PO Box 2, Ardmore, Oklahoma 73402
Email: butchbridges@oklahomahistory.net, Phone: 580-490-6823
Lebanon Oklahoma, what’s the largest town in what is now Marshall County, had been located in three different places since it was started. The town had its beginning at old “Rock Point” and Jim Hayes and Charley Tom’s started the first business there. Then in 1881 the town was moved to the west bank of Haiyona (Hauani) Creek, but the flooding of the creek cause the town to move to its present site on higher ground in 1896.
The town got its name from the old Lebanon orphans home which was established more than a century ago and continued to operate until 1910. The home and school was also called Chickasaw Indian Academy. It was established in 1850 by the United States government as a school and home for Chickasaw orphaned children. Approximately 100 children attended the school.
Among the superintendent of the school where the Rev J. C. Bell who came as a missionary with the Chickasaws when they move from the east in 1834; Colonel James and his son Simon James, S. R. Guin; W. S. Derrick; Poley Turman; Charley Wilson and a Miss Allen.
After the school ceased operation the land was sold to “Professor” L. E. Wood, an early day teacher in the county, for $62.50 an acre. The land was later sold to ________ Morgan and his son Mount Morgan inherited the place. The old building was torn down and the material used in the Morgan home on the place.
Three miles from Lebanon on the banks of Brier Creek maybe seen the ruins of the old Chickasaw Court House which was served as the seat of government of Pickens County. It was here that Governor B. F. Overton held his court and meted out stern justice to the members of his tribe. It was after the building was destroyed that the county seat was moved to Oakland and the tribal gatherings of Pickens County were held there.
Dick Watterson establish the old treadmill on the banks of Hiayona (Hauani) Creek in 1881 and it was there that the pioneer farmers had their corn ground. On a bluff overlooking the creek stands the town of Lebanon and its citizens point with pride to the pioneers who live there paving the way for future civilization. -The Madill Record Sept 11, 1952
August 1957
The one and two teacher school is a thing of the past, at least in Carter County. a three teacher school at Woodward was closed this year being annex to Graham. Last of the one teacher schools was abolished last year when the Pooleville school was annexed to Fox, one of the largest consolidated schools in the county. Treece Acres postmaster at Woodford says their school has been annexed to Graham. His uncle, Irving Acres, says Woodford had a school before there was a town at Ardmore.
August 1933
Eunice Gatlin made a unsuccessful attempt to shoot Constable Cecil Crosby. She is in the county jail suffering from injuries to the head when she jumped from a deputy sheriff’s car. Crosby arrested her and was working on his car’s choke when she grabbed the gun. They grappled and she was disarmed. Later while riding to the county jail she jumped from the vehicle and landed on her head.
August 1962
The condition of Mrs. Opie Turner, suffering from two gunshot wounds, was reported to be improving. The wife of Waco Turner, wealthy oilman, is suffering from two .38 caliber wounds apparently self-inflicted, said Love County Sheriff Clyde McGill.
One of several bricks I sandblasted the other day.
https://oklahomahistory.net/bricks/DaisyDogPaverFlagstone.jpg
You can find current gas prices for a particular Oklahoma town by entering the name or zip code in the GasBuddy search box.
http://www.oklahomagasprices.com/
Q. The statue Chief Touch The Clouds stood at the Astrodome in Houston for years. Where in Oklahoma does he reside now?
A. Edmond, Oklahoma
http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/47887
Q. Where in Oklahoma is the 20 foot tall statue of Paul Bunyan located?
A. Answer in next week’s newsletter
Below is from This and That newsletter archives of September 22, 2005
This week those big old beautiful Magnolia trees in front of the Garden Center were cut down. Its kinda sad to see such beauty removed, as some of you emailed and called me this week complaining about it. I too hate to see trees, especially trees of a historical nature, removed. But I’m sure if we have patience, the Garden Center’s landscape will be renewed and be even more beautiful. Patience is the key. Here are some pics I snapped last Saturday morning when Jerry Eubanks was using his stump removal machine at the Garden Center to remove the stumps.
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos4a/GardenCenter2004.jpg
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos5a/GardenCenter091705c.jpg
This is a photo of the Carnegie Library in 1907, the Garden Center today. That small tree in front is probably that huge magnolia we saw in these later days.
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos4a/CarnegieArdmore1907.jpg
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After eating that Super Dog I noticed a phone number printed on the white wrapper it came in. Being the curious type, I went to google.com and did a search for that phone number. It showed a Martin Donley of Lubbock, Texas. So you know me, curiosity got the best of me. So Sunday afternoon late I called the number and a voice answered with “Hello”. I told her I was in Ardmore, Oklahoma and was wondering about this phone number and the Super Dog. She asked, “What do you want to know?” lol.
I had the most delightful conversation with this lady who is now 94 years young! She explained the history of the Super Dog On A Stick I was familiar with at Ponder’s back in the 1960s. Here is the story as Mrs Margaret Donley explained it to me:
Back around 1945 there was a man in Lubbock, Texas by the last name Barnes (Margaret could not remember his first name, been too long she said) who was owner the company Super Dog On A Stick. In those days Margaret’s sister, Mary Jo, was married to Martin Donley and they lived in Lubbock. Mr. and Mrs. Donley bought out Mr. Barnes’ Super Dog On A Stick company from Mr Barnes around 1946 and Martin Donley started selling franchises for his newly acquired business. Mr Donley made lots of trips through Ardmore, stopping at Ponder’s Super Dog delivering his special flour product to make that tasty Super Dogs On A Stick to his franchise customers up and down the highways.
As the years past Margaret’s husband died leaving her a widow. Soon Margaret’s sister, Mary Jo, died also leaving Martin Donley a widower. As Cupid works his magic in strange ways sometimes, Margaret married Martin, becoming the new Mrs Donley. After Martin’s death a few years ago, Margaret inherited the Super Dog On A Stick as the sole owner. At age 94 she still sells the Super Dogs to her franchise like the Burger Ranch here in Ardmore. As I talked to Margaret last sunday I could tell she is sharp as a tack, so dont any of you get any bright ideas like a lady in Michigan did a while back. Margaret said the lady called the number printed on the Super Dog wrapper wanting to buy some of the specially blended flour that makes the Super Dog so delicious. Margaret said she’s sorry, but she only sells to her franchise owners.
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A friend of mine who lives in the north part of Carter county is serving his country in Iraq. He sent me a photo this week he took over there with his band of armed guards protecting his hinny while he goes about his assigned duties. The funny thing about this picture is he calls them his “deputies”. You’ll have to look at the tag on the front of the military vehicle in the photo to understand. He is a member of the Oklahoma Sheriffs Association and placed an OSA tag on the front of the vehicle just before taking the picture. By the way, he should be on his way back to good ole Carter county, Oklahoma as you read this issue of T&T. Have a safe flight home my friend.
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos5a/IraqSheriffs05a.jpg
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“The Educated Hamburger: My family entered the restaurant business at Lone Grove, Okla. in 1946 and the term Educated Hamburger was in use at that time. The Educated Hamburger was made using Mayonnaise, Lettuce and Tomato. The Plain Hamburger was made using Mustard, Onion and chopped Sour Pickle. At the time, I think the price for the Plain Hamburger was 15 cents and the Educated Hamburger was 20 cents and available as the Cheeseburger for 25 cents. About the only options was with the Plain Hamburger, you could order it without the onion, but no decrease in price. This option adapted to keep onions from being remove by the customer and left on the plate. Money was scarce and the markup was low. No special sales or gimmicks as seen today. I never knew where the term Educated Hamburger came from, and it made no sense to me. In my travels, I never came across the Educated Hamburger anywhere else. It seemed to be a name used in the region of Carter County only. So I searched the Internet for Educated Hamburger, and found some references. There was a restaurant in New York City, near Columbia University named Prexy’s, with a sign above the entrance,”Home of the Educated Hamburger”. Now that does make some sense, being near a large university such as Columbia. There is no indication that the hamburger was of a particular design, as it was in Carter County. It also appears, Prexy’s became a chain of restaurants offering their Educated Hamburger in other locations of New York City.” -C.B. Segler, Oxnard, California
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“I understand that Joe Brown drilled that Vendome well way back yonder before he passed on in the 1950s?” -Scott Bumgarner
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“This Lawson Nuss Glenn (1857-1922) and wife Camila Bourland (1866-1851) came to Ardmore in c1893 and set up the first furniture store in Ardmore. I was told that Camila ran the furniture store until about 1950.” -Patricia Adkins-Rochette
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Some mail from this week’s MAILBAG…..
ARDMORE,OKLAHOMA – 1930S GROCERY STORES
Small one-room grocery stores existed over most of early Ardmore. Within 3 to 4 minutes walk from where I lived and now live were Holmes, Bulard, Martin and Besaw early 1930s, most probably dating a generation back. All gone by end of that decade.
Several changes account for it. Old owners go to their rewards, competition by larger retailers and probably more so the changes in food handling, packaging and variety. Holmes store at A st. & 11th ave. NW was pretty typical of them. It was smaller than our double garage, nothing 20th century, no electricity, no phone, refrigeration, etc. He had an ice box with ‘sody pop’ and very little in stock, nothing perishable, only packaged items, some canned goods and penny candy. He also had a barrel of kerosene, then called ‘coal oil’. My grandmother had a gallon can with a fine little spout on it she kept plugged by sticking a potato over it – sent me with a nickel to get it filled now and then. I imagine most business of these little stores was in items of immediate need when the housewife ran out of something – or of people living hand to mouth in the depression with only enough money to buy the basics in the smallest quantites.
Households bought food more in bulk quantities than today, big sack of flour, 50 pounds of potatoes, etc. There were few prepared products but there were corn flakes, shredded wheat, Post toasties and grape nuts. Today there are scores of breakfast foods. Milk then was delivered for eleven cents a quart which was so expensive my Dad bought a cow. My task was to lead her down to the vacant block across from Holmes store and stake her out for the day to graze. After a few months the cow went dry and he traded her to the dairyman for milk to be delivered. Pasteurization of milk was only from Colvert’s or Tom Cooper’s. My aunt almost died of typhoid which converted us all to Colvert’s. Sliced bread arrived early ’30s. Before that you had to slice your own. There was a John Small’s bakery on Washington, North of Broadway. They sold day-old bread for a nickel – half the price of fresh bread at Safeway.
Food was precious. I recall when the government shot hundreds of cattle to keep the price of beef up, my Dad brought home a lot of fresh beef that my Mother and Grandmother canned and we ate for months. Many people had a garden out back where they raised seasonable veggies and often a chicken yard where they produced eggs and Sunday dinner now and then. Keeping live stock in Ardmore was quite common, cows, horses, goats and chickens.
Safeway opened Ardmore’s first ‘Supermarket’ on SE corner of Broadway and D NW mid 30’s. The term supermarket didn’t exist then – at least in Ardmore. They had boys who carried your groceries out to your car. I recall my Mother’s pained comment that these two bags (as big as paper bags got) cost SIX DOLLARS. That was for a week, four adults and us two kids. It was supplemented somewhat by my grandfather stopping now and then for perishables at Newman-Boucher’s, a big grocery store, 3rd Ave and Caddo.
Safeway had huge shrimp packed in barrels of chipped ice. Lake Murray got going mid-30s. We bought shrimp for fish bait. I can remember people exclaiming as they baited their trotlines “can you imagine – some people EAT these things?”
That’s how my disconnected memory recalls it. Memory lane isn’t an improved road – especially mine. -Bob McCrory, Ardmore, Oklahoma
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Does any of your readers remember Staunton school… east of Ardmore…. or a teacher Georgia Pass?
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Looking for help and thought some of your T&T readers might know of any data sources on the following persons:
Josiah Chandler b: 1837,
Virginia Anne Pepper Chandler 1850-1915,
Artemas Chandler 1867,
Nancy Chandler 1869,
Wilson Chandler 1878.
All from Springfield, Robertson County TN.
Any information would be appreciated.-Sue Smith
larry_suesmith@sbcglobal.net
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Butch: Thanks for bringing back the memories of Lake Murray. My husbands family (Holloway family) held their family reunions there for many years & Tuckers Tower, Elephant Rock, etc. etc. were many of the places we visited. We will be at Lake Murray again on Sept. 22 for a much smaller cousins reunion this time. -Theresa Brawley
https://oklahomahistory.net/lakemurray/
After I released ‘Jesus, Take the Wheel,’ people started saying, Oh, it’s kind of risky. You’re coming out with a religious song. And I was thinking, Really? I grew up in Oklahoma; I always had a close relationship with God. I never thought it was risky in the least. If anything, I thought it was the safest thing I could do. -Carrie Underwood
See everyone next week!Butch and Jill Bridges“Friends Make Life Worth Living”PO Box 2
Lone Grove, Oklahoma 73443https://oklahomahistory.netVicious Dog Attacks in Oklahoma
https://oklahomahistory.net/viciousdogs.html
Oklahoma Bells: https://oklahomahistory.net/bellpage.html
Bill Hamm’s Cemetery Database
http://www.usgwarchives.net/ok/carter/cartercm.htm
American Flyers Memorial Fund – Administration Webpage
https://oklahomahistory.net/crash66.html
Official American Flyers Memorial Website
http://www.brightok.net/~wwwafm
Ardmore Army Air Field/Ardmore Air Force Base Website
http://www.brightok.net/~gsimmons
Mirror Site of the Ardmore Army Air Field/Ardmore Air Force Website
https://oklahomahistory.net/airbase/
Carter County Government Website
http://cartercountyok.us