This and That Newsletter
Vol 21 Issue 1052 Circulation 5,000 March 23, 2017
Ardmore, Oklahoma
My permanent email address: butchbridges@oklahomahistory.net
580-490-6823
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 PFIEFFERThis is a 1958 calendar by John Fisher's barber shop at #11 North Washington in Ardmore. Buddy Browning was one of the barbers there and his son Keith Browning sent a picture of the calendar. John Massey was a traveling salesman that would cut hair on his day off and when he passed Keith's dad took over his territory and was a traveling salesman from then on. There was a black man who shined shoes at the barber shop called Turkey.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos17a/BuddyBrowningCalendar1958.jpg
February 1933
Twenty two persons were injured in the crash between a Dickson school bus and a gravel truck. Sam Rogers, driver of the truck, lives in Woodford. According to information, there were eight adults in the Dickson bus. There were fourteen men, women, and children on the gravel truck. The two vehicles crashed so badly that both were demolished. Several of the passengers reported bruises and cuts, but non were said to be serious.March 1933
Albert Condry (2/18/1882-2/28/1969) who lives between Ardmore and Lone Grove on Highway 70 on what is known as the "old Buckholtz place", is engaged in tearing down a log house that was constructed in 1872. It is one of the oldest structures in this section. It is 16' square and was occupied up until the past year. Home made nails, square and blunt, were used in the construction. These nails, despite their half century of service, are still rust free and in good condition.Sometimes Jill amazes me. She used the table saw to cut about 1/4 inch thick squares from a piece of post, and then used Liquid Nails to secure them to a 1/2 thick left over plywood. Then I cut the grape design out on rubber stencil like I do when I sandblast a paver, which she used to put the design on the plywood. No sandblasting. She pulled the letters away, and painted the grapes through the letter openings. I never dreamed it would turn out like this.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos17a/GrapeVinePicture031417.jpg
We have had a lone turkey strolling through our backyard this past week. Not seen many like in the past, when 30 would walk across our yard. But I'm happy to even see this one. I even had to stop and let about 6 baby turkeys cross the road just west of our place. That was a sight for sure!http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos17a/OneTurkey032117.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 Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma is located in far northeastern Oklahoma. Who built the first brick home in the Cherokee Nation?
A. Actually the brick home was in Murray county, Georgia. I didn't catch that when I quickly read the information last week.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_Vann_House_Historic_SiteQ. Where is the oldest still standing building in Oklahoma?
A. Answer in next week's newsletterBelow is from This and That newsletter archives of March 18, 2005
Davis, Oklahoma around 1915.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos5a/DavisOK1915.jpg
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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.
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"Butch, here are a couple of pics I got the other day. They were July of 1947 in Ardmore. I don't know what parade it is maybe somebody knows." -Steven Harris
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos5a/ArdmoreMain1947a.jpghttp://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos5a/ArdmoreMain1947b.jpg
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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 okie_grammie@yahoo.com
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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."
http://www.inquiry.net/outdoor/games/beard/mumbly_peg.htm
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"The saints and soldiers 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."
http://www.saintsandsoldiers.com/
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----------------------------------------------------Some mail from this week's MAILBAG.....
Hi Butch, I'm 93 & haven't croaked yet. Below is excerpt from my Memoir, probably too long winded for T&T but feel free to use it or parts thereof --
ARDMORE EATING in the 1930s -- An eating place was usually called a 'Cafe'. Restaurant was high tone for the big cities. We also had 'Drive Ins' where girls 'car hops' came out and took your order - and you ate in the car. They had a tray that hooked on your window, you rolled up the glass a little, a prop below held it up. If you wanted more of something you honked or blink your headlights. Today's Sonic is the update but the '30s drive-ins also had sit down service inside. 'Pig Stands' for BBQ were also common. I don't recall one in Ardmore but we always stopped at the one in Pauls Valley when we went to OK City.
The main downtown eatery was Earl's Cafe just West of the Palace theater (later Tivoli). Across Main Street about where the Chamber of Commerce is now between D & E was the Green Frog, a popular drive-in.
Behind the Palace on B st was Bill Vaughan's. Good plate lunch was 35 cents. My Dad ran the Conoco station half block away on B & Broadway. Hungry people would try to bum a quarter off him. He would give them a note and send them to Bill Vaughan and settle for it later.Further out just off Broadway at Highway 77 (now Commerce) was Priddy's, the most popular drive-in and teen hang out. Further down 77 just South of the 'Old Soldiers Home' was Puny's. Puny a huge man, over six foot & 300 pounds plus, was a great people person and long time operator of eateries up thru WW2 on Main St just off Caddo (A Street NE). Hamburger Inn was on east side of Washington across from the then Post Office. Their three inch hamburgers, meat fried with onions, for a nickel were great. Most of their biz was thru a window on the street but they did have a counter inside with four or five stools.
1930s hamburgers (15 cents) came in 'regular' with meat, onion and mustard and 'educated', lettuce, tomato and mayo. French fries hadn't been invented, at least in name - they were 'shoe string potatoes'. Chicken fried steak was then called breaded veal cutlet and was a highlight of my Grandmother's life at Puny's. I know more about his place because my Dad owned the building. Small T bone steak was 65 cents, large 85. I remember Puny telling my Dad, all the eateries were about to raise the coffee price from a nickel to a dime because 'you just can't make it any more on a nickel'.
Drinks were water, coffee and 'sody pop'. Tea was uncommon, ice tea something you had at home and ice coffee unheard of. The bottle drinks were like today, Coke, Dr Pepper and various flavors plus names like Nehi, Grapette. I don't remember Pepsi Cola then but there were Royal Crown and Double Cola twice as big as Coke for your nickel.
Salad - there was poke salad, some kind of plant but nobody ate that. Potato salad was always at summer outings. Lettuce with tomatoes, etc like today hadn't been discovered. I think it awaited oil/vinegar dressing. Salad dressing was mayonnaise like today that came in a jar. Later in WW-2 Puny's eatery was doing big biz with his "Wop Salad" with his new oil/vinegar dressing. Then Air Base bought some and analyzed it, finding the olive oil cut with mineral oil - which almost resulted in some free room and board for him. His place was put off limits for a while, I heard. I didn't live here 1942-1981 although I back here a few weeks from Hawaii in 1944 & many times later.
On Caddo, East side, off Main Street, was a kind of farmer's market. A convenient place where farmers brought in wagons loaded of whatever was in season. I recall my Grandfather having a discussion with a farmer who wanted seven cents for his cantaloupes rather than the usual nickel. Watermelons priced from a dime up, for what we called 'knots', the size of a bowling ball. You got a pretty good melon for a quarter.
Ice cream was the big treat for us kids. We had a freezer that Mom put the egg custard in, surround with cracked ice and rock salt, then you cranked the handle forever till you felt it freezing - hard to turn. The 'dasher' a part inside where the ice cream made, was great to get to lick the dasher. My Mother would make ice cream for us kids when they would bring milk. Kids from couple blocks North brought goat milk's-- that we all agreed was as good as cow's Two ice plants in town, just over the tracks on 1st SE and D NW about where the 1st National Bank drive thru is now. My Grandfather would get 25 lbs block of ice put on the front bumper of his Model A Ford to take it home. By mid '30s there were 'double dip' ice cream cones in 3 flavors, huge double dip for a nickel.
You could have free food if you had a garden or raised chickens. Free food big-time 4th of July, 1933 at Sulphur - a public buffalo barbecue. People came from far and wide, crowds 'you couldn't stir them with a stick' at the then Vendome swimming pool area. Strong in memory, my Mother's uncle and family drove from South Texas on their way to Yellowstone. Their brand new Chevrolet was stolen so they spent most of the summer in Sulphur. There was a public barbecue at Ardmore fair grounds sometime after that - but my recall suffers. -Bob McCrory
This is an interesting story from the Durant newspaper at Caddo, Oklahoma about the Moon Mausoleum.
http://durantdemocrat.com/top-stories/10531/the-mystery-of-the-moon-mausoleum
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 heart
For it's hard you will find
To be narrow of mind
If you're young at heart
You can go to extremes
With impossible schemes
You can laugh when your dreams
Fall apart at the seams
And life gets more exciting
with each passing day
And love is either in your heart
Or on it's way
Don't you know that it's worth
Every treasure on earth
To be young at heart
For as rich as you are
It's much better by far
To be young at heart
And if you should survive to 105
Look at all you'll derive
Out of being alive
And here is the best part
You've had a head start
If you are among the very
Young at heart
And if you should survive to 105
Think of all you'll derive
Out of being alive
And here is the best part
You've had a head start
If you are among the very
Young at heart...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tyz_a0-KlCA
See everyone next week!
Butch and Jill Bridges
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net
PO Box 2
Lone Grove, Oklahoma 73443Vicious Dog Attacks in Oklahoma
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/viciousdogs.html
Oklahoma Bells: http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/bellpage.html
Bill Hamm's Cemetery Database
http://www.usgwarchives.net/ok/carter/cartercm.htm
American Flyers Memorial Fund - Administration Webpage
http://www.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
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/airbase/
Carter County Government Website
http://cartercountyok.us
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