Vol 11 Issue 542 June 14, 2007

PO Box 2, Ardmore, Oklahoma 73402

Email: [email protected], Phone: 580-490-6823

Last week when we mentioned the “county home” that used to be at Myall and the railroad track crossing mainly during the Great Depression Years during the 30s, and continuing into the 40s. The “home” was a place were those without a job, a place to live, food, or care could stay, all provided by the county. Several of you wrote in with more information.”Dear Butch, It was with great interest that I read the article that you wrote following your conversation with Iris Larson regarding the old “County Home”. My parents, Dessie and Virgil Harris were good friends of the Arnolds who ran the place. I recall in the late ’30s going out to the place and seeing the lush vegetable garden that they cultivated for their food. At my age at that time, probably 8 or 9, I didn’t really comprehend that other folks really had no home, job, or source of daily food. I recall that there were a few elderly men (I don’t remember any women) residing there at that time. I will be very interested in reading the related document from Ms. Larson that you mentioned once you have it scanned. Thanks for keeping us long gone from Ardmore old timers up on events that we recall from those days past.” -Virgil Harris (Jr.)

“Our family lived about a half block from the county home Iris Larson spoke about in your last issue. As a boy during the 1940’s, I remember the residents welcomed my occasional visits into what must have been a fairly dreary existence.. Their living quarters were not much more than clapboard shanties but my impression was they were glad to have a roof over their heads. Meals were prepared by Mrs. Arnold at the main house. In addition to a cow, pigs were raised and then slaughtered in the fall. I have learned since that “county homes” for the indigent were commonplace throughout the country and were a result of the depression of the 1930’s. The cellar for this county home was still there at Myall and C Streets the last time I visited Ardmore. It was used to store all the canned goods from what seemed to me an immense garden raised by the residents. I think this county home closed sometime in the late 1940’s.” -Jim Lewis [email protected]

“Butch: Before her death, Patty Norton (1919-2001) told me that when she was a child, she and her mother. “Miss Hallie” Saxon, frequently walked down Myall street from their home in the southeast part of Ardmore, each carrying a syrup bucket of homemade soup. Their first stop was at the “poor farm” where they hand-fed the sick and afflicted before going on to the Confederate Home to do the same for the old veterans who lived there. Patty was born in 1919 so this would have occurred five or six years later, I suppose.” -Sally Gray [email protected]

When I scanned each page of the ledger and ran it through my Irfanview Image Program for resizing and auto color, the scans are much easier to read than the actual pages in the ledger book. To view each page, just click on the links below:

Ledger Front Scan #1 Scan 2 Scan 3 Scan 4 Scan 5 Scan 6

Scan 7 Scan 8 Scan 9 Scan 10 Scan 11 Scan 12 Scan 13

One last thing before we leave the county home. Printed in last week’s T&T was the name Pete Fonville. The name should have been Pete Fonby. Pete Fonville was a renown Ardmore photographer for many years and never lived at the county home.

Back in May 2005 we talked about the old Randolph School northeast of Madill (but in Johnston county). Several of us made a field trip to the location and took some pics of what was left. But we did not have a photo of the school as it was in its heyday (later a Reader did send in some photos taken in 1946). This week Chuck Carter received a scan of the old Randolph School, and wanted to pass it along to everyone. Is that 2 bell towers I see? Wow.

https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos7a/RandolphSchool1920a.jpg

https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos7a/RandolphSchool1920b.jpg

A Reader wrote in this week asking for a list of those buried at Gordon Cemetery in Love county. Here is the listing:

Last	First	DOB	DOD
REIGH	MAGGIE	5 APR 1911	5 SEP 1912
MCCULLERS	MYRTLE	24 AUG 1891	14 AUG 1913
PIPPIN	ALMA BELL	6 OCT 1895	6 AUG 1913
HARRIS	LAURA A	15 MAR 1876	24 SEP 1910
HARRIS	AURABELE AURIA	1876	1910
WILBURN	E L	21 DEC 1912	MAR 1919
HARRIS	JESSIE	6 DEC 1893	12 APR 1901
REIGH	MATTIE
HARRIS	JESSE	18 DEC 1892	1 AUG 1933
REIGH	BEATRICE	15 JAN 1906	29 MAR 1914
STRANGE	R E
LEE	A M
QUICK	J T
FLIPPON	ANNA BELL	6 OCT 1896	6 APR 1913
HARRIS	VANDORA	19 AUG 1861	11 APR 1933
REIGH	GEORGE	6 JUL 1895	26 DEC 1923
WILLINGHAM	H G	30 JUN 1883	27 SEP 1915
HARRIS	R L	18 DEC 1887	18 MAY 1917
REIGH	RILLA
MULLINS	D D	17 MAR 1825	23 JAN 1894
HARRIS	G R	5 MAR 1876	24 SEP 1910
WILLINGHAM	MARY	11 AUG 1851	2 MAR 1918
WILLINGHAM	EVA LEE	27 MAR 1912	DEC 1914
HARRIS	J N	21 JUN 1845	30 AUG 1927
HARRIS	OTIS	25 JUN 1894	7 OCT 1910
BRYANT	M J	4 AUG 1869	7 AUG 1898
TAYLOR	LEE ORA	12 JAN 1867	9 DEC 1905
MURPHY	EDNA EVLYN	13 SEP 1909	31 MAR 1910
WILLINGHAM	S M	15 OCT 1845	27 JUN 1915
HORTON	STELLA MAY	25 FEB 1894	29 JUN 1911
WALKER	J M	11 JAN 1858	15 NOV 1895
HARRIS	R L
WEST	BESSIE	30 NOV 1892	2 AUG 1896
WILBURN	L E	28 MAY 1888	17 OCT 1920
GAU	VELMA G	2 DEC 1912	11 MAR 1914
GAU		2 DEC 1912	11 MAR 1914
GAU	LOUIS	1 DEC 1910	23 AUG 1912
THOMPSON	1816	24 JAN 1816	19 DEC 1892

Grover Wells sent in 8 photos of some of the damage done in the NE part of Ardmore when a tornado came through on Wed February 13, 1946.

https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos7a/ArdmoreTornado021346a.jpg

https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos7a/ArdmoreTornado021346b.jpg

https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos7a/ArdmoreTornado021346c.jpg

https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos7a/ArdmoreTornado021346d.jpg

https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos7a/ArdmoreTornado021346e.jpg

https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos7a/ArdmoreTornado021346f.jpg

https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos7a/ArdmoreTornado021346g.jpg

https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos7a/ArdmoreTornado021346h.jpg

Joyce Jordan of Sulphur sent in the following this week: “We had a really great Dickson All School Reunion this year. It was in the Cafeteia-Saferoom and we had lots of room for the 200 people who came. The picture is of two favorite teachers, Dub Jordan and Mary Cochran.”

https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos7a/DubJordanMaryCochran07.jpg

Jerry Landrum and his new bride Barbara went on their honeymoon last week over into eastern Oklahoma and Arkansas. He snapped a couple of pics at places they ate hamburgers. Here are the pictures:”Now if you want a very delicious hamburger and onion rings to die for, head over to Beavers Bend State Park to the little store/cafe. Unsurpassed in taste and atmosphere (if you like the great outdoors). Barbara and I ate the onion rings, we fed the french fries to the squirrels playing around our table.”

https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos7a/BeaversBendHamburger.jpg

“This picture is a hamburger from the The Balcony Cafe in Eureka Springs. Their ads claimed it was the best in town. It was good.” -Jerry and Barbara Landrum [email protected]

https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos7a/BalconyCafeAR.jpg

“Sulphur, Oklahoma: County seat of Murray county. Post office established October 2, 1895. The name is an adaptation of Sulphur Springs, well known local feature.” -from ‘Oklahoma Place Names’ by George Shirk.

MAILBAG”Hi Butch: I read with interest the article about the “County Home”. My grandparents, Jack and Emma (Stroud) Stamper, ran the “County Farm” in Comanche County in the 1940s. It was located east of Ft. Sill and north of Lawton. There was a nice big house for my grandparents, and a house across the driveway where 8 old gentlemen lived. Grandma prepared all their meals, and they were served in the big dining room in the house where my grandparents lived. Grandpa took care of all the cattle and farming – some of the old gents helped gather the eggs and helped with the milking – if they were able. I remember doing the “churning” on the big screened back porch there. The churn was the one with a long pole that you pulled and pushed down. Sure was glad when Grandma got a “Daisy Churn”. I was only 6 years old at the time, but would love to know if anybody knows anything about the farm. I don’t think there were any women there; at least I don’t recall seeing any. Some of the men had medical problems and some had mental problems. When their health failed, my grandparents moved to a home in Lawton – about 1942. Also, does anybody in the Lawton area remember “Munn’s Cabins” – a motor court as they were called then. My aunt and uncle lived there briefly when he was stationed at Ft. Sill prior to WW II. Munn’s Cabins was where you turned east to go to the County ‘Farm – about where Rogers Lane is now. When you turned off the dirt road, there was a long lane to the house. Would appreciate any information. Thanks a lot.” -Anna Marie Wilson in Lone Grove, OK [email protected]

“Your Breakfast menu is just soooo enormous !!! what proportions you are given to eat. Your breakfast was plenty for two people … The ham and eggs I could feed a family of four, so all in all I could make a family of six very happy with that… and when I see the bill….. Ohhh its just not real nor Blimey !!! Just sooo cheap to eat, and live out there. Its unreal. Breakfast would be all day meal.” lol. -Judith in England

“Hello Butch. My name is Bobbie Wilson Diiorio. Maiden name was Wilson. This was very interesting to read. I was born in my Grandmothers house in Milburn Okla. in 1940. When I was 2 we moved to Atoka. My father built a rock house there and we lived there till I was 9 or 10. Then we moved to Tishomingo and I went to school there. My Father was friends with a man named Heath and they still own the furniture store there. My father owned a Radio shop and appliance store there. We moved again, to Ardmore in 1955. I attended the Ardmore high for a while, but met my husband who was in the Air force stationed at Gene Autry AFB and he came into Ardmore a lot and we met. I was at the movies the night we met. I was only 16. We dated for few months then got married Aug. 1956. I don’t remember many kids I went to high school with, as I was not there very long. There was a restaurant on main st. I ate at. I had dated a guy that went to high school in Madill, but when I met my husband to be, we parted ways. When we got married we lived on B st or about a block or two off main st. My memories are not too sharp about the streets but it was a big white rooming house close to main. We lived there for a year or so then moved to a three room house when my second child was born. My Father owned a Radio repair shop off main close to the Bus Station. He also built snow cone stands and in the summer we loaded the stand up on his trailer drove to Wewoka and Pauls Valley and different towns to sell Snow cones. He also had fire work stands. He built two rent houses in Ardmore. Do not know the area they were in. I worked at the Super Dog Drive-in for a while and mostly was a stay at home Mom. My parents lived on 13th st. Not sure the direction. So long ago. Then we went to Ft. Worth TX. to live and my husband got stationed at Carswell AFB. In 1959 we went to France. Then to N.J. And the rest is history. But this site has brought back some memories of Ardmore. Thanks for everything.” -Bobbie Wilson Diiorio

“Butch, There was another Dairy Queen in Ardmore besides Miller’s, (sort of across the road from the old Chuck Wagon) on the northeast corner of the intersection of hwy 142 (truck bypass) and hwy 199 (back then it was called hwy 70). The building is still there. Back in the early and middle 1970’s, it was a booming Dairy Queen. The owners (Mike Phipps & wife) were a young couple with small children. They lived in the upstairs portion of the building. His parents had a business at Lake Murray and a house boat. Young Mike Phipps would often take his employees out to the lake. That is when & where I learned to ski.” -Former DQ counter girl https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos7a/OldDairyQueen.jpg

2nd Annual Overbrook School and Community reunion June 30, 2007

https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos7a/OverbrookReunion07.PDF

“Hi Butch, Here is an article in my home town newspaper here in Juneau. I knew Mrs. Ford for many years along with her husband, Kenneth Ford. Hallie Ford was from Red Fork, Oklahoma and attended the University in Ada, Oklahoma. I thought you should have this article so your Readers who might have known the family would be aware of such a fine woman she was and what she has done for so many young people in Oregon and Oklahoma. My Brother just retired last Monday after working at Roseburg Forest Products for 35 years and 1 month.” -Claude from Juneau, Alaska

Hallie E. Ford, age 102, died peacefully and painlessly after a brief illness on Monday, June 4, 2007, in her home at Heron Pointe Assisted Living Community in Monmouth, Oregon. Hallie was born in Red Fork, Oklahoma, American Indian Territory, on March 17, 1905, to Ethel and James Brown, the oldest of five children. As her family persevered through the Great Depression, Hallie learned the value of education, graduating from high school in Beggs, Oklahoma, followed by putting herself through East Central University in Ada, Oklahoma, where she earned her bachelor’s degree and teaching certificate. After teaching briefly in Oklahoma, Hallie followed her parents to Oregon where she taught in the Lebanon, Oregon, area. In 1935, she married Kenneth W. Ford and moved to Roseburg, Oregon, where she played an active role in establishing and growing Roseburg Lumber Co., currently known as Roseburg Forest Products Co. carrying on the tradition of this pioneer forest products family. While rearing her family in Roseburg, Hallie was an active leader in business and community affairs. Her volunteer work with Umpqua Valley Arts Association, Roseburg Women’s Club, city government, community hospital and the First Methodist Church of Roseburg led to her receiving the Roseburg First Citizens Award from the Roseburg Area Chamber of Commerce in 1967. She moved to Salem, Oregon, in 1972, where she lived, until 2002, when she relocated to Heron Pointe in Monmouth. During this time Hallie pursued her passions for gardening and travel, and took up golf. She took pride in the fact that she once made a hole-in-one. She joined the board of the Oregon Historical Society, faithfully contributing her time and resources. Of her many life accomplishments Hallie Ford will best be remembered for her generous philanthropic support of education and the arts. Along with Kenneth, her husband of many years, she was one of the founders of the Ford Family Foundation, head quartered in Roseburg, Oregon. The Ford Opportunity Scholarship Program, that has changed many lives for the better is operated by the Foundation for single parents lacking financial resources for college, was her inspiration. To date 528 single-parent Oregonians have been named recipients of this visionary scholarship. While the Foundation, founded in 1957, by the Ford?s, confines gifts primarily to rural communities, Hallie herself was a major benefactor of many education and arts projects throughout all of Oregon and supported her high school and college alma maters in Oklahoma. Resourceful and frugal in her personal life, Hallie reserved most of her wealth to benefit others. Her reserved, deliberate and soft-spoken demeanor was a reflection of a thoughtful and compassionate life driven by a desire to be as well informed about the world as possible. She held herself and her beloved family to high intellectual and ethical standards, and was willing to help deserving individuals and organizations that did the same. A woman of few words, but great vision, Hallie was an avid reader who believed in the transformational value of art and education. She continued to take art classes well into her retirement years. In 1996, Hallie received the Governor?s Arts Award for Arts Patronage and Support of Arts Scholarship Programs. As a patron of the arts she endowed an arts education program for Umpqua Valley Arts Association in Roseburg and was the benefactor of The Hallie Ford Museum at Willamette University in Salem. She was proud to have served many years on the Board of Trustees at Willamette University, which honored her in 1994, with an honorary doctorate. An additional gift from Hallie to Willamette University last year will ensure the construction of Ford Hall for academic instruction to include digital art and film studies. Just before her death, acting out of a desire to see a globally recognized center for visual art and design education located in Oregon, Hallie endowed the Ford Institute for Visional Education at Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, the largest donation to an arts institution in Oregon history. Never one to forget her roots and humble Oklahoma beginnings, Hallie partnered with her alma mater, East Central University (ECU) in Ada, Oklahoma to build the Hallie Brown Ford Fine Arts Center scheduled to open in December of this year. She also established two endowed scholarship programs for fine arts students at ECU where she was named Alumna of the Year in 1996 and the first recipient of ?The Hallie Brown Ford Distinguished Award for Philanthropy? in 2007. Hallie?s deep abiding love of her family, and respect for family life, formed the basis for her last philanthropic gift. The Hallie Ford Center for Healthy Children and Families will establish the only institution of its kind in Oregon at Oregon State University in Corvallis. The gift will provide funds for a building and endowed directorship to focus on life span and preventative approaches to child and family health. As Hallie said on a number of occasions to gatherings of Ford Family Foundation scholarship recipients, ?It?s not what you have, but what you give to your family, your community, and your country.? For someone who sought to avoid recognition for her philanthropy and maintain a life of privacy, she would have been embarrassed to see her legacy spelled out as it is here. But as the Ford Family Foundation?s scholarship office has written to those same scholarship recipients, ?While Mrs. Ford shared and will continue to share, a gift of education with each of you, her hope would be for you to carry on her legacy.? Hallie Ford is survived by her two children, Carmen Ford Phillips of Monmouth and Allyn Ford of Roseburg; six grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. At Hallie?s request, there will be no memorial service. A family celebration will be observed. In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be made to Umpqua Valley Arts Association, 1624 W Harvard Ave., Roseburg, OR 97470.

“hey butch saw you had a burger in Sanger TX. another good burger in Sanger is at Sportsman’s. its a convenience store with an amazing grill. they have daily lunch plate specials also . they are located on the corner of east Chapman and North Fifth street just a few blocks east of I-35. i worked in Sanger for a few weeks and had that burger everyday for lunch.”

“Butch, I finally found the photos you requested. Shown in the photos are Tom Mumford and his Grandson Payton Mumford. They are the ones that took me to the location of the marker. It’s located on top of a hill that is on or very close to the Carter-Stephens County line about three miles west of Fox, Oklahoma. Tom lives near the gas plant just immediately west of Convict Hill. The marker would be approximately 2 to 2.5 miles NW of Convict Hill. It’s accessible only by oil lease roads. One photo shows how high up the marker is on the hill and a view toward the north from that spot. The marker is embedded in that large rock they are looking at.” -Dwane Stevens

https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos7a/GeodeticMarkerHarleyHill04a.jpg

U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey Reference Marker

https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos7a/GeodeticMarkerHarleyHill04b.jpgBelow is a map with approximate location of the marker and approximate coordinates. Longitude : -97.56983

Latitude : 34.37264

https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos7a/GeodeticMarkerMap.jpg

Butch: After you had the piece about the Killdeer and her egg that Jill spotted at Lake Murray, Brad Black wrote about the various young wildlife in our area in his weekly outdoor column for The Daily Ardmoreite. http://ardmoreite.com/stories/061007/sports_42996.shtml

In that column he mentions the mother Killdeer and her young that he came across at the Cross Bar Ranch Park. Unfortunately, there wasn?t room for the photo that was supposed to accompany the article, but I thought you and your readers might find it interesting. Below is the caption and photo that would have run in the Ardmoreite, had there been room for the photo. -Wes Womack, Online Producer for The Daily Ardmoreite

https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos7a/BabyKilldeer3COL.jpg

“Butch, I took this photo of a snake sunning on a rock. Does anyone have an idea what kind it is?? Thanks,” -Kathi G in Arkansas

https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos7a/ArkansasSnake.jpg

“Brother, Can You Spare a Dime,” (1931)The Great Depression Years

They used to tell me I was building a dream, and so I followed the mob,
When there was earth to plow, or guns to bear, I was always there right on the job.
They used to tell me I was building a dream, with peace and glory ahead,
Why should I be standing in line, just waiting for bread?

Once I built a railroad, I made it run, made it race against time.
Once I built a railroad; now it’s done. Brother, can you spare a dime?
Once I built a tower, up to the sun, brick, and rivet, and lime;
Once I built a tower, now it’s done. Brother, can you spare a dime?

Once in khaki suits, gee we looked swell,
Full of that Yankee Doodly Dum,
Half a million boots went slogging through Hell,
And I was the kid with the drum!

Say, don’t you remember, they called me Al; it was Al all the time.
Why don’t you remember, I’m your pal? Buddy, can you spare a dime?

See everyone next week!

Butch and Jill Bridges
Ardmore Oklahoma
PO Box 2
Lone Grove, Oklahoma 73443https://oklahomahistory.net

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