardmoreite a handsome basket of glads. They gladdened every heart that looked upon them.
The Rev. HOMER W. HAISLIP has a marvelous radio voice.
GOMER SMITH is an orator. WILLIAM JENNING BRYAN could not beat him at selecting words to convey his thought. His voice is tops or among the top voices in the entire state. Even if you do not agree with what he is saying you will revel in his eloquence over the radio.
Another charming singing voice is that of OVETA BROWN.
Many persons of the radio audience give preference to AVIS BYRD because of her lovely alto voice.
Mrs. MARY HARRIS is longing for the return of the days when KVSO radio station had its own pipe organ with DOLLY DUTTON at the console.
JOHN RIESEN will be on the job Tuesday night announcing the day’s election returns.
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=========================================================================‘You Are My Sunshine’
Words and Music by Jimmy Davis and Charles Mitchell (1940)You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.
You make me happy when skies are grey.
You’ll never know dear, how much I love you.
Please don’t take my sunshine away.The other night dear, as I lay sleeping,
I dreamt I held you in my arms.
When I awoke dear, I was mistaken,
So I hung my head down and cried.You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.
You make me happy when skies are grey.
You’ll never know dear, how much I love you.
Please don’t take my sunshine away.See everyone next time!
Butch Bridges
Lone Grove, Oklahoma~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
March 18, 2005 – Circulation over 4,000 Vol 9 Issue 423
If you are afraid of heights, you may want to skip this first part of T&T. lol. Last week I took some really neat camera shots from the very top of the courthouse looking out over Ardmore and surrounding area. The shots I’m want to share were taken from the cupola (125 feet in the air) and from there you can see for miles. After viewing the photos, see if you agree with me, that having a permanent tower cam mounted at the cupola would be useful in several ways. It could be used for a number of things, including watching approaching severe weather, or a out of control grass fire. Internet visitors from far away could get a glimpse of their hometown Ardmore, and other bird’s eye views for public safety, etc. I did some looking around at tower cams prices and about $1,800 or more would be needed to get a camera that will do all the features…. zoom, pan, tilt, etc. Tower cams are going up on a daily basis all over the world, maybe its ‘high’ time we got one. If anyone’s has any experience with this type of tower cam, I would appreciate hearing from you. Any input, pro or con is welcome. Maybe there is a way to get the needed funds. Anyway, its just a thought on my part. Below is a link to a Folder with the photos. The ones with “b” are larger and more detailed than the ones with an “a” in the file name. <—– Click Here
A T&T Reader over in Healdton was at a garage sale and saw a couple of books he thought I might be interested in looking at, so he picked them up for me. The one I want to talk about today is Territorial Governors of Oklahoma. It was published in 1975 by the Oklahoma Historical Society. The 150 page book covers 9 Oklahoma Territorial governors: George Washington Steele, 1890-1891; Robert Martin, 1891-1892; Abraham Jefferson Seay, 1892-1893; William Cary Renfrow, 1893-1897; Cassius McDonald Barnes, 1897-1901; William C. Grimes, 1901; William Miller Jenkins, 1901; Thompson Benton Ferguson, 1901-1906; and Frank Frantz, 1906-1907. This book is a wealth of reading about the public and private lives of those who administrated Oklahoma before it became a state in 1907. <—– Click Here
The Daily Ardmoreite, Christmas 1944: Two Ardmore Airfield Men Die In Wreck. Car Turns Over After Tire Blew Out and Men Are Burned To Death in Wreckage Of Car. Two Ardmore army airfield soldiers were burned to death in the wreckage of their car, three miles west of the Airfield on the highway leading to that installation, at 10:30pm Christmas night, the state highway patrol reported. The dead are: M/Sgt Roger B. Pufahl, 29, medical detachment, who is survived by his mother, Mrs. Florence Pufahl, 2477 Fourth Street, Milwaukee, WI. S/Sgt Edward R. Nelson, 24, overseas veteran, who is survived by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Edward R. Nelson, Sr., Route 2, Box 12-C, Duluth, MN, and a brother, Rudolph Nelson, same address. According to state highway patrol officers who investigated the accident, Pufahl and Nelson were in a 1936 Oldsmobile sedan en route to the base. Three miles from the intersection with U.S. Highway 77, the left front tire blew out. The car swerved to the side of the road, skidded 15 feet, turned over two and a half times across the bar ditch. It immediately caught fire. Junior Stewart, driver of an airfield bus was one of the first on the scene. He said the car was ablaze all over and that it was hopeless to attempt to extricate the two men. He hastened on to the field and dispatched fire equipment to the blaze.
In the last issue there was a link to “Professional Baseball in Ardmore, Oklahoma after WWII by Peter G Pierce, III of Norman, Oklahoma”. Reading through his excellent summary of baseball in Ardmore, I did find to minor mistake. The article mentioned the incorrect location of Cardinal Park. I have made the corrections, and Saved the article as a Wordpad file and as a webpage.
Here it is as a webpage
<—– Click HereAnd here is the article in Wordpad format
<—– Click HereIn the last T&T I mentioned my unpleasant experience in the 14 miles from just south of Marietta to the Red River. This week a Reader told me she and her husband tried to go to Gainesville last Friday evening to visit a relative in the hospital, and they ran into the backed up and stopped traffic at Marietta and Highway 32. It took them 2 hours to get to Exit 1 where the massive construction is going on at the Winstar exits, so they turned around there and came back to Ardmore. Sad situation, sad situation.
SOME LETTERS FROM THIS WEEK’S MAILBAG
“Would you please see if you can clarify the Mary Niblack school location and directions. I was born and lived in a house North of Mary Niblack on the West side of the road for about 5 years (1939 to 1941) then we built a house one mile North of Mary Niblack. The Red Everett store was one mile North and one mile West of Mary Niblack and was so dark inside that you could barely see the merchandise. It was a mighty deep sandy road from our house to the store.”
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“Davis, Oklahoma around 1915.”
<—– Click Here
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“Butch, Folgers in Ada is right on main street bout a block west of Mississippi street. North side of the road, between a couple tire shops. Good eats! Been there many times.”
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“Butch, We ate at the Babe’s Chicken Dinner House in Sanger a few months ago. You are right about the food…almost as good as my Granny’s fried chicken! Besides the juke box, we had singing waitresses. There was this one little gal that could sing and yodel like you wouldn’t believe! I think someone with some connections needs to go down there and get that girl a record contract! They had a little more than two choices on their menu…. fried chicken, chicken fried steak, pot roast, and one more thing I can’t remember. Good desserts, too. It’s worth the drive. Take a load of friends for a really good time.”
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“I mispelled Tim McVeigh’s name because I was thinking how excited some of the reporters became when I mentioned that OHP trooper Dick McVay was also at the courthouse as one of McVeighs guards. They immediately wanted to know if he was related, and were disapointed when I said the name was spelled differently.”
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“butch try a Meers burger from the old Meers store located west of medicine park outside of the wichita mt wildlife refuge if you really want the best. i may be mistaken but i think that ponders once owned the burger stand on lake murray drive and that is why the sign stills says home of the super dog.” -steve maxwell
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“Babe’s is absolutely fabulous. it’s probably about 30 minutes from me.! It’s sssssooooooooo yummy! Their home-made potatoes, corn, and chicken are the BEST home-cookin there is – yes, even better than mine! Now I’m hungry. Trophy Club has a semi-annual garage sell. trophyclub.org. if you like to garage sell, it’s pretty fun, then after all that hard work bargain hunting, you go to babes, kick back and pig out!”
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“Regarding the traffic on I-35 South near Thackerville: I am happy to learn that the Los Angeles traffic has moved east. Now perhaps it won’t take an hour and half to get to work around here! ha ha”
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“Butch, That road is still there, it dead ends just east of the old Mock ranch, probably had something to do with the airbase opening so it was never finished. There is a road that starts at the old Bob Surber ranch and comes out on the Daughtery highway, I crossed it in my car back in the sixties, its probably grown up in your beloved cedar trees by now. (lol)” -Jerry Williams
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“Would you please see if you can clarify the Mary Niblack school location and directions. I was born and lived in a house North of Mary Niblack on the West side of the road for about 5 years then we built a house one mile North of Mary Niblack. The Red Everett store was one mile North and one mile West of Mary Niblack and was so dark inside that you could barely see the merchandise. It was a mighty deep sandy road from our house to the store.”
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“butch, here are a couple of pics i got the other day. they were july of 1947. i dont know what parade it is maybe somebody knows.” -steven harris <—– Click Here <—– Click Here
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“Hi Butch, I hope you can help with this. I know a lot of your readers ask for your assistance on finding information on past family members and etc. My brothers and I have been trying to find some information about our grandfather. Jesse Thomas Cross. From what I understand he had a brother named Jim but I am not sure about that. He was killed by a man who said he would shoot the next man who crossed his land. (I think the year was 1915.) Anyway my grandfather grandmother and my mother about 2 1/2 years old were headed to town and the man shot him. My grandfather was 1/2 Cherokee. I think was his tribe . He is not listed on any of the Indian rolls that I have been able to find. I have gone through all the information I could find at the library in Ardmore, as well as the rolls on the internet. I am hoping that something might be in your archive of newspapers about the shooting. I am not sure where it happened but he is buried in the cemetery at Katy, Oklahoma. There is no monument so we were not able to find the location of his grave, we only know that a big rock was put as a headstone at the time. Thanks again for any help you might be able to give us and for your continued columns that we enjoy so much.” -Leta Haynes [email protected]
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“Butch: The letter from Richard Haney made me laugh, his dad Clyde Haney ran the store in Gene Autry for years with his wife Aileen. Well, Clyde would get all of us good kids from Gene Autry on Halloween and give us a pop and candy bar if we promised not to turn over the outhouse. But we did it anyway just being kids so Richard (Butch) Haney got it right the outhouse was well built Ha Ha.” -Doug Williams [email protected]
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“Fiddling Around At Turner Falls.”
<—– Click Here
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“I have a picture of the so called Johnson County invaders. A group of men from Texas, Oklahoma. (see Johnson County Wyoming Range War) Our Buck Garrett is in the picture. There is also a J.A. Garrett in picture can you tell me the relationship to Buck. The picture is a picture of the invaders after their capture by the Johnson County Sheriff.” -Don Smith @ [email protected]
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“Butch, I’m writing the history of my family and just wondered if you could describe to me the game of mumbly-peg that was so popular back in the 1920-30 era. I’m not sure of the spelling, but I’ve run across mention of this game several times. I’m thinking they used pocket knives, but just not sure about it at all. thanks for your help.” <—– Click Here
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“The saintsandsoldiers website is a trip. It’s worth going there just to check out the bells and whistles on the site. I’m into anything WW2 these days, and wonder if this can rival Band of Brothers.” <—– Click Here <—– Click Here
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“I am looking for information on a place named in a family diary: The Odd Fellows Home Ardmore. I was wondering where I would find census information and details on those for whom it cared. Also, I am looking for information on nursing homes that have existed in the past in Carter County, namely, Vanita/Vinita (insane hospital), Leehington Nursing Home, and Hubbard Nursing Home. I would also appreciate it if I could possibly find out information on graduates from Enid High School 1930. I would just like to know if this information is possible to obtain and to whom I should speak about it.”
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“You mentioned some time back about buying a GPS receiver and I started looking for one myself. I bought a Garmin V off of Ebay last night and hope it works when it arrives. I also hope my wife doesn’t murder me when she sees the credit card bill. It’s just an idea, but you might think about adding the coordinates of places you visit that are off the beaten track. Other GPS users could easily find them. If you don’t already know, to make a degrees symbol, type in [ALT] 0176, e.g. 033?.
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“Butch, the history of pro baseball was very interesting. One small correction: Cardinal Park was not built at the Carter County Fairgrounds. In reference to Red Sollars, Red came to Ardmore in 1948 with the Cleveland Indians farm system. He played shortstop and was exciting to watch. He always slid on his stomach. Nobody was as dirty and sweaty as Red after a game. He moved on to class C the following year but sustained an injury and returned to Ardmore where he went to work for his father in law, Bob Barnett. Red played baseball with our Ardmore Bluejay semi-pro team as did former Indian Bob Cramer. Red played just as hard for us as he did in the pros and was an outstanding hitter. Red was instrumental in bringing Satchel Paige and his Caribbean Kings to Ardmore and put together a team to play them at Cardinal Park on May 27, 1960. We lost the game 7-4 in 10 innings. In the 60s Red and I along with a few others, organized a fast pitch softball league, the first in many years for Ardmore. Only a few good fast pitch pitchers remained and Red was one of them. He was an outstanding athlete. In 1998 I received a letter from him along with a clipping of his and Nelda’s 50th anniversary. When I traveled to California in September, 1999, I detoured to Lake Havasu City, Arizona to visit Red. He had been sick and didn’t look good. One week later, Nelda called to say he had died. A great person and loved by all that knew him. Thanks Butch for this interesting service you provide.” -Clyde Kemp
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The Daily Ardmoreite, March 15, 1905
Purcell–The killing of ROY NEWMAN by ALBERT KERR which occurred here Tuesday night as the result of a quarrel at school between JOHN KERR, a young brother of Albert Kerr, aged 14, and Roy Newman, which caused the younger Kerr to curse Roy and another boy HOWARD GAMBLE by name at which time the younger Kerr boy is alleged to have said, “Soon as my big brother comes in I will have him kill you___”
This occurred several days ago and on the day of the killing the older boy, Albert Kerr, came into town. Soon after the two Kerr boys located Roy Newman in the clothing store of GEORGE SWARTZ on Main street, they went out and soon returned. The older Kerr boy went up to Newman, removed his coat and began cursing him. Newman had been looking at some cuff buttons in the show case and had his knife in his hands at the time. As soon as Kerr began cursing him, Newman is alleged to have started toward him, saying, “You must not call me those names and must take them back, or I will put my blade in you.” The older Kerr boy then reached back under his younger brother’s coat and secured the gun, reached in his pocket and took out a shell and put it in the weapon, then raised the gun with both hands and fired at close range at Newman or George Swartz, who was standing close by, but missed, Swartz ran out at the front door and Newman started to do likewise, when Kerr fired again, the ball entering Newman’s head, killing him instantly.
Albert Kerr started down the street in a run with the gun in his hand, with the younger brother following. The United States marshal followed and soon arrested Albert, but the younger brother had secured Albert’s team at the livery stable and had started to the country, when captured. He stated that he was going into the country after his father. Both the Kerr boys were placed under arrest and have been confined in the United States jail here.
Roy Newman, the youth who was killed, was the son of H.E. NEWMAN, a prominent merchant of this city, and was not quarrelsome and had the reputation of being a good boy. Albert and John Kerr are sons of JOHN KERR, a farmer who had recently moved to town to school his children, but was absent at the farm, five miles away, when the trouble occurred. It is stated that the knife which Newman had when Kerr was cursing him, was found in his pocket closed when the body was picked up. Kerr’s gun when arrested contained four loaded cartridges.
The examining trial was held today before Commissioner PFIEFFER.
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August 2, 1905
Pauls Valley–Yesterday while JOHN CARLTON was loading a wagon with dirt at the foot of Pine street, his shovel struck some hard substance, which upon examination proved to be a human skull. Further information revealed a human skeleton, also a pair of scissors, silver ear rings, a gun lock, a bottle of water, and some other silver trinkets. The bones are perfectly clean and showed evidence of having been there for years. The skeleton was brought to town and placed in the BRUCE drug store, where many viewed it and offered suggestions as how it came there. Doctors and others well verse in the build of the human frame say it is the skeleton of a woman and from the trinkets with it, the supposition naturally advanced is that is that of an Indian. In the earlier days, the site of Pauls Valley was the capital or council grounds of a wild tribe and this is probably the skeleton of a member high in the tribal councils, who died, was tendered a burial in keeping with the exalted position and as was customary in those days, all the earthly effects were buried with the Indian.
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Pauls Valley–This place is beginning to experience a wholesale building and municipal improvement movement. A score or more of substantial residences are going up and plans are making for several very costly homes of the most modern type. A number of new brick business blocks will be begun in a few weeks, among which are fifteen thousand dollar brick store and office building to be erected by J.T. JONES, a two or three story brick wholesale house by FREEMAN & Company, a combination brick and stone bank building by the Pauls Valley Loan and Trust company, a new financial institution for Pauls Valley recently incorporated by Pauls Valley, Oklahoma City, and Guthrie capitalists.
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Lawton—The little town of Elgin, located seventeen miles northeast of Lawton on the Frisco, has been the scene of more accidental and violent deaths than any place in the new country since the opening. Eight deaths of this character are reported from there since the town was established three years ago.
In June, 1902, two young men were suffocated with gas while digging a well near there. H.B. HAMLIN accidently shot himself while trying to kill rats in a store room in June 1903. In the autumn of that year H.M. CRAWFORD was accidentally shot by his son while the latter was cleaning a revolver. H.W. FORRESTER was struck on a hip by a door in March 1904, and later died from the effect of blood poisoning. ROBERT MOODY, a well to do farmer, committed suicide last spring. HERMAN JENSEN, a mute, about two months ago fell from a wagon receiving injuries from which he died the following day. Last Thursday a 13-year-old boy was suffocated in a wheat bin.
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Sunday, July 7, 1946
RAMBLING REPORTER
Mrs. BESSIE GODWIN, who lived in Ardmore from 1901 till 1924, was honored at San Angelo, TX, when her 80th birthday was reached. Ardmore is dear to her because she met and married WILL GODWIN in this city. All through the years she has worked at art. Georgia-born, her first portrait was of Dr. M.J. DUDLEY, father of the late Mrs. JOHN EASLEY. That was in North Georgia. She made the first colored photographs exhibited in Ardmore. Two years ago she retired from active work. LAWTON (DICK) GOODWIN is her son and his daughter, BILLIE TOM, 15, sang Mother machree at the birthday celebration. Mrs. Godwin does not look 80, said HELEN WOODY, who lives neighbor to her in San Angelo, and she gets around like a young woman.R.D. ROSS, president of the Sulphur board of education, and one of the very livest business men in all Southern Oklahoma, suffered a stroke the past week. However, he came out of it and was sent home from the hospital and his friends believe he will make a rapid recovery.
L.B. PEAK, who resigned as superintendent of schools in Sulphur, has been succeeded by GEORGE S. PORTMAN who has been school principal there and served in the Navy and is back home now ready to step and go.
FARLEY A. RICHMOND, coming to vote Tuesday, remarked that on Saturday, July 6, he would be 77 years old and he has never voted except in precinct 6, Ardmore—an unusual record.
Going through a campaign in Carter county is worse than riding a bronc, said LONNIE ROONEY of Wilson, who was the leader in the third district for county commissioner. He almost received a majority in the first election.
The BUD STEVENS and EARL POOL ranch at Bowles in Love county has been leased for oil and Mrs. JOHN H. CARLOCK leased 400 acres for oil, a part of her ranch.
C.J. SHELLENBERGER, Marietta, has a new rodeo horse he calls KVSO.
Three Hearon boys are busy on two routes of The Daily Ardmoreite every week day afternoon. They are ROY HEARON, 13, who has been with the paper four years. He carries route No.1. W.C. HEARON, 11, has route No. 13, and their little brother HERBERT, age 6, goes with them each day just because he likes it and wants to learn.
BIDDIE CLICK, came home from Oklahoma City to relax under the family roof. Her parents are Mr. and Mrs. GEORGE EVANS, Newport. With Biddie came GERALDINE BRYANT, a snappy looking young woman that works out at the Oklahoma City Airways. These woman are eating the best of food and sleeping peacefully in the country’s silence. For tired nerves there is no other home quite so inviting as that of Mr. and Mrs. George Evans.
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=========================================================================The song ‘Young At Heart’ was written by Carolyn Leigh and put to music by Johnny Richards in 1954. It has been sung by music artists through the years including Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Norman Jean and many others, putting their own style to the song. But no matter who sang it, its a favorite for several generations of Americans.
Fairy tales can come true
It can happen to you
If you’re young at heartFor it’s hard you will find
To be narrow of mind
If you’re young at heartYou can go to extremes
With impossible schemes
You can laugh when your dreams
Fall apart at the seamsAnd life gets more exciting
with each passing day
And love is either in your heart
Or on it’s wayDon’t you know that it’s worth
Every treasure on earth
To be young at heartFor as rich as you are
It’s much better by far
To be young at heartAnd if you should survive to 105
Look at all you’ll derive
Out of being aliveAnd here is the best part
You’ve had a head start
If you are among the very
Young at heartAnd if you should survive to 105
Think of all you’ll derive
Out of being aliveAnd here is the best part
You’ve had a head start
If you are among the very
Young at heart…See everyone next time!
Butch Bridges
Lone Grove, Oklahoma~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
March 15, 2005 – Circulation over 4,000 Vol 9 Issue 422
T&T Reader Garth Hoard has sent in some interesting topographic maps from the late 1930s from all parts of Carter county. I will try to share some of them as time goes by. One that caught my eye was the one of Gene Autry. I had been told several years ago that before Highway 77 was in place, the highway went through Gene Autry (used to be called Berwyn) and on up through the mountains to Dougherty area. This topo map clearly shows that just north of the Gene Autry store, where the road crosses the railroad tracks, and instead of immediately turning back north, the main road went straight east. Old maps are amazing to look at. Another thing people sometimes fail to notice, there were no blasted ceder trees in those old maps and photographs. <—– Click Here
I dont know exactly where Folgers cafe in Ada is located, but you can be sure the next time I’m in Ada, Oklahoma I’ll have to stop by and try one of their hamburgers. Folgers hamburgers were mentioned in several emails in the Mailbag below.
Speaking of food, a few weeks ago a Reader email in about Babe’s in Sanger, Texas and how good their home style menu cooking is there. A Reader here in Ardmore told me there were about 3 Babe’s Chicken Dinner Restaurants in the Dallas area. The one in Sanger, Texas and another in Garland, Texas at Babe’s Chicken Dinner House 1456 Belt Line Road, and still another one in Roanoke, Texas. Well, about two weeks ago I was in Roanoke and made it by Babe’s Chicken Dinner House, and was I in for a surprise! You have to picture this small old part of downtown Roanoke (west Ft Worth) with a volunteer Fire Department, an old IOOF Cemetery, and a few old buildings. In one of those buildings just a block off Main Street at 104 North Oak Street is Babe’s (817)-491-2900. In the evening hours when everyone is hungry, you have to wait outside for at least 45 minutes, maybe closer to an hour or more, just to get in to eat. There is a loud speaker blaring music from the juke box inside to everyone standing or sitting and waiting around outside to get in, and there is another dozen or so people across the street hanging around a little gift shop, waiting for the girl at the door of Babe’s to holler, “Smith part of 4” or whatever at the top of her lungs. You just have to picture all these hungry, happy people hanging around out front, tapping their toes, swaying their heads and other body parts to the beat of the music, some even dancing in the streets, and just having a great time outside, not minding one bit the long wait to eat.
Once you get inside and seated, you have plenty to watch, people wall to wall, items hanging on the walls and ceiling of bygone days, waitresses bumping their butts into everyone and everything trying to get through the rows and rows of chairs and tables, and the free juke box belting out one country song after another! And you dont really need to see the menu, there are only two choices: either Fried Chicken or Chicken Fried Steak. I selected the four pieces of fried chicken, but what really grabbed my taste buds by their roots was this fabulous tasting salad. The salad was fresh and crisp and came with a sweet clear kind of dressing on it. Boy was it good tasting. Maybe someone can get us the recipe for that salad dressing at Babe’s? Back to the menu, beside your choice of four piece fried chicken or chicken fried steak, the meal is served with big bowls of mashed potatoes, sweet cream corn, rolls, and that great salad. And the cost is reasonable for all you can eat, especially for Dallas-Ft Worth, about $11 per person. Anyway, if you’re ever in Sanger or Roanoke, stop by Babe’s for some chicken, you wont be disappointed. I remember this party of 8 next to us, they came two evenings in a row to eat…. the food was so good!
This is a picture of those standing and seating outside the door waiting to get inside. Remember, there was another dozen or so just hanging out across the street, and running back and forth. <—– Click Here
And this is the chicken neon sign out front of Babe’s…. cluck cluck cluck! <—– Click Here
This is a newspaper clipping a Reader sent me from the March 4, 2005 Alliance Regional Newspapers with excellent review written by Monty Snow on Babe’s Chicken House in Roanoke, Texas. <—– Click Here
Another web writeup on Babe’s in Roanoke, Texas by an individual. <—– Click Here
Speaking of Texas, if you plan on going to Texas in the very near future, DONT. Or at least take an alternate route instead of I-35 south. The construction going on at the Exit at the new Winstar Casino south of Thackerville at the 1 Mile Marker Exit, traffic congestion is unbelievable. Starting about 3 miles south of Marietta, and going south for the entire 14 miles to the Red River, the traffic is bumper to bumper, moving about 2 or 3 miles an hour, stopping for a minute to 5 minutes, then moving again for a couple of car lengths, and this same thing continues the entire 14 miles. It may take you close to 1 1/2 hours to get though this 14 mile stretch of I-35. For what it’s worth, coming back to Oklahoma from Texas the congestion is only half as bad, starting 7 miles south of the Red River in the north bound lane. Boy, there aught to be a law against creating traffic jams like that.
Just a note: about 3 weeks ago I messed up on the numbering of my T&Ts and skipped an issue number. So the issue number this time is 422 and not 421.
SOME LETTERS FROM THIS WEEK’S MAILBAG
“Here’s an idea which many of your readers – history buffs – might be interested in undertaking to help preserve the history of their various communities. It is well known that as our senior citizens pass on, many very interesting stories go with them and much information is lost.
The Arbuckle Historical Society of Murray County recently hosted a “SENIOR CITIZENS’ FORUM” of eleven persons who discussed “Murray County As I Remember It”. Each participant gave a brief personal history and then the moderator asked several general questions to get them started reminiscing about ‘the good ole days’! Ages of the participants ranged from about 75 to 96!!! Approximately 800 years of living in Murray County was represented by this group. Among the questions asked were: (1) What do you remember about the medicinal waters in Platt National Park and did you take mud baths while there? (2) During your early youth, what types of jobs did you do to earn money so you could buy licorice or hard candy? (3) Tell us some of the humorous or mischievous events in which you were involved. (4) What do you remember about the presence of the Ku Klux Klan in Sulphur? Etc.
The 90 minute program was both videoed and tape recorded so these stories can be utilized by researchers, students writing papers for history classes, etc. The audience was so enthusiastic about the presentation that the Historical Society is planning a second event, this time utilizing the next younger generation, persons between 55 to 75 years of age. Let’s all do our part to SAVE OUR HISTORY! Our Motto here at the Museum is: “YESTERDAY’S NECESSITIES ARE TOMORROW’S TREASURES ONLY IF COLLECTED TODAY!” -C.Roland Earsom” [email protected]
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“First National Bank … Sulphur, Ok IT.”
<—– Click Here
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“Butch: For the person who sent in the picture of the Hudson-Huston Lumber Company sign when you entered Gene Autry. The sign was in front of the lumber company which was located about 150 yards north of the downtown area on the west side of the street. I remember the lumber company going out of business, because we got their outdoor toilet. It was a good one, built out of first grade lumber. It was painted yellow, like the color of their building, and had a concrete base and a door that would lock from the inside. It was a one-holer. I am not sure if we paid for it, or just moved it when they went out of business, but either way, we used it for years.” -Richard Haney <—– Click Here
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“Butch– Recently, a friend of mine, Pete G. Pierce, III , gave me an Ardmore Rosebud Baseball cap for my grandson. I was interested in the history of the team. Having long time ties to Ardmore, that’s another story, Pete sent me an indepth history of the team. He used to watch them play at Cardinal Park. Since there has been lots of baseball talk from time to time in the T&T, I ask if I could share it with you. He was most agreeable. I think the readers (particularly the baseball buffs) will enjoy reading it. So, here you go!!” <—– Click Here
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“I wound my grandfather clock Sunday morn. I knocked the pedaling of not meaning to it fell in the bottom of the clock I have worked with it all week & can’t get it going. It won’t even tick. I can’t think of the mans name that fixed it for us it hadn’t run in years he took it & cleaned it & brought it back to us. He died pretty soon after that we don’t know of anyone else to look at it. Do you have any ideas who might work on it in the Ardmore area?”
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“Hello Butch, I was going through some old pictures and papers archiving for my children and ran across a couple of receipts from the old Hardy’s Sanitarium from when my mother, Pauline Carrell had her appendix out in 1931. Thought some of your readers may be interested in seeing them. Also one of them was signed by Zula Cordell and I was wondering if any of your readers may know who she was. My greatgrandmother Barnes was a Cordell from the Carter County area her name was Nancy “Nanny” daughter of Calvin Cordell and Sarah Price,she married Johnny Barnes. Also I noticed in the corner of one of them a note indicating that the check was made out to Claburn Roundtree who was my mother’s half-brother. Keep up the good works.” -Roy Barnes, Purcell OK <—– Click Here
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“Butch, My Mother lives with us and she has told me about helping my Grandmother move the graves from the cemetery near Kingston. My Mother is 87 years old.” -Willis Lowery
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“I do know that Orleana, TX was buried by Lake Texoma. It was north of the Dexter/Hagerman area of Texas, east and north of Gainesville, right by Delaware Bend. My great aunt was born there in 1915. I was looking for the town and drove for miles down a country road looking for the cemetery. I finally did find it – on private land, covered with briar. The land owner explained that the cemetery had been moved from Orleana to the present site. The relatives of the buried were notified to have their loved ones moved. Many did not have the money to do so. I am told that the rain come before all of the graves could be moved. I didn’t go into the cemetery as the briar was taller than I. The land owner was very nice and almost apologetic about the condition of the cemetery. He (the land owner) told me which road to travel to view the point of water that now covers Orleana. it was another long drive down a road that should only have been driven by 4-wheel drive – trees covering all sides of the road. It seemed that the branches had been cut just wide enough to get a vehicle through. You know me, adventurous, in my Honda Accord driving sideways stratteling the trenches .I made it there, took some photos for my cousins and strattled out of there. It was more erie than our trip to Brown Springs. I was in good company at Brown Springs, had plenty of ghost busters with me.I copied and pasted some of my notes about the area of Orleana and of Delaware Bend which is where Mrs. Wallace lived.
Per: Mrs. Doyle Wallace
Delaware Bend Rd. It was a small area with only a grocery store and station. When the building of Lake Texoma began notice was sent to all who had family buried at Orleona to have them moved to the new cemetery. Those who could not be located to move their family were out of luck because a big rain came and what was left of the cemetery is not part of the lake. The cemetery at Orlena was covered with water. They had sent word out and gave notice to everyone to relocate their loved ones in the cemetery because they were building Lake Texhoma. The lake filled before this task was complete.Per: Jody – posting on internet
Delaware Bend is the next sharp bend in the Red River at Lake Texhoma, possibly named after the Delaware Indian Tribe; at one time (mid-1800’s)the Delaware Indians had a village there.. Col. James Bourland of Civil War Days was one of the largest land owners in that area. With the building of the Lake Texoma Dam at Denison, Delaware Bend lost 75% of it’s territory including it’s school house, and was later consolidated with the Dexter School District.. Farming and Hunting was the main source of income for the Residents of Delaware Bend in the old days.. Info from the book, First 100-Years in Cooke County by A. Morton Smith, 2nd Printing 1976.”
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“Friends: There have been several changes in my schedule recently. The Spring Cowboy Roundup in Lawrence, Kansas on April 1st and 2nd will feature daytime western entertainment, exhibits, pony & wagon rides both days. The Chuckwagon Supper will be on Saturday night April 2. For more information and reservations, call 785-841-1265. The Concert in Reno for July 6, 2005 has been cancelled and will be resheduled for 2006. To view my current schedule, check my website. Thanks.” -Les <—– Click Here
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“Hello Butch, I am looking for any information or pictures about early 1900s MEDICINE PARK, Oklahoma, now in Comanche County. Its founder was J. ELMER THOMAS, one of the first OK statehood senators. It was built and then opened by THOMAS and his partner, HAL A. LLOYD, of Altus, OK., on July 4th,1908, as a health and family resort. Later, DR. BAIRD opened his health sanitarium, here. In the early 1920s, people came from all over the country, over 200,000 a year, for the resort and the medicinal waters, of the Medicine Creek. We will celebrate our Centennial in 2008, and I am working on the history. I know this is somewhat removed from your Ardmore and area focused history but perhaps some of the T&T readers or their family’s history have memories of Medicine Park too? I can be contacted at [email protected] Just be sure to put MEDICINE PARK in the subject line, of the e-mail. Thank You!” -M. Lillian Standfield
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“Butch, I stopped in at the Fried pie place near Turner Falls this afternoon. They are making a nice addition to their building there. They tell me they are building a much larger kitchen and room for more booths to sit inside the store. They say the fried pie biz is good! Snapped this pic of the work in progress.” -David Cathey <—– Click Here
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“Bet you get a few replys about the home of the famous ‘superdog.’ Don’t know how famous the one on lake murray drive is, but Ponder’s Super Dog on N. Commerce was widely famous for their super dog for a lot of years.”
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“Butch, Everyone has there own opinion on the best burger, but mine is from the ’60’s as a kid at a place in Pauls Valley (on the way to Ardmore from Wichita) that had a Pizza Burger that was fantastic!!! I took my 12 year old son down to Ardmore to show him where he sorta came from a couple of years ago and stopped in Pauls Valley and found Ballards out by I-35 (which was’nt there when I was a kid) and got the same Pizza burger after 40 years and it was all I dreamed it could be!!! Memories exists and still taste the same. Even was served by the original owner (Jim ???). He told me not to wait another 30 or 40 years to come back.” -Kirk Holley Smith…..Hamilton, MT. (of the Tater Hill Holleys)
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“The hamburger place travelling west on Main Street in Ada, on the right just before the RR tracks would be Folger’s Hamburgers, rather than Hamburger King. I agree their hamburgers are great, or at least were the last time I passed through there.” -Alan McKay
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“Folgers in Ada has a great hamburger. Jimmy and Jerry Folger have been making hamburgers for a long time. The fries are great, too. They are on East Main street. The buffet at the Wynnewood Steak House has really good food. Lots of home style cooking. It’s across the street from the refinery.”
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“Butch, Hope this finds you well! That chicken-fried steak sandwich made my mouth water–haven’t seen that on the menu in south Florida. I’m sure you know, but Folgers in Ada makes a mighty fine hamburger too! I enjoyed your news on the Milo Baptist Church; I went to the funeral of my Uncle Ed Smithers at that church. What a shame it was torched! There’s no understanding the way some people’s minds work. Thanks for sending T&T to my brother; he absolutely pores over every one!”
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“Folgers in Ada are best known for the best hamburgers. June’s in Checotah also puts out a great burger.”
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“Okay Butch, If you really want the best Hamburger in the U.S. you have to go to the Hamburger King at 322 east main street in Shawnee,Oklahoma. Family owned since the 1950’s. Now for the best BBQ in the U.S. go to Billy’s Boys at 120 W. McArthur st.also its located in Shawnee,Oklahoma. Billy Boy’s also has some mighty fine chili and hamburgers,and steak sandwiches. Billy Boy’s has been family owned since 1973. Come up this way and give them a try.” -Edna
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“Butch: Just saw this on the Tulsa World website. Not sure it is anything you can use, but I thought it was interesting.” OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Best selling author John Grisham plans to write a non-fiction book about a former Oklahoma death row inmate from Ada who spent 12 years in prison before being exonerated by DNA evidence. Ron Williamson, who died of liver disease in December at age 51, at one point came within five days of being executed for the 1982 murder of a 21-year-old woman. He was freed in April 1999.
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“Butch, in last weeks issue there was a list of fiddle players. One was named E. T. Rue. Can anyone on this list tell me anything about E. T.? Was he called Bud Rue? Was he related in some way to Ida Rue who married Andrew Irvin Morris??” -Bud Caudle [email protected]
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“Butch-This 1930 map of the Mary Niblack to Hoxbar area published by the Soil Conservation Service shows the houses of the area. Someone recently asked about Hoxbar and Mary Niblack. Notice also the Concord Church east of Mary Niblack School. I assume that there was not a number of houses close together like Mannsville. As a youngster, I was in the area on occasion and the center of attraction at that time was Red Everett’s store.Notice an unnamed school in the area NE of Hoxbar.” [email protected] <—– Click Here
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“Dear Classmates of 1958 and other good friends: I always attempt not to over react to medical issues and apologize for not talking to each of you personally however, I do have a potential problem that I feel needs prayers from each and everyone of you. My doctor told me yesterday after two CT Scans that the radiologist and he found a tumor on the top of my pancreas. They feel from these tests that it is “probably” malignant and will have to be surgically removed. It also appears that lymph nodes and other organs are unaffected which is a very good sign. After discussing this with my doctor and my family, I have chosen to have a new, young doctor locally to do the surgery. He is out of town this week so I have an appointment Monday morning with Dr. Bill Parker who specializes in this type of surgery. Since I have this much “lead time”, I am asking all of you to put me in your prayers and add me to any prayer lists at your churches as you feel appropriate. I don’t have a bad feeling about this but I do know there is power in prayer and I want to take every opportunity to allow it to work as it has at many previous times with me and also with many of you. I appreciate and have much love and affection for each and everyone of you. Thanks allowing me to share this need with you. In Jesus Christ I trust.” -Jerry Royall [email protected]
————————————————————————- The Daily Ardmoreite August 7, 1905
SHOOTING ON MAIN STREET
At 9:30 o’clock this morning three pistol shots from a .38 caliber gun rang out on Main street and Dr. J.P. FANN fell seriously, if not mortally wounded, to the sidewalk.
Dr. Fann was walking east on Main street and as he reached FELKER’S store, TOM McGHEE stepped out from the stairway leading up on the east side of the building and without a word of warning fired two shots in rapid succession into the body of Dr. Fann, only a few feet away. Fann fell to the sidewalk and another shot was fired into the prostrate body. Several gentlemen standing near say that not a word was spoken between the two men. When McGhee had fired the last shot he turned looking westward and raised the weapon into the air. He was immediately and without resistance taken into custody by police officer GEO. DeMOSS who with Chief of Police GARRETT turned him over to Deputy Marshal McKEE. Dr. Fann was at once removed to the Ardmore sanitarium where physicians promptly rendered every service that could be performed. When Mrs. Fann learned of the tragedy she became almost prostrate with grief.
Tom McGhee who committed the act has a wife and eight children in this town. He has been a heavy drinker for years. He has been absent from Ardmore for a number of months, returning here four days ago. It is said that he threatened to “have it out” with Dr. Fann since his return. For some time he has held a grudge against Fann. About a year ago he stepped up behind him and without warning struck Fann on the head with a rock. The wound however was not serious. Dr. Fann thought his anger to be a mere craze of a drunken man that would soon cease to inflame his mind.
J.W. WATTS who was standing in front of J.B. SPRAGINS & CO.’S store was struck by a flying bullet. The missile made a very painful flesh wound on his right leg below the knee. He was also removed to the sanitarium.
One hour after the shooting Dr. Fann was resting under opiates. Dr. J.C. McNEES stated that the most serious of the three wounds passed into the left side of the neck, cutting the jugular vein and lodging. The bullet has not been located yet. Another bullet passed through the right shoulder, and still another passed through the muscular tissue of the left side. Dr. PHILIP STEVENS was standing near the scene of the crime and hurried the wounded man. The blood was quickly stopped that was flowing from the wound in the neck and if Dr. Fann’s life is saved it will be due to the presence of Dr. Stevens whose immediate service kept him from bleeding to death. As McGhee walked up the street with the officers he said his only regret was that he had wounded a bystander. At 2:30 this afternoon, Dr. Fann’s condition was reported as being improved.
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August 8, 1905
Tussy–Mr. and Mrs. H.M. JONES of near Elk are visiting friends and relatives here.
While returning from a baptising, Mrs. RHOADES was stricken very suddenly, surviving only long enough to be carried home. She left four children, four of whom are nearly grown. Her husband died more than a year ago.
News has reached here of a shooting scrape at Hennepin in which FRANK PIERCE of Fox was seriously wounded.
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Poverty has one advantage over wealth. When a poor man is sick there is no desire on the part of his physician to prolong the illness.
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August 10, 1905
ARDMORE QUIETLY SPREADING
The amount of building that has been done the past year in Ardmore is the subject of remarks by everyone acquainted with the town and persons who spend a few months out of the city are surprised at the advancement made during their absence.
Plans are now being made for handsome residences for RUSSELL J. WILLIAMS, SAM NOBLE, I.M. JAMES, WALTER COLBERT, FELIX J. KING, DR. G.E. GOODWIN, W.R. ROBERTS, and others.
Three new brick business houses are being constructed on North Caddo street, plans are maturing for the erection of several two-story bricks on west main, a three-story brick business house is now under construction in that section of the city and it seems that the town is on the verge of a building boom.
The Y.M.C.A. building on Broadway is an absolute certainty and there is much speculation with reference to that section of the town being opened for business property.
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New winter good ready for your selection at STOLFA, the tailor’s.
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Pauls Valley, I.T.,–The Santa Fe & Gulf railroad began this week the construction of an elegant new depot at this place. The structure is a combination stone and frame and will be one of the handsomest stations on the line. Land has also been secured by the Santa Fe for the location of a Harvey eating house. Three lines of the Santa Fe enter this place and two new railroads have parties in the field between here and Ada and Shreveport for lines to the coal fields with western terminals.
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August 13, 1905
At three o’clock this afternoon at the home of the brides parents Mr. and Mrs. GUS RANDOLPH, 121 Seventh avenue, northwest, Miss HARRIETT ADELL RANDOLPH will be married to RAYMOND W. OAKEY. The ceremony will be performed by Rev. S.F. GODDARD of the Methodist church. The Ardmoreite wishes the young couple a long, happy and useful life.
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Chickens dressed while you wait at FRASER & FRASER
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On the last Sunday evening at the home of the bride, 115 Fourth avenue, northeast, the holy rites of wedlock were quietly dispensed by Rev. S.F. GODDARD, upon Mrs. FANNIE B. SACRA and W.H. BUMPASS. Only the immediate members of the families were present. After an absence of a week from the city the happy couple have returned and will be at home to (greet) their many friends at their home in South Ardmore.
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Wanted: Five hundred more people to join the Gate City Burial Association. Apply at BROWN & BRIDGE__??? the old reliable undertakers.
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W.J. CARTER, a former Ardmoreite, but now a citizen of Custer county, Oklahoma, is here with his family and will remain during the winter. Mr. Carter came through the country by private conveyance and he says that crop conditions are very favorable and that he expects Ardmore to be a big business this fall.
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The following communications refers to Mr. DARDEN who died suddenly in Ardmore during the very hot weather the latter part of July a post mortem was held by the attending physicians immediately after death and the remains would have become very offensive within twelve hours, but under the skillful treatment received they remained in Ardmore three days and then shipped to LaFayette, Ala., in a cloth casket exposed to the hot air all the way, where they arrived in good condition.
La Fayette, Ala., August 5, 1905 Mr. J.WOOD TALIAFERRO., Ardmore, I.T. Dear Sir–We reached here last Saturday, the body was in fine condition. The undertaker here said it was a fine piece of work. Made good connections everywhere except Birmingham. I appreciate you kindness very much and accept many thanks for the interest you have shown me. Wishing you great success in your business and hoping to see you real soon. Yours truly, J.B. DARDEN
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=========================================================================Watch the pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves. -unknown
See everyone next time!
Butch Bridges
Lone Grove, Oklahoma~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
March 10, 2005 – Circulation over 4,000 Vol 9 Issue 420
This week I received a book in the mail called The Rose That Bloomed. It was written by Jackie Goodwin Freeman and centers on the history of Milo Baptist Church at Milo, Oklahoma. For those of you not familiar with that part of Carter county, Milo is about 10 miles west of I-35 and Highway 53W Exit in northern Carter county along the sunny side of the Arbuckle Mountains. The book not only goes in the great detail on the history of this long standing church but the early beginnings of the Baptist work in Oklahoma, even before Oklahoma was a state. While reading through it one piece of info that caught my eye was the part about the first Baptist church in this area and possibly the whole state of Oklahoma. The church was Mountain Grove Baptist Church on Negroprog Creek located about five miles north of Loco, Oklahoma in Stephens county. The church was organized July 26, 1884 during a brush arbor. For those of you youngins that does not know what a brush arbor is, its where tree limbs are fashioned together above tree stands to make a shade from the hot sun during those outdoor church camp meetings. Though the Mountain Grove Church began in 1884, the Milo Baptist Church would not come along until August 28, 1904 (before statehood).
The Rose That Bloomed is really a treasure of photographs too. WIthin its 117 pages is dozens of great historical photographs, some probably never seen before except in this book put together by Jackie Freeman. Some of you will remember back on August 13, 2001 the Milo Baptist Church was destroyed in the wee morning hours by fire, set by crazed individuals involved in a satanic cult. I was traveling east on Highway 53 just 8 days before the fire and stopped and took a picture of the Milo Baptist Church. This is probably the last picture before the fire. <—– Click Here
This are photos I took a couple days after the church was destroyed by fire. <—– Click Here <—– Click Here <—– Click Here <—– Click Here
But the devil and his followers did not put an end to the Milo Baptist Church. They rebuilt a beautiful new church and on May 19, 2002 moved into that new church pastored by Mike Johnston!
If anyone wants their own copy of “The Rose That Bloomed – The History of the Milo Baptist Church and the Pioneer Beginnings of Baptist Work in Oklahoma”, you can order one from Jackie Freeman. Just mail a check or money order made out to Jackie Freeman for $15 for each book ordered. Her mailing address is: 25561 Hwy 53. Springer, OK 73458. You can call Jackie at 580-561-6371. The book was published by Ardmore Photocopy Reproduction Co, and is a book anyone would be proud to own. To put together a book like this takes more time and work then can be imagined. Jackie Freeman as done a work that will be read and learned from for generations to come. Thanks Jackie for a job well done on the preservation of Milo Baptist Church history. <—– Click Here
Two or three weeks ago I talked about eating some fried chicken livers from Ernie’s Meat Market on South Washington street here in Ardmore. A T&T Reader on New York Island sent me an email and said if I thought those chicken livers were good, I should try their chicken fried steak. Well you know me, I couldnt resist, so last Wednesday at noon I bought their chicken fried steak sandwich. Boy, good tasting is an understatement. And we are talking about manwich where as in BIG. It had a large thick piece of chicken fried steak, loaded with pickles, onions and tomatoes. And just the right amount of mayonnaise. Since all this only cost $2.99 I figure I got a lot for the money. It was really almost more then I could eat. lol. <—– Click Here
As the months go by, many of you are realizing the value of the Tel3 long distance and the money that can be saved by using their service. If you live in an area where your local telephone company will not let you take advantage of the 1010 whatever numbers, example 1010-220, you can use Tel3 right from you home phone and start saving on long distance. It works from anywhere! <—– Save On Long Distance
SOME LETTERS FROM THIS WEEK’S MAILBAG
“Hello Butch, I saw last weeks story about Gunmans Territory and James Robert Hutchins. I am a distant relative of his. Recently there was a U.S. Marshals decendants day at the Judge Parker national historic sight in Fort Smith Arkansas. Fort Smith is trying to get the Federal U.S. Marshal museum moved from Arizona to Fort Smith. There was a huge turnout and many people brought photos and artifacts for the museum. I even met the grandaughter of Bell Star and the grandaughter of Rooster Cogbern who was played in the movie True Grit by John Wane. They gave me a copy of the oath of office for Bob Hutchins signed by Judge Isac C Parker. I don’t know if there has been a decision to relocate the museum yet but the Judge Parker court house jail and gallows are open now. I am curious to know if there are any other decendants of Bob Hutchins still in Ardmore. His daughter Pearl was married to my great uncle William Crawford Eaves. He owned a business in Ardmore called W.C Distributors it was some sort of gas and oil supply business. W C Eaves and my great grandfather Lowa were shotgun men for Wells Fargo on the railroad from Kansas City to Galveston when they were younger. Lowa was later a well known gambler in the area and went by the nickname Blackie. They were the sons of James W Eaves and Minnie Laura Crawford who where merchants in Ardmore from around 1909 to 1920 they also owned a 120 acre farm north of Ardmore near the refinery district. There other children were Roxy and Roy James had a daughter from a first marriage in Lampasas named Angie Hoover. If anyone has any information on any of these people or there decendants please email me.” [email protected]
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“Thomas the Tank Engine event will be returning to Grapevine, Texas on April 1-3 and 8-10. This event benefits the Age of Steam Railroad Museum in Dallas and all tickets are $16. Information is at http://www.DallasRailwayMuseum.com and tickets may be purchased by calling 866-468-7630.” Ben Kroger, Age of Steam Railroad Museum
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Butch, thought you might like to see these. This Memorial is located on Bull Run Road SE of Wilson, Ok. -Kenneth Updike <—– Click Here
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“Butch, When was that Criner house built. Had to be prior to 1882 when Jesse James died. That’s 25 years prior to statehood.”
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“Butch, I think Bill Prosser’s wife’s name is Evelyn.”
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“At about 5:30 this afternoon (3/09/05), Mount St Helens erupted with a big plume of ash and steam. It also had a 2.5 earthquake in that area. It looked a lot like a huge thunderstorm with the sun against but as soon as the sun went down, the wind started scattering the ash and we now have an ash alert until 12:00am. There is also lava spewing out and running down the hillside, plus instant snow melt. luckily, no one was hurt or killed. I just thought I would keep you updated, since we had corresponded about his a few months ago.” -Juanita Autry in Ephrata, WA.
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“Butch, You keep talking about the best hamburgers, the next time you go to ADA look on west main going west just before the Rail Road Tracks on your right there use to be a place there called Hamburger Kings at least it was there in 1983 some of the greatest hamburgers going bar none.” -Paskell
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“Butch the old time fiddler listed in last week’s t&t may be an uncle of mine he died when I was just an 8 yr old youngster, His name was Thomas Jefferson Poindexter and in the 1900 time frame he would have been living around Ardmore as a young Man. Although I never knew if he was a fiddler or not I didn’t know him that well.” -Paskell J Poindexter
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“Reading all the info on Lake Texhoma got me thinking alot about Lake Eufala. I have heard alot of rumors about a town or several towns for that matter buried below Lake Eufala, I even saw a report on the news about treasure hunters who dive down and pick up trinkets. My question is which towns are buried and where they were located, and if they were relocated.”
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“I sent some pics out of this Battle of the Bulge Bazooka gunner awhile ago and am happy to say he won 1st place in the WWII Modeler’s Society Battle of the Bulge 60th Anniv Figure contest. He also took home, ” People’s Choice Award”. I didn’t win money but won about $70 in free stuff including a D-Day 1st infantry division figure new in the box, some pastel chalks for weathering the uniforms, a highly detailed German Helmet, and lots of other stuff. Almost complete with the Lt. Bob Dole figure. I painted his Carbine rifle today and have included a pic of it.” -Bryan Pullen, Davis, OK <—– Click Here <—– Click Here <—– Click Here
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“Butch, The best hamburgers in town are at the Burger Ranch at 708 E Lake Murray Drive, the home of the famous Super Dog. Have the hamburger with an order of cheese tater tots and a limeade, and you will be in heaven! An old saying ‘when you hear the coo of a dove in the spring, the danger of frost is over’. We have been hearing doves for over a week but somehow I don’t believe the danger of frost is over yet! There was frost on our carport this morning 3-10-05. Another old saying ‘if it thunders in February, there will be a hard cold spell or a frost on or about the same time in April. It thundered the night of February 22nd. Another old saying ‘at the sight of the scissor-tail flycatcher, you can plant your garden. Frost is over’. Have not seen a scissor-tail flycatcher yet.”
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“Butch, I would like to address your readers with Marshall County roots. Our Historical and Genealogical Society is working on a new Marshall County history book and need all the help we can get. If your readers have any family histories or memories they would like to submit, please contact us. You may contact me with any questions you may have.” -Marlene Bebo [email protected]
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=========================================================================“Lets have faith that right makes might; and in that faith let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it.” -Abraham Lincoln
See everyone next time!
Butch Bridges
Lone Grove, Oklahoma~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
March 8, 2005 – Circulation over 4,000 Vol 9 Issue 419
I got to wanting some chili this week, and I dont mean that stuff in the can. I’m talking about good old brick chili. I remember it well as a teen when I’d go over to Hunt’s Grocery on 3rd NE and George or Tom Ed, or Chubby Hunt would be cooking their chili. They’d pour it out in those tins and put them in the meat cooler. The next day they turn a tin over, slap it down on that big wood meat cutting block, and out would pop brick chili. Hunt’s Grocery is gone now, but there are several places in Ardmore where you can still buy brick chili. One is Farmer’s Market, so I stopped in last week and bought a pound. Well, it was a little over a pound, but it sold at $2.89 a pound. Here’s a pic I took of their chili. <—– Click Here
While I was at Farmer’s Market on South Mill street Thursday they had hamburger with fries as their special of the day. So you know me, I had to get one. For only a $1.99 it was really a good tasty hamburger and that included fries. But the fries were too cold for me, so I dumped them. But I will say that piece of hamburger meat was one of the thickest I’ve bit into the past few months on a burger. Farmers Market has a special in the deli everyday around noon. The next day, Friday, was catfish, sure wish I’d been in there of some of that! <—– Click Here
Q. “Butch, I was wondering if you have any information and/or photos of the old school house that sat on the corner of Kings Road and Prairie Valley in Ardmore?”
A. The school was Prairie Valley School and it was located in the NW corner of Kings Road and Prairie Valley Road. In 1940 Plainview School started offering bus rides to Plainview to students. About 2 years later Prairie Valley School closed because all the area students were riding the bus to Plainview instead of walking to Prairie Valley School. Here is a photo of the original wood school. It was later torn down and a T-shaped red brick school built in its place. <—– Click Here
The red bricks from the old Prairie Valley School was later used by Vernon and Elizabeth Haws to build their new home at 301 G SW here in Ardmore. Bill and Carol Prosser lives in the home today. <—– Click Here
I’ve received some interesting history books this week, but havnt had time to type anything up on them yet. But I will for the next T&T.
SOME LETTERS FROM THIS WEEK’S MAILBAG
“Hi Butch, I have a little information for your Reader who was inquiring about the cemeteries that were covered by Lake Texhoma. In particular, they were asking about one near Kingston, Oklahoma in Marshall County. I wrote a research paper about the grave relocations in 1976 when I was in College and I interviewed some of the people involved in the process. I also had a great uncle who actually worked on one of the crews.
There were 25 cemeteries relocated in Marshal County alone during the building of the lake. Some of those 25 were Woodville, Isom Springs and Willis. The Army Corp of Engineers were responsible for the building of the lake and the relocation of the cemeteries. The graves were moved by contractors, hired labor and German prisoners of war. They kept great records of the cemeteries and the relocation of the graves. The records were located in the National Archives. There is also a book “Relocated Cemeteries of Marshall County Oklahoma” in which twenty-five (25) cemeteries were listed as having been relocated in Oklahoma, Texas and Arkansas. I believe the Oklahoma Historical Society has a copy of this book.
When a Cemetery was to be relocated the Corp of Engineers sent researchers to the local funeral homes and researched their records for people buried in a particular cemetery and family members if known. They also canvassed the cemetery and recorded the grave markers and tried to contact the family members to inform them that the cemetery would be moved. They would also advertise with the local newspapers, church bulletins and fraternal and social organizations about the moving of the cemetery. They would schedule a few public meetings to give information to the families and then give them a deadline to make their decisions. The following options were available to the families if the could be located.
(1) The grave would be moved to a cemetery of the families wishes within (25) miles free of charge if the cemetery would accept the going rate for the lot. If the Cemetery was more expensive the family would have to pay the difference before the time grave was moved.
(2) The family could let the grave be moved to a cemetery of the choosing of the Corp of Engineers in the immediate area. They built several relocation cemeteries in Marshal County such as New Woodville, New Isom Springs and New Willis to replace the larger cemeteries. If the grave was in a little cemetery it was moved to one of the new replacement cemeteries.
If a grave was marked and the family could not be contacted it was moved to one of the replacement cemeteries or to a vacant lot that was purchased in an existing cemetery if it was original located in a small cemetery.
If a grave was unmarked and the family could not be contacted or determined it was most likely moved to a lot that was purchased from or donated by an existing cemetery. Some of the cemeteries were pretty obscurely located, as an example, some of the Marshall County graves were relocated to Dixie, Texas.
They tried to locate all of the graves that were unmarked, however, it was an impossible task. They surveyed the known cemeteries and used long probe rods looking for the unmarked graves and probably most graves in a cemetery were located. If a person was buried on private property and no one knew the location of the grave or if it was missed in a cemetery it is most certain that the grave was covered by the lake.
The families were given the opportunity to have witnesses present when their graves were relocated and many chose to be present, most did not. They used flatbed trucks and pine boxes that were large enough to hold a casket or the earth containing the remains if the casket had deteriorated or in some cases the person had been buried without a casket. They dug the grave and removed the casket and placed it in the pine box. They wrote the name and relocation number that had been assigned on the outside of the box. They then wrote the number on the tombstone if one existed and used flat bed trucks to move the box and tombstone together to the new cemetery locations.
The process was a long one that took several years to complete. If the coffin had deteriorated the process was the same except they placed the layer of earth that contained the remains in the box. Some of the men involved in this process told me that this layer of earth was about 18″ thick and easily recognizable.
All of the men I interviewed told me that the process was extremely reverent and that any sign of disrespect meant immediate dismissal from the job and this was a time when jobs were hard to come by.
The last thing is that there were some German prisoner of war camps located near the lake with one being located near Powell, Oklahoma and these prisoners participated in the relocation of the graves.”
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“You guys keep talking about the good hamburgers. While in the Air Force, the PX in Wichita Ks base Offered on their hamburger only meat and bread. No lettuce, tomatoes etc. Did have catsup, mayonnaise, and french dressing to put on it. That combination was not bad. Pretty good.”
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“You know the only good burger is the one you can’t hardly get any more, The best one I had was all cooked on top of a wood burning stove with no pans. You know the ones, Mr. Bridges, like in the olden days. hee hee”
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“I found a bell that I don’t think is on your list. Going toward Madill on Highway 70 there is a road that cuts through to Highway 32 and terminates just west of Lebanon. The intersection has a telephone switching station on the southeast corner. Several miles south of 70 on the east side of the road – I think it’s called McMillan Road – is a building with a large bell. I don’t remember if it’s an old church or school but the bell is mounted on a platform out front.” <—– Click Here
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“In looking for info on Tucker’s Tower regarding a photo of the cavern below the Tower. Does anyone have a photo of the cave? I’m really interested in seeing a photo. I grew up in Love County and had always heard about the cave or caves below the Tower. One old timer told me once about him and his father getting caught in a thunderstorm on their way home. They took shelter in the cave and supposedly pulled in the loaded wagon with a double team.”
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“Priddy’s ham salad was the best I’ve ever tasted. I would dearly love to have that recipe. Does anyone have it?” -Jim Hubbell, Whitesboro TX
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Fred Uhls Carriage Shop, 12th St. West, Sulphur, Oklahoma. <—– Click Here
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“Hey Butch, all this talk of Gene Autry brought to mind of a picture of a sign entering Gene Autry, that I found in some old family pictures. Thought some of the readers might like to see it. Not sure where the sign was located.” <—– Click Here
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The Old Criner Home Place: “We live in the Old Criner Home Place – 2 miles South and 1 mile West of Plainview School – on the South side of the road. One of the interesting stories we’ve heard about this place was one day Mr. Criner was out side and saw four men on horse back riding up. Mr. Criner had some horses in the lot and these men said they needed them. They took four of the horses and left the four they were riding and as they started to ride off – they said “Mr. Criner, here is your pay”. They left a sack in the feed trough and rode off. Mr. Criner went to check it out and found the sack was full of gold! Those men were the Jessie James Gang! One of the Criner boys ( there were 6 boys and one girl) stopped at a road house to get a beer. While he was there one man told him “I just killed one of your brothers at your house”. The Criner boy went ahead and drank his beer – thinking that it surely didn’t happen. He got on his horse and rode home and went to the front porch and sure enough – he found his brother shot dead. He went in the house and got his gun and rode back to the road house – went in and ask ” Who said he had shot my brother?” One of the men said “I did” and before they had time to draw there guns – he had shot and killed all seven and as a result that Criner son spent 35 years in prison for the crime. He was only 18 years old. This story was told to us by Charles Carrol.” -Irmadene Mapp Blankenship
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Memories of our house and grocery store at Britton, Oklahoma.
The top 2 photos must have been taken by my mom (since she’s not in them). On the left (l to r) is my dad (J. C. Kendrick), me(Roy C. Kendrick), and my brothers, Lewis Ray and John Allan Kendrick. I entered 6th grade at Britton Elementary after we moved into this house next door to Howard and Dovie Johnston who had two daughters, June (cannot remember who she was married to) and Betty Jo (who married actor Dale Robertson’s brother Rocky), and the Johnston’s two sons, Steven and Stanley.
Our house had been built for (and by) mom’s uncle and aunt, June L. and Esther Lewis, and the address at that time was 115 W. Britton Avenue (later known as 1129 W. Britton Road). Next door east was the Britton water tower. My grandfather was a great carpenter and he probably drew up the plans and I’m guessing that all three brothers (and maybe their dad, William Michael Lewis) helped on the construction of that house (they’d also been the main builders of the Britton Christian Church). That car in the driveway is dad’s 1939 Pontiac. He kept it until sometime in the 1950s. I would guess that the picture to the right was taken at the same time. The larger photo below it shows my dad standing in front of the checkout counter of the converted house to grocery store (probably about 1947). It had the same front door at that time, but there was a screen-door (to keep bugs out) that had a “Bond Bread” door push on it at about waist high. To dad’s right I can see the National Cash Register with a carton of Hershey bars in front of it. To his left is one of the wooden vegetable tables that he’d bought used from another grocery store (I still have two of those tables). The large case of Northern tissue below it came with interesting slick printed paper inside separating the individually wrapped rolls. That slick paper was printed with WWII aerial photos of war ravaged towns overseas. The photos had been taken through the bomb bay doors (usually of a B-17) and sometimes showed the bombs dropping in mid-air (certainly wish I’d kept some of those sheets of paper). The paper was just considered scrap being discarded at the time.
To create the grocery store, we had removed the wall between the living room and the front bedroom, and taken out the French doors that led back to the dining room to use it for storage and also for mom & dad’s bedroom. We had heavy curtains where the doors had been. Cases of soda-pop were stored at the foot of the bed until one night when one of the bottles exploded and woke them up. After that, we added a little storage shed at the back of the garage for those stacked cases. Dad always had fresh fruit and vegetables because every Monday morning he’d drive down to the public market and pick out the best home-grown produce he could find and bring it back to the store personally.
The faded color picture (bottom left) shows mom (R. Marian (Lewis) Kendrick and dad (J. Chasteen Kendrick) in front of the newly remodeled store. You can see the base of that water-tower I mentioned previously. We’d built a concrete block building in front of the house (did it ourselves with help from Edwin Butler who was rentng our apartment in back) and we poured a concrete floor as we extended this out to the sidewalk. Different front door now and the screen door was furnished to us by the Colonial Bread Company. Dad painted the large “Kendrick Grocery” sign himself (his dad, Ernest Chasteen Kendrick had been a professional painter and wallpaper hanger).
The other color photo shows a little football practice in the “water-tower” lot next door. Left to right are: Lewis Ray Kendrick, Stanley Johnston, Steve Johnston, Allan Kendrick, and me (Roy Kendrick). The business building behind me is probably Hobb’s Floral. I don’t remember the other businesses there on Western Avenue (north of Britton Road).
Some of you will be getting more of these types of pictures along with my memories. If you prefer to not receive them, let me know and I’ll remove you from my list of recipients. If you know of others who would like to be included to receive them, let me know the email address, or have them contact me at [email protected] . I have (perhaps) thousands of photos and memories to share. “Lucky you”! -Roy Kendrick <—– Click Here
————————————————————————- The Daily Ardmoreite, July 17, 1900
D.M. WALKER had a force of men engaged this afternoon in raising a big 3000 pound safe to the second floor of the First National bank building, to be placed in the office of J.C. THOMPSON.Yesterday C.H. BENNETT was surrendered to Jailer GORMAN by the sureties on his bail bond and now languishes in the run-around. CLINTON McLAIN yesterday completed his term of service in the federal jail and was released.
It was rumored on the streets today that there would be a mass meeting of the business men of the city at the court house next Saturday evening to consider the advisability of building a wagon bridge across Red river. This is a move in the right direction and the Chronicle trusts that prompt action may be taken in the matter.–Gainesville Chronicle.
FOREST BOREN, a lineal descendant of HAM, was before Police JUDGE GALT today charged with pruloining a watch case, the property of J. GOLDSMITH. After hearing the testimony the court fined Boren $5 and costs.
J.H. SPIEGLE has added a handsome ice cream parlor to his confectionery. The parlor is equipped with every convenience, occupies a distinct room from the confectionery and is fitted up especially for the ladies.
We are fixed expressly for changing drop axles to high on your low axled phaetons and carriages so that you can take them to the country. BROADWAY CARRIAGE SHOP
July 29, 1900
T.T. SANDERS went north on the evening train yesterday. HUGH LEDBETTER went to Dougherty yesterday on business. W.E. McKELVEY of Wynnewood is in the city for a few days. LES KEEL is spending Sunday with home folks in Gainesville. BO BLAKE made a trip to his farm near Overbrook yesterday. JOHN ROBERTS went to Gainesville on the evening train yesterday. Mrs. STOVALL is visiting relatives, Mr. and Mrs. J.E.C. ALBRIGHT. Capt. J.S. HAMMER went to Pauls Valley on the noon train yesterday. Judge Wood left on the noon train yesterday for Sulphur and Pauls Valley. Mrs. FANNIE SACRA went to Marietta last evening to spend Sunday with her parents. Miss GERTIE GOODMAN of Gainesville is the guest of Mrs. MAX WESTHEIMER, this city. Mrs. DON LACY and children returned yesterday from a visit to relatives in Gainesville. Mrs. R. LOWENSTEIN leaves this morning for eastern markets to purchase a stock of fall millinery. Rev. HENRY B. SMITH and wife went to Pauls Valley yesterday, where Mr. Smith will hold services today. Mr. and Mrs. J.E.C. ALBRIGHT returned from Marietta Saturday accompanied by their niece, Miss THOMPSON. Mrs. N.M. KISTLER and Mrs. R.J. HALEY of Dallas were here yesterday enroute to Keller to visit relatives. Mrs. JACK BERRY of Paris, TX, and Mrs. C.B. VOYERS of Forney are in the city, the guests of Mrs. ED ROBERTS. Mrs. J.E. LOGSDON of Gainesville is in the city visiting the family of her son, B.C. LOGSDON in East Ardmore. C.D. Carter went to Sulphur on yesterdays noon train to spend Sunday with his family.July 30, 1900
BILL PHILIPS, the old black shoemaker on Commerce street, was arrested this afternoon and placed in jail on a charge of attempting to dynamite his daughter and husband, JIM KELLER, who reside on South Lindsay street.
It seems that he and the daughter had had a falling out and early this morning the old moke took a stick of stovewood, which he had recently loaded in the woodpile in Jim Keller’s yard with a view of blowing up and demolishing the entire family. Fortunately the loaded stick was discovered by the daughter while carrying in wood to get breakfast this morning, and thereby avoiding a big explosion.
Philips was arrested charged with the offense, which he readily acknowledged when taken in charge by the officers this afternoon.
He stated that his intention was to blow into eternity his daughter and her husband, and wipe from the face of the earth the whole outfit.—Gainesville Register
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Fiddlers who will take part in the old fiddler’s contest at Kioski’s Opera House,
Tuesday night, July 31, 1900:
BILL SNOWDEN CHAS. S. CORBIN TOM ROWE CHARLEY ROWE SID McCAMPBELL TOM NOLEN ABE COLE J.N. CUMMINGS OL WALDRON TOM POINDEXTER S.E. KIRKENDALL EUGENE FORD GEORGE THOMPSON GUS WELLS TOM PONDER G.W. CUMMINGS R.N. CUMMINGS MR. CARSON SIDNEY SUGGS ALEX DRENNAN JUDGE FOWLER J.A. STEAKLEY E.T. RUE C.S. CUMMINGS S.E. PIPES L.P. SMITH WES HURNEY O.W. BAKER STEVE COLE JUDGE LAW B.E. TAYLOR W.H. HODGES A. POWER R.A. PRINCE JIM STAGGS SOL OAKS ED ENLOE FRANK BARROW J. BULLARD IKE WALDON C.C. HOLLINGSWORTH
Six others are confidently expected. A special feature of program will be Mr. A. LOWANSTEIN in his impersonations of Old Black Joe and Rev. Sin Killer Griffin
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OLLIE RICE and family are visiting relatives at Hickory Grove this week.
G.W. CASTLEBERY and his son, ALEX, made a trip north of Tishomingo, last week. They were accompanied by FRANK WIGGS.
Men like to be laughed at for their wit, but not for their folly.
August 1, 1900
The citizens of Nebo will give a grand old fashioned barbecue and picnic Aug. 23, and are hospitable enough to extend a cordial invitation to everybody to attend and partake of the good things provided. An excellent program has been arranged and good time is promised all who attend.
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In the district court office today LELA BERRY filed a complaint against L.H. ANDERSON, et al., alleging in substance that she is the owner and is entitled to the possession of one-half section of land, embracing the present site of the town of Ravia. That defendants have been and are tenants of plaintiff, but that in defiance of her rights and to her great damage defendants have conspired to repudiate their tenancy and are seeking to have the town of Ravia surveyed and platted into lots, blocks, streets and alleys, thus defeating plaintiff’s intention to take said half section of land as her allotment. She asks for an injunction to restrain defendants from proceeding further in the course now being pursued by them.
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Last night the boarders at the home of Mr. and Mrs. S.S. COBB were given a farewell supper, the family having decided to remove to Denison to reside. The occasion was very enjoyable and will be long remembered by those who were present.
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Lone Grove Rev. J.C. LAMOUNT of Mannsville is here. Dr. SULLIVAN and family have returned from Woodville. GEORGE JONES is here from St. Louis, MO. Our people are finishing up the arbor for the picnic Friday.McMillan Quite a crowd is here for the picnic tomorrow. The Woodmen will unveil the monument of T.W. GARDNER about 2 o’clock tomorrow afternoon.
Berwyn H.M. MAYES’ baby died last night and will be buried this afternoon. The town is full of oats, we are paying 20 cents a bushel.
Emet: T.B. CLARK is on the sick list. Mr. AVANCE got his foot caught in the threshing machine yesterday and was painfully hurt. Miss CALLIE ENLOE has returned from TX and will make this her home. Gov. JOHNSTON, J.M. COLLINS, M.T. McMILLAN, G.W. EVANS and a number of others attended the picnic at Tishomingo yesterday. CHARLIE MARSHAL has moved to Dexter, TX. MARVIN BYRD of Stonewall was here yesterday. J.W. MARSHALL got his foot caught in a wagon wheel and almost broke a limb. Born, to Mr. and Mrs. BEN GRAMM, a ten pound girl.
Davis DOC FIELDER was in town yesterday. Dr. BRANHAM of Elk and Miss NICIE GRAMMAR were quietly married last evening. Rev. SULLIVAN officiating. Dr. T.P. HOWELL is in town. W.B. STOVER of Mill Creek is visiting our merchants today. JOHN HARPER is here from Sulphur. FRANK JARBOE has returned from Gainesville.
August 14, 1905
Deputy Marshal J.A. MAYS of Pauls Valley came in last night with Flounce Hunt, a well known young farmer of Elmore vicinity and placed him in jail. According to the story told by Deputy Mays, Hunt is held on a charge of assault to kill. It is alleged that he treated a disturbance in the town of Elmore and that when an attempt was made to arrest him fired several shots at the town marshal, named HUTCHINS. It is also alleged that Hunt, while under the influence of liquor tried to do fancy stunts on the animal he was riding. It is stated that he rode through the town and back again and gave an exhibition of his ability to ride a fast horse. It was while he was performing that the city marshal tried to corral him. The action of the marshal was evidently looked upon as an interference with the young man’s pleasure, for Hunt drew his pistol and fired at the marshal who returned the fire, both exchanging several shots. Neither was hurt.
Deputy Mays was notified of the affair and he went to the place where the young man stayed and placed him under arrest. Hunt offered no resistance. He will probably be having an examining trial as soon as the witnesses come in.
Deputy Mays also brought another prisoner with him in the person of W.G. LANDRUS, who is charged with selling liquor. The defendant resides at Katy and is well known. He gave bond for his appearance.
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Three boys from Durwood were brought in today for the purpose of having the madstone applied to places where they had been bitten by a dog that was supposed to be mad. The madstone was applied to the wounds.
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As announced in Sunday morning’s Ardmoreite, the marriage of Miss ADELL RANDOLPH to Mr. RAYMOND OAKEY was quietly performed at the home of the brides parents in North Ardmore, Sunday. Miss Adell is a sweet and charming young lady and numbers her friends by scores. Mr. Oakey is a prominent business man in the city. The young couple were recipients of many handsome presents.
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May 3, 1922
CLUB FORMED TO BUILD BIG LAKE FOR SPORTSMEN
The Ardmore Lake Club, composed of a big bunch of local sportsmen, has just perfected title to 340 acres of land in section 2, 4 mile, and will at once commence the construction of an immense dam, which will impound water over an area considerably larger than the present city lake.
While the new club has not yet been incorporated practically all of the stock has been subscribed and a full complement of officers chosen. NOAH CISCO, king pin of bass fishermen, has been elected president and GROVER WELLS, of the Hudson Houston Lumber company, secretary-treasurer. The directors include, a big bunch of Ardmore’s rod and gun enthusiasts.
At present the organization is known as Lake Ardmore, but it is understood that the name may be changed when incorporation papers are filed, on account of the possibility of confusion with the city lake.
The engineering contract has been awarded to J.W. RYDER of the Municipal Engineering Co., of this city and he is now engaged in preparing plans and specifications for an immense earthen dam which will be approximately forty feet high.
The property of the club adjoins the city lake property on the northwest. A great natural basin is formed by a rock dyke or ridge through which there is a small gap of only 50 yards wide, being the only outlet for more than 3,000 acres of drainage.
The engineers state that they never saw a more practical or finer natural lake site than this. The lake proper will cover approximately 175 acres.
The plans and specifications will be completed by the engineers and be in the hands of the directors not later than the 10th, when a contract will be let for complete dam, spillway and temporary drainage. Fully $50,000 will be spent in making this one of the finest resorts in Oklahoma.
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The Daily Ardmoreite, July 31, 1894
The first paper published in either Chickasaw or Choctaw Nations was published at New Boggy C.N. September 22, 1871 with J.H. MOORE as editor. It bore the name of The Vindicator and as announced was a weekly paper devoted to the interests of the Choctaws and Chickasaws. Vol.1, No.1, is before us through the courtesy of CHARLEY CARTER who sacredly preserves it as a trophy.The patent to the lands embraced in the two nations, signed by JOHN TYLER President, DANIEL WEBSTER Secretary of State, JOHN C. SPENCER Secretary of War, and T. HATLEY CRAWFORD Commissioner of Indian affairs appears in full on the front page.
In those days there must have been drouths from the following note which we copy from the news items: “After a severe drouth of twelve weeks our town was refreshed by a good shower on last Sabbath. We can account for it in no other way than that the Presbyterians held a big meeting on that day. We mean no pun, but seriously advise farmers that they anticipate the next years drouth by petitioning the various denominations that preach here to hold their big meetings in July and August next.” The first issue is a half sheet of three colunms width but the editor promises an increase to double the size as soon as his deficiency in type can be supplied from New York and the subscription list will warrant. It announces to those wishing to subscribe to make it known “not by saying I, but by sending the skully,” from which it would appear that the people even then had predictions in regard to subscribing and paying on their home paper. It is not known how long the Vindicator lived.
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=========================================================================The most pathetic person in the world is someone who has sight but has no vision. -Helen Keller
<—– Click HereSee everyone next time!
Butch Bridges
Lone Grove, Oklahoma~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
March 2, 2005 – Circulation over 4,000 Vol 9 Issue 418
The front entrance to the Carter county courthouse is on the west side. Originally it had three entrances into the building instead of the one set of doors today. The other two west entrances were closed to make way for 2 rooms. Inside one of those rooms, the north room, is a black granite memorial in memory of the first Carter county commissioners who died in office. His name was Allen Speake (1870)-1909) and he represented the constituents in District 1. Mr. Speake lived at Woodford. Allen Speake died in the early morning hours of December 8th, 1909 at his home in Woodford of a heart attack. Here is the clipping from that day’s Ardmoreite:
The Daily Ardmoreite, Wednesday December 8, 1909
ALLEN W. SPEAKE LIES A CORPSE
County Commissioner and a Good Citizen Succumbs To Heart Failure Allen W. Speake, secretary of the board of county commissioners, died at his home at Woodford this morning at 3 o’clock. He has been a sufferer for several weeks with typhoid fever and pleurisy, developed a few days ago. He was reported better Monday and his physician, Dr. Dow Taylor, stated that if no complications arose he would soon be well. But this morning at the hour named and when death was least expected his heart gave way and death followed. The news was telephoned to this city at once. When it was known this morning that Allen Speake lay a corpse, a gloom was cast over the entire city. He is an old time citizen, had been a faithful officer of the county and was reckoned among the most useful men of this state and county. He has gone through all the hardships of the early settlement of this country and leaves a devoted wife and family. He was about 48 years of age. Funeral services will be held at his home tomorrow at 1 o’clock p.m. All the county offices have closed and will remain so until after the funeral. District court adjourned this morning until Friday morning. Judge Carney, who is special judge here and who did not know Mr. Speake personally said from what he had heard of the man that he was a good and useful citizen, a faithful officer of this county, and he approved the motion to adjourn court until Friday morning. All the county officials and many citizens of this town will attend the funeral. He was a member of the Elks and of the Woodmen of the World and committees from these two fraternal societies will be sent to attend the funeral. Mr. Darden and Mr. Scivally, the other members of the board of commissioners were here this morning, when the news came. They were saddened and were at a loss to know what to do without the counsel and advice of Mr. Speake on the commission. Mr. Darden stated only last night that he did not know how to appreciate Mr. Speake until he had been detained at his home on account of illness. Not only has his family suffered an irreparable loss, but the county and state has lost one of its best citizens. He was absolutely honest, was a man of good judgement, he was fearless in the duties of his office and Carter county can ill afford to do without his services.The granite memorial reads:
In Memoriam
Allen W. Speake
Born Jan 9, 1870
Died Dec 8, 1909I took some pictures this week of the granite memorial placed for Allen Speake. <—– Click Here
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<—– Click HereMy T&T Readers never cease to amaze me. This week a Reader and genealogy expert sent me a clipping of a 1900 Ardmoreite. The clipping told about my grandfather’s Stanley Carmon’s brother, Charles E. Carmon (1876-1906), going to Alaska looking for gold. This is a member on the family on my mother’s side that I knew very little about, mostly just Date of Birth and Date of Death, that’s it. But this newspaper article enlightened me with more info on this great uncle from Gainesville.
The Daily Ardmoreite, July 17, 1900
FROM CAPE NOME, ALASKA
The following extracts were taken from a long letter published in yesterdays Gainesville Register. The letter was written by CHARLES CARMON, a Gainesville boy now at Nome City, and is the most sensible epitome of conditions there which we have yet seen. As Charlie is well known to many people now living in Ardmore these excerpts from his letter will doubtless be of interest to many Ardmoreite readers. After describing his trip he says:“As to gold being here, it is a “cinch,” but everything is taken for 100 miles back in the country –you can find it any place but not in paying quantities. The two best creeks are Anvil and Dexter, from which over $2,000,000 have been taken. The beach claims are no good except in some spots, which are very small. Labor is very high. Carpenters get $1.50 per hour, other labor $1. But there are twenty-five men for each job. GOODWIN and I are making $10 a day watching freight on the shore. The worst of it is it will only last a few days longer. Men with a good team make $150 a day freighting. The people who make the money are saloons, gambling houses, dance halls and restaurants. “Twenty sleep in a lodging house; it cost $2 for eight hours; they keep tab and wake you up at the expiration of that time. “In summing up this place in a brief manner and using the prevailing opinion, it is a “farce.” It is a place boomed by Seattle newspapers and transportation companies for the idea of making money and they did their work well. Those contemplating coming here, take my advice and stay out as it is a “tough proposition.” “Out of the 20,000 people who are here, 19,000 would be glad to have money enough to get back to the states. Hundreds are leaving and going back to the states disgusted. Goodwin and I are going to stay, as it may get better for at present things are very unsettled.”
I’ve received another email this week from back east. They are asking if that bell in Latimer county at Yanush, Oklahoma is still for sale. Yanush is south of Wilburton, Oklahoma. I wonder who I can call over near Yanush who might know? Know someone there? Know where and if this bell is still there? <—– Click Here
I’m going to take a minute here to back up a couple of issues for T&Ts to clarify a sentence where I talked about the Woolerys and Volinos. The sentence sounded perfectly correct to me, but some read it another way. lol. The sentence originally was worded:
“On the right is Joe Volino, and that is Jim Baker’s grandfather, Clarence Woolery, next to him.”
What the sentence needed was a period:
“On the right is Joe Volino. That is Jim Baker’s grandfather, Clarence Woolery, next to him.” <—– Click Here
A couple of years ago we talked about a book by Ardmoreite Elmer Leroy Baker titled “Gunman’s Territory (1969). A Reader brought by his copy of the book (339 pages) for me to look over. Gunman’s Territory is all about the youngest U.S. Marshal in history, Bob Hutchins. In 1915 Bob Hutchins would be elected Ardmore Police Chief and helped clean up bloody Caddo and a town that was overrun with some of the meanest men in Oklahoma. Here is what one Reader sent in July 2000:
“Butch, I have been reading a book entitled “Gunman’s Territory”, which is based on the life of the famous U.S. Deputy Marshall, J. Bob Hutchins. In the book it speaks of him and some other lawmen holding some prisoners overnight at the “Brick Yard” in the north end of Ardmore. I asked someone and they told me that the brick yard had been where Cashway Lumber Co. was on 3rd & A St. N.E. I was wondering if anyone could verify (or correct) that. This book gives so much history of the life & times of that era (late 1800’s/early 1900’s), and the wild and many times dangerous experiences of law enforcement men of that time.”
Last November a Reader wrote in: “I believe that is a pic of Elmer Leroy Baker. He was county supt of schools in the 40s and then replaced by Omer Rowe. I believe that he worked for the sheriff later, maybe in a job called Under Sheriff??? I was gone from Ardmore by then. He wrote several novels about indians in Mont/Wyo area. Unfortunately, they did not sell at all. He had one or two brothers in the area, I think, so it could be one of his brothers. They had a strong family resemblance as I recall. I have one of his books. “The law of the primitive” was illustrated by Mitchell McCallis. ?25Aug38;A120165. “Gunman’s Territory” Is also by Elmer LeRoy Baker and is purported to be a true story about the youngest Deputy U.S. Marshal ever to serve in the Southwest. I have not seen it in years.”
I found a copy of Gunman’s Territory for sale at www.abebooks.com for $30 in Yukon, Oklahoma. Here is a photo I have of the author, Elmer Leroy Baker (1906-1973), when he graduated from Ardmore High School. Mr. Baker is buried at Rose Hill Cemetery. <—– Click Here
A lot of you will remember the old Hickory House BBQ at 2200 South Commerce, it was there for years until Mr. K.P. Walker closed it in June 2004. But his daughter is still carrying on the tradition, selling real pit BBQ at their BBQ stand located next door to the Pit Pro on South Commerce and Broadway. (Years ago we called that “the big intersection, it was where two highways crossed that went from one side of the U.S. to the other, east-west/northsouth, Highways 70 and 77.) Anyway, I stopped by K.P. Walker’s BBQ this week and bought one of their delicious sliced beef BBQ sandwiches. It was on a big bun and plenty pit BBQ meat for $3.29 plus tax. And from 11am to 2pm Mondays and Tuesdays they sell their BBQ sand for half price! <—– Click Here <—– Click Here <—– Click Here
I need to make a correction in a T&T two weeks ago. I said that Humpty Dumpty was original on South Washington around 1955. It was Pratts Foods that was at 405 South Washington back in those days. But some of you will remember in 1960 there was Golfland Miniature Golf at 415 South Washington. It was owned by William Llewellyn, Roland Schroeder and Gene Kirkpatrick.
Thanks to those of you who have signed up for my prepaid long distance service. At 2.9 cents a minute its hard to beat, and the money from it helps keep this website going! <—– Always Cheap Long Distance
SOME LETTERS FROM THIS WEEK’S MAILBAG
“Butch, The following is how I remember how Gene Autry, Oklahoma got its name. In about 1938, Gene Autry discovered another way to make money from his musical and movie career and that being the “Gene Autry Flying A Rodeo”. But he needed a place to test out and keep his rodeo stock and it made sense to buy a place in the center of the nation to minimize the cost of transporting the stock to the rodeo sites. And it had to be near to a railroad which is how the animals were shipped to the cities where the rodeos were held. His rodeo manager was Everett Coburn of Dublin, Texas who was a good friend of Hardy Murphy of Ardmore. Murphy told Coburn that Leon Daube owned a ranch on the southern slopes of the Arbuckle Mountains, near the little town of Berwyn, and it might be available to purchase. Subsequently, Mr. Autry bought the ranch from Mr. Daube and it was there he kept his rodeo stock. As a boy, I lived with my grandparents and our place adjoined the Autry ranch. Our back fence was the back fence of the Flying A Ranch. On many Sunday afternoons, my brother and I would crawl over our back fence and go sit on the Autry corral fence and watch them work out the new stock. Mr. Autry used to come to see us when he visited his ranch. When Mr. Autry saw the beauty of the ranch and the Arbuckle Mountains, he thought it would be great place to make cowboy movies. Berwyn was the home of a Carter County lawman named Cecil Crosby. To shorten the story, Cecil got Mr. Autry’s approval to change the name of the town and the citizens voted to do so. It was to become the “Cowboy Movie Capital of America”. So on November 16, 1941 the name of the town was changed from Berwyn to Gene Autry, Oklahoma. To this little town of 200 people came 35,000 folks that day according to the Daily Ardmoreite. I was there and remember it well. Mr. Autry was there and broadcast his nationwide radio show from a flatcar of the railroad siding. A few days later World War II started, Mr. Autry entered the military and had to close his rodeo business. He later agreed to film a weekly TV show in California which made it impossible to make movies in Oklahoma. So he sold the ranch and the town never became what we hoped it would. For several years thereafter, Mr. Autry paid for our high school basketball uniforms which had the name “Gene Autry” on the front of the uniforms in the form of a replica of his signature. The little town has shown their love for Mr. Autry by converting the unused school facility into a museum which houses one of the nation’s largest collections of cowboy film memorabilia. And each year, we celebrate Mr. Autry’s birthday of September 29 by producing the very successful “Gene Autry Film and Music Festival”. Well, Butch, that’s how I lived it and remember it.” -Les Gilliam, “The Oklahoma Balladeer”
<—– Click Here
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“The reason was that Gene Autry was joined (perhaps was drafted) in the armed forces. It was at the beginning of World War II. I thought he did buy the land for a ranch, but when he came out of the service his plans had changed and he never occupied it.”
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Dear Butch: Mr. Autry did, indeed, buy 1200 acres west of Berwyn in 1938 and owned it until 1944, where he kept his rodeo stock. He was present in 1941 when the name was changed, and broadcast his radio show, “Melody Ranch” from there that day. I grew up about 5 miles from Gene Autry on the Refinery Road, and well remember one day when his cowboys drove a large herd of vicious-looking Brahman bulls by our house, traveling from the railroad in Ardmore out to his ranch. Cowboys rode ahead of the herd, securing gates, etc. and told us to stay inside and keep the dog inside until they passed. We kids peeked out a crack in the door, scared to death of those ugly animals! May I say “hey” to former neighbor, Jim Dyer, since I see his name mentioned in your writings?” -Nellie Thompson Hull, Plano, Texas
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“Concerning Gene Autry, I was raised there and the movie star, Gene Autry did buy a ranch a little north and west of Gene Autry between Gene Autry and Springer. They had a large celebration in the 1940’s and changed the name from Berwyn to Gene Autry. I have never heard the story that I read in this article, but I am not saying it is not true. Gene Autry never did live on the ranch, but I went to school with the sons of the person that ran the ranch for him. Gene Autry bought new basketball suits for both the boys and girl’s teams and they had a big “GA” on the front of the shirt and on the back of the shirt, the words,” Gene Autry” was spelled out. I wore one of those suits. I enjoy the readings in your weekly articles, Butch.”
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“RE: THE MAD STONE. My grandmother had a Mad Stone. My understanding is that my grandfather had bought it from an Indian. Mother said that many people came to my grand parents to be healed by the stone. It was good for mad dog bites and for snake bites and I don’t know what else. I do know that back in the early 1930’s when we lives in Dougherty a boy was bitten by a mad dog. My father drove to Wapanucka immediately to get the Mad Stone. Everyone stayed up all night applying the stone to the bite. It would stick to the bite until it got full of poison, it fell off. Then it was boiled to get the poison out. Then they cooled the stone just enough for it not to blister and reapply it. When it no longer would stick on the bite, they considered the boy was cured. Oh, yes. I think it was supposed to have come from the brain of a white deer. It was porous. I know it’s not just a myth.”
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“Hi Butch, There is a place about 6 miles north and 1 mile east of Ringling called Ignorant Hill. While I was attending high school at Mountain Home, it was the site of many Brush Arbor meetings and many High School Play Partys. I attended both the meetings and the partys, getting there by horse back, as did most others during that time. We moved into the community in 1941 and there was not a dwelling or building of any kind. I was wondering if any of the readers could shed any light on where it got its name, or anything else.” -Jim Brown [email protected]
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“Does anyone have a recipe for Priddy’s Chicken Salad?”
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“Sorry to hear about your bad burger. Back in the early 90s that used to be the Hotdog Express. I worked there for a while during the summer of ’91. They had snow cones, hot dogs (steamed), hamburgers (hand made patties), hand dipped corn dogs, and fries. I thought the food was really great back then.”
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“Dear Butch, I have been reading with great interest the many stories about the names of the creeks that were dammed up to make Lake Murray in 1938. Funny how history isn’t as certain as we think it might be. In the late 1930s, my grandparents, Bert and Mabel Paschall, bought some land adjoining the southeast corner of Lake Murray State Park and opened a place called Two Lakes Skyway Courts. By the time I came along in the 1960s, it was mainly a small corner store and dive shop with air for divers and boat storage for boaters. But way back in the 1930s, it was a lake resort with a small air landing strip for visitors to fly into. For its time, it was quite the place to vacation. Quite a few successful businessmen from Oklahoma City would fly in on weekends to spend their time boating on Lake Murray or fishing on Lake Texhoma. Anyway, I was wondering if anyone remembers their place. It operated under several names between the 1930s and the 1970s when they finally sold it. I have fond memories of summers spent there and of swimming and boating on the lake and falls hunting dove or deer along the creeks. My father is writing a family history and it would be interesting to see in anyone has any stories about their place or any personal stories or memories of Bert and Mabel Paschall. Thanks for all you do, Butch, to keep memories like this alive.” -Greg Davidson, Austin, Texas.
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“The article about the Hamburgers on your way back from Fort Worth brought back a good memory. There used to be a Hamburger place just off the highway on the east side north of Fort Worth where you could stop in and buy 12 Hamburgers for a dollar. They were about the size of the Burger King’s small whopper. They came with onion, pickle, mayo or mustard, salt and pepper. We ordered ours with a big old slice on onion, salt and pepper only. I think we finished them off in about a mile after we left there heading back to Oklahoma for a visit. There was only TWO OF US!!!! So you know they had to be delicious and they were. Thanks for another memory.”
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Butch, on our cemetery hopping Scheryl and me ran across this grave at Poolville and JL Bartee was a 1st Sgt in the confederate army. Talk about history.” -Doug Williams <—– Click Here
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“Butch, This site for GNIS will show where Fourche Maline creek is. Also many other features. It didn’t know Brown Spring however. GNIS will also find Anadarche Creek, but you have to have the correct name. It’s East Andarche Creek, or East Andarche Arm.” <—– Click Here
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“I’ve been so inspired by your work that I had to send you this. This is from the Seal Rock Inn here in San Francisco. This is actually a motel with a caf? downstairs. You get a choice of cheddar, jack or American. It came with 4 strips of iceberg lettuce and 6 dill pickle slices, one healthy looking tomato slice and 4 scrawny purple onion rings. They even toss in a carrot stick so you can talk yourself into thinking you’ve had a healthy meal. Well I did ask for it well done. It was..well done. But you get all the mustard and ketchup you could want. and plenty of salt. This is at the corner of 48th Avenue and Point Lobos in San Francisco. Well I guess you probably don’t make it to that neighborhood much. Well people don’t really come to this caf? for the food, but because it is the only motel on the ocean in San Francisco. Well, but people don’t’ really come to San Francisco for the ocean because it’s often overcast and always cold. But then, the ocean is nice to visit just about any time from any where. So this cheeseburger sells for $5.25, but you can get a window seat and see this.” <—– Click Here <—– Click Here <—– Click Here
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“I also ran across one of your Newsletters that talked about the Mahota Memorial Presbyterian Church. It was a newsletter back in 2001. You said the last meeting at the church was in 1999.Butch Bridges said, “On East Main in Marietta, Oklahoma in the southeast corner of Second and E. Main is the Mahota Memorial Presbyterian Church. It has stood in that corner since 1905. They held their last church service there on May 30, 1999. Here is the handout a friend gave me from that service. It tells the history of this Marietta landmark.” <—– Click Here <—– Click Here
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The Daily Ardmoreite, July 4, 1900
During my absence in Texas DICK ARCHIE will have charge of the street sprinkling work and will collect all money due for the work and pay all bills contracted. S.S. BALL
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J.A. LIVINGSTON from Clifton, TX, has taken charge of the day work in the Western Union office at the depot and during the absence of SAM HARTING, T.J. JACKS of Dougherty will continue as night operator.
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The badge furnished to visitors to the Rough Riders’ reunion are unique souvenirs of the occasion. It consists of an enameled bar pin, bearing the letters “R.R.R.R.”, supporting a ribbon with ” Oklahoma City” printed upon it, and pendant from this is a miniature hat such as the Rough Riders wore as a part of their uniform.
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P.L. SOPER has returned from Washington and announces a flourish of trumpets that he is going to begin the enforcement of the Curtis law and will begin with those who are holding down more than their share of the public domain. As there is scarcely a citizen who has taken up any land at all but who has fenced in from ten to fifty times as much as he can hold under allotment, it will be readily seen that COL. SOPER has taken as large a contract as GEN. McARTHUR is holding down on the other side of the world.–Capital
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In the district court yesterday JUDGE TOWNSEND passed upon the North Ardmore land suit, holding adversely to the claimants. He held that the passage of the Curtis bill divested the individual Indian of whatever possessory rights he may have previously had to improved town lots and that the right of possession became absolute in the owner of the improvements, dependent only on his failure to purchase title according to law after appraisement. This settles a long and vexations series of law suits and contests and leaves the owners of valuable improvements in undisturbed possession of their property.
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July 6, 1900
Miss MARIE ATKINS of Bowie, TX is visiting Miss RUBY PULLIAM, this city.Mrs. J.B. BENNET is here from Mississippi on a visit to the family of I.R. MASON.
Judge C.M. CAMPBELL has returned from his trip to Philadelphia and Washington.
Mrs. MARY COLE of Callisburg, TX, is visiting in the city , the guest of Mrs. KINNEY.
Miss BEULAH EASTERWOOD of Cleburne, TX is in the city, the guest of Miss BYRON WESTON.
Mrs. PHILIP MANSFIELD has returned to her home in Marysville, TX, after a visit here with her sister, Mrs. W.B. BURNEY.
Mrs. L.P. ANDERSON and children leave tomorrow for Eureka Springs, AR, on an extended visit. They will be accompanied by Mrs. Anderson’s brother, JACK SCANION.
Last night at the Rod and Gun Club lake a small party spent several hours very pleasantly. There were in the party Misses LULU SUGGS, DIXIE DURFEE, ZOE OLIVE, EUGENE WARREN, HAL WOLVERTON, AND DUD HARDY. They were attended by Prof. BOYD and Miss ADA BENNETT.
This morning W.N. TALIAFERRO of near Oakland called at the Ardmoreite office. He is one of the promoters of the new town of Madill near Oakland. He is very much elated over the decision of Judge TOWNSEND refusing to restrain them from booming and building the new town. He says that they will now proceed with their work and build a good town within a few miles of Oakland. They expect to get the Frisco road and a postoffice soon. Oakland is not their postoffice.
Emet: The infant child of W.J. MILBURN died Wednesday night and was buried yesterday afternoon at 3 o’clock.
Bob: Miss ELLA SPLAWN and WALTER SPLAWN are visiting at Thackerville today.
Tishomingo: CHAS. HAWKINS of Emet is here. JOE KEMP is in town today.
July 12, 1900
A DESPERATE BATTLE
A special from G–nc–, Oklahoma–Probably the worst fight with outlaws that has occurred in this country since the killing of the famous DALTON gang at Coffeeville, KS, some years ago is reported to have taken place last night on the Arkansas river at a point known as the Black Dog ford, entirely surrounded by huge bluffs, thickly covered with brush. It seems that part of the country known as the Osage nation has been infested for a long time with an organized band of cattle thieves and murderers, of which there seems to have been no riddence. Sunday night a herd of cattle stolen and United States marshals who were after the desperadoes for other crimes overtook them at the above named place and a pitched battle followed. All the parties, three desperadoes, and three United States marshals, were armed with Winchesters, pistols and had several rounds of ammunition. The fighting is said to have lasted about an hour, but none of the officers or desperadoes names have yet been ascertained here. At the beginning of the fight one of the United States marshals was instantly killed. In a few minutes two of the desperadoes had fallen mortally wounded. By this time all the ammunition on both sides had been exhausted and the remaining bandit started to run, but one cartridge had failed to explode and when the marshals started after him, snapping their pistols, supposing there was no loads in them, but the one that heretofore failed to explode was discharged and the bandit fell mortally wounded.H.P. WARE, ex-sheriff of Cooke county, is here today from Gainesville.
HERBERT JONES has gone to San Antonio, TX to visit his parents.
Col. SIDNEY SUGGS returned last evening from Kansas City, much pleased with his trip.
VESTER and VALTER MULLEN returned last evening from a business trip to Elk and other inland points.
O.A. WELLS, census supervisor for the Chickasaw nation, left on the evening train for his home in Colbert, where he will complete the work of his report.
Messrs. JACK SCANION and HOMER HINKLE, accompanied by Misses ALLIE GARRISON and MEIDA SMITH, left today for Woodford, where they will spend a few days at the home of the latter young lady.
Mrs. H.T. KIRBY of Hillsboro TX, arrived on the noon train today, expecting to see her mother, Mrs. J.P. BAILEY, alive and the news of her death was a great shock and grief to her. She had been notified of her mother’s illness on Monday, but had heard nothing since.
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Obituary
This morning at 4 o’clock at the family residence on North Caddo street, THOMAS CHENEY died, after a lingering illness, of consumption. He just recently returned from Rosewell, N.M. where he went in hope of benefiting his health, but the disease had progressed too far to be checked by the change of climate. The funeral services were conducted from the family residence this afternoon at 4:30, followed by interment in South cemetery.J.M. ADAMS, aged 77 years of age, died at his home six miles east of Ardmore at 1 o’clock this morning. He will be buried in the cemetery at Provence late this afternoon.
Old Lady BAILEY, who died Tuesday afternoon, will be buried in South cemetery this afternoon at 6 o’clock.
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July 17, 1900
The heavy rains last night was not altogether a surprise as the clouds had looked very threatening all day, but few people, doubtless, expected the torrent that came. Main street, for the second time this year, became a small stream and the water surged and roared around the express office and depot as it does only when the downpour is very excessive. The street from the opera house to the depot, is covered today with driftwood and other debris left by the receding water. The most serious damage noted this morning as the result of the Main street flood was the injury to the sidewalk in front of J.N. BARNALL’S store. The water undermined the curb stones at the edge of the walk and caused them to collapse, thus allowing the water to wash in behind them, taking out dirt and gravel from under the walk for a considerable distance. Today the work of repairing the walk is in progress and this will be done by building a solid wall at the edge to prevent similar mishaps in the future. There must have been considerable wind with the rain at times as the big sign which spanned the entire front of the SIG SIMON building was blown down. In the residence portion of the city no damage has been reported, though it is noticeable that in gardens where corn was growing this is twisted and blown down considerably. It is probable that when reports are received from the country it will be found that considerable damage to crops has resulted from the heavy rains and wind. One good thing which it did for Ardmore was the thorough cleaning of all sewers and ditches which have heretofore threatened the health of our people with their accumulated filth. It has also effectually broken the drought which has been causing great uneasiness to both business men and farmers.JAS. FRAER of Marietta is in the city today.
JESSE HOLLAND of Thackerville was here today.
WALTER HAILEY of Gainesville is in the city today.
Rev. J.M. GROSS left today for OKC.
R.S.W. PARKER was in Fort Worth yesterday on business.
Miss GRACE JOHNSON of Fort Worth is in the city visiting the family of T.C. LEBUS. ED FRAZIER of Chicago is in the city on a visit to his parents, Mr. and Mrs. DAVE FRAZIER.
J.W. OWNBY of Paris, TX is in the city and will address the Lincoln Republican club tonight.
Dr. J.L. LIGNOROSKI of Houston, TX who is in the city representing the Southern Oil Works was a pleasant caller at the Ardmoreite today. The doctor is an enthusiast about the Confederacy, and by the way is the gentleman who has made several trips into Mexico in the interest of MAC STEWART, a confederate confined in a Mexican prison for the killing of a native of that country.Marriage Licenses: Deputy Clerk McCOY issued marriage licenses to the following couples: P.R. ARNOLD and KINNIE L. BRUNER; W.H. PARKER and MATTIE E. FLEET.
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=========================================================================Last month OklahomaHistory.net received record Hits. There were 89,700 Hits to the webpages. But like I’ve said before, this is not my newsletter, its only possible because of all the history being shared here every week for the past 9 years by many of you. A thank you to everyone.
“Absence makes the heart grow fonder.” -Thomas Haynes Bayly (1797-1839)
See everyone next time!
Butch Bridges
Lone Grove, Oklahoma~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
