Last Saturday my table saw tried to whoop me. Got the end of my right thumb. Kind of below my thumbnail so I probably won’t lose it. I think I’ve been in hospital ERs between 12,000 and 15,000 times all over Oklahoma and Texas but never as a patient, only with patients from my 18 years on the ambulance (SOAS) until Saturday morning at 10am. 14 stitches later I went home. Ardmore’s Mercy ER crew and Dr. Nathan Tanner were the best a guy could want for! Excellent patient care was over the top! Even those 6 Lidocaine shots around the base of my thumb at the beginning didn’t hurt. I’m thankful and blessed by a great God.
Anyway, my newsletter typing is kind of slow, so it will be short one this week. Hopefully in a couple weeks things will be back to normal.
The tragic incident at Luke’s Music Store in Ardmore, Oklahoma, occurred on October 20, 1981. The store a beloved local landmark operating since 1895—became the scene of a violent armed robbery that resulted in the murder of a long-time employee.
Two men, James Earl Cleaver and William Melvin Jefferson, traveled from Dallas, Texas, with the intention of robbing the store, which was located at 212 West Main Street in Ardmore. Cleaver entered the music store pretending to buy a 12-gauge “Coach” shotgun on a lay-away plan. During this initial visit, he managed to steal and pocket two shotgun shells.
Cleaver returned shortly after. While he spoke with Haskell E. Cox (a 75-year-old employee), Jefferson walked in to distract Edward A. Luke (the 72-year-old proprietor and son of the store’s founder). A struggle ensued. Cleaver attacked Haskell Cox, beating and bludgeoning him over the head with the shotgun. Jefferson struck Ed Luke on the back of the head and restrained him from trying to help Cox. Tragically, Haskell Cox died from his severe head injuries the following day, October 21, 1981. Ed Luke survived the assault.
The perpetrators did not get far. William Jefferson was shot in the thigh during the chaotic struggle inside the store. He was captured by law enforcement near Wynnewood, Oklahoma, just 45 minutes after the crime. James Cleaver was found shortly after at an Interstate 35 rest area where Jefferson had abandoned him. Both men were tried and convicted in Carter County District Court. William Jefferson was convicted of First-Degree Murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. (His secondary conviction for robbery with a dangerous weapon was later vacated on appeal to avoid double jeopardy under felony-murder rules).
I was working at the ambulance service (SOAS) and responded with David Crutcher, EMT, in the ambulance. It was a bloody scene David and I will never forget.
If you were a student at Ardmore High in the 1960s, Luke’s Music Store was the place you bought the newest Rock & Roll hits on 45 RPM records. We knew to be there at the store first thing Saturday mornings when the postal service delivered those smoking hot records to the store!
The picture below is when the Western Union office in Ardmore was located at #9 A Street NW in 1929.
On May 6, 1971, Western Union officially closed its historic downtown office at #9 A Street Northwest and moved its local operations to the Chief Motel. In 1960 the famous motel was bought by the father of Ardmoreite Terry Kalister.
One of the most famous physical artifacts of this office was its massive, classic Western Union wall clock. For decades, locals synchronized their watches to this clock, which was tied to Western Union’s national “time service” wire.
During the transition, A. D. Henson, the area supervisor for Western Union, officially donated the historic Western Union office clock to the Chickasaw Historical Society to ensure its preservation as a piece of southern Oklahoma heritage.
By the late 1980s, Western Union completed its transition away from communications entirely, transmitting its final physical telegram in 2006. That final telegram was on January 27, 2006. The historic final message was dispatched from the company’s headquarters in Greenwood Village, Colorado, and sent to a recipient in Kansas. Today, Western Union still operates actively in Ardmore, though not out of a dedicated depot. Instead, its global electronic money-transfer services are hosted through local retail partner locations, including the Walmart Supercenter, Homeland, Walgreens, and Check Into Cash along Commerce Street.
The Tech Corner
This is great news from Microsoft as my 2 computers and 1 laptop only has Windows 10. They can’t be upgraded to Windows 11. Hip Hip Hooray!
Hackers using malicious websites are always trying to get to us. I received an unsolicited email just yesterday. It showed I could unsubscribe at the bottom of the email. I clicked on it and my Surfshark blocked the website as Malware.
I pay only $2.79 total a month which protects my 2 computers, my laptop, 2 cellphones and 2 smart TVs all for $2.79 (27 months). If you want this protection too, you can signup at the link below.
https://surfshark.club/friend/4vhaWbNT
From This Weeks Mailbag
Note: Ardmore’s Chickasaw Historical Society (organized 1965) was relocated to the Chickasaw Capitol building in Tishomingo, Oklahoma in the 2003. Chickasaw National Capitol building, which underwent a major restoration and was officially rededicated in 2004.
Q. What was the name of the bar/club on 4th NW that was dome shaped?
A. The Castle Club west of I-35 on 12th NW (formally Tom Cooper Road).
Too many people spend money they earned..to buy things they don’t want..to impress people that they don’t like. –Will Rogers
See everyone next week!
Butch and Jill Bridges
Ardmore Oklahoma
580-490-6823
https://oklahomahistory.net
