Please pray for his family to get
through this difficult time. He has a wife and three young daughters. Thanks for
your prayers." -Dina
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The Sheriffs Office won the Christmas Tree contest for 2003. They had 42% of the
votes, with the Mapping Dept on the fourth floor coming in 2nd with 15% and third
was the Commissioners office with 9% of the votes.
http://vote.sparklit.com/poll.spark/800486
In a few days 2003 will come to a close. I am thankful several thousand of us could
all meet here every weekend from all across the country, and look forward to many
more T&T gatherings in 2004. The history we can share is endless, and we are doing
it in an unprecedented way. There were some who started this year with us, but did
not finish it because of a higher calling. But the history they shared will be
recorded here for future generations for as long as the world turns. I appreciate
everyone of you, you are all like family to me. Lets put this year behind us at
midnight on December 31st, and look forward to the new one together. Whatever the
new year brings, lets face it united.
"We meet today,
To thank Thee for the era done,
And Thee for the opening one."
-John Greenleaf Whittier 1807-1892
http://users.erols.com/kfraser/authors/whittier.html
See everyone next year!
Butch Bridges
PO Box 2
Lone Grove, Oklahoma 73443
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Saturday December 20, 2003 T&T Weekly Vol 7 Issue 348
This week I received an interesting phone call from a Reader with maybe some insight
into those Indian statues that Wirt Franklin (Franklin Palacine Oil and Gas/Franklin
Refinery) had at his filling station on D SW and several other places including the
curio shop-lookout point at Turner Falls. These statues existed in the 30s and 40s
around southern Oklahoma. This caller said a man lived next door to him when he
moved there named Eubanks. Mr. Eubanks worked for Wirt Franklin, and around 1952
Wirt told him to "get rid of all those statues". Not knowing exacting what to do
with them, Eubanks brought them out to his property southwest of Ardmore on Hedges
Road, threw them in a ditch beside the his house, and buried them, all 15 of them.
I've talked to the son of the property owner, and he knows exactly what ditch
Eurbanks referred to, and its now filled in, grass growing over it today. I wish we
could go out there with metal detectors and do some searching, but there is a lot of
other metal buried there, including sheet iron, barb wire, old refrigerators, etc.
So it would be nearly impossible to find any thing left of the Indian statues.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/palacinestation.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/TurnerFallsIndian3a.jpg
Last week I talked about the work being done by a company overseas to re-tune the
bells at First Presbyterian Church. Ardmoreite Bill Lumpkin and his architectural
background was instrumental in making sure those historic bells were properly packed
in crates so they could make that ocean trip safely. Bill sent me an email with
pictures of the company in The Netherlands who are doing the work, pictures of the
workers using their skills at the bell factory during different stages of the work.
Its sure going to be nice to hear those bells again, tolling their sounds across
downtown Ardmore! We always knew when it was 5pm and quitting time, we could heard
the bells playing a First Presbyterian! Hopefully next Spring we'll hear them again!
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/PresbyBells03b.jpg
We've talked about Hattye Hinkle and her family the past few weeks, and that the
street on the north side of the courthouse is named after the Hinkle family. This
week I was walking down to Stolfa Hardware on East Main street and glancing down at
the brick sidewalk, I noticed a brick paver with Hinkle on it. I stopped and low and
below there was Judge John Hinkle's name on one! The brick just below his was
engraved with his son's name, John Homer Hinkle.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/HinkleBricks.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/bringhattyehome.html
We have a new addition to the Carter County courthouse family. Erica Gay, director
of the CASA office on the fourth floor, has a new baby girl! Santa made an early
trip to Ardmore December 1st with this bundle of joy to delivery Jacelyn so Erica
and Chuck would have her in time for Christmas! They really have something to smile
about this Christmas Season. If you want to send a congrats to Erica and Chuck,
email: casa_child@yahoo.com
Here's a pic of Erica and little Jacelyn.....
http://www.brightok.net/cartercounty/CourtAppointedSpecialAdvocate.html
Last week I had a picture of my great grandmother Ida Murphree Miller who lived
across the street east from the old Washington School. While I was in Stolfa
Hardware Store there hanging from the wall was a couple of 4 inch diameter water
well buckets, the kind with the pull trigger at the top. Ida Miller had a well
behind her house and I remember it having these same kind of water well buckets. I
loved to lower the rope and bucket down the well casing, pull it up, then pull the
trigger and let the water run out the bottom. What memories!
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/wellbucket3a.jpg
This is a closeup to the trigger at the top of the tube that is pulled to release
the water. http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/wellbucket3b.jpg
Mrs Wilson in Lone Grove sent a photo her son Billy took over in Ringling this week.
Its a bell mounted in front of a resident in Ringling. I sure need to make a trip to
far NE Oklahoma and find some bells in those four or 5 counties there I lack bell
pics. But then they maybe that will be a Spring project, when the grass is green and
the smell of pine trees is in the air as it drifts across those rolling hills of
eastern Oklahoma. Anyway, here is a pic of that bell in Ringling.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/ringlingbell03.jpg
CABINET PHOTOS - Cabinet photos came into being after the Civil War and remained
popular until about 1900. Measuring approximately 4.5" x 6.5", they were larger than
previous formats which made them easier to enjoy. The larger format also opened up
new creative opportunities for the photographs. Early cabinets were mounted on
fairly plain cards, but by the 1880's the cards had become more decorative. The
later cards often had fancy advertising for the photographer on the back. This is a
cabinet photo by Webb Studios of Ardmore from my family's photos. Its a photograph
of my aunt Marie Carmon Pruitt taken back in the 1920s. She was my mother's sister
and lived next door to me for over 20 years before she passed away last February
27th at 91 years old. Marie was a little eccentric, but I loved her, and I sure miss
that lady and her eccentric ways.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/MarieCarmonPruitt.jpg
http://ardmoreite.com/stories/022803/obi_pruiit.shtml
This week I had OGE out to my house to fix a problem with the electricity coming
into my house. It was even causing a problem with the DVD burning, so I was sure
glad they came right out and fixed the problem immediately. And to show these guys
go the extra mile, and come though when you need them, they came to the courthouse
this week for a little public service. The rope on the flag pole broke in high winds
a couple of weeks ago and they used their bucket truck to reach up and put a new
rope through the pulley at the top of that 60 foot flag pole. Great work guys, its
really appreciated by many! There's a lot of people in this town who look at that
flag flying fee next to the courthouse when they drive by, and the free democracy
that flag and that building stands for.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/OGEflag03.jpg
I saw on the 5:30pm news this week where next spring Walmart plans to add the
ability for people to download music from their website for 88 cents a song. With
over 200,000 songs to choose from their database, it sounds like a deal to me. Now
if they will just let me use my PayPal account to pay, I will be downloading!
http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/1203/18walmart.html
Recorded by Betty Carroll October 23, 1984: "Once upon a time.... "there are
indications that people lived in southern Oklahoma long before the white men came
and even before the aboriginal Indian tribes appeared. There are even hints there
may have been people around here in the days of the wooly mammoths, and migrations
through this area when the Incas flourished in central America. An Oklahoma
University geologist found a skeleton near Ardmore that was said to be 3,000 years
old. The OU man was Albert Giles, and he made the discovery during a geology field
trip along Hickory Creek in the edge of Criner Hills southwest of Ardmore. His
discovery was hailed as a great find, indicating the scientists say, that this
ancient person may have died in quicksand."
SOME LETTERS FROM THIS WEEK'S MAILBAG
"Just to say" Thankyou" so, so much for your weekly news. I read every bit of it and
enjoy it so much. We are pretty healthy here in Ontario, Canada. Most people get
their flu shots and so we don't get that nasty bug. We have a bit of snow now, very
pretty, 3 little boys across the street from me built 2 HUGE snowmen. So lovely for
me to see. I have no idea how they built them so tall. Over 10 feet tall, Daddy must
have given a hand ..:) I am making my ice candle holders again this year, makes it
look like fairyland out side my door. I use 4 different sizes of pails to fill with
water to freeze."
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Hello Butch and T&T. The Wagon Wheel Cave is indeed at Turner Falls. The canyon that
goes south and a little east from the Falls is where the cave is located. As I
remember, it is about 1/2 mile walking distance and it is on the east side of the
canyon. It is very a very steep climb and you almost have to have a ladder to get in
the cave. The cave is only about 50 to 60 feet deep. When I was going to High School
in Davis in the early 50's my best friend and schoolmate, Thomas Hyden and I
explored all of the area around Turner Falls, most of it back to the west of the
Falls. Thanks." -Joe Black
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/wagonwheelcave.jpg
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"In the mid 1940's, some friends and I visited the Wagon Wheel Cave. We went down to
Turner Falls and followed a trail going south down the canyon. I remember it as
being no more than 200 yards from the falls area. The cave is located to the left
(east) and up high on a rock face cliff. It is an easy climb to the cliff but you
need some help when you reach the cliff. Someone had placed a tree trunk from the
top of the incline to the cave. We were able to climb up the trunk and enter the
cave. It was just a round hole in the face of the cliff that you could stand upright
in. It was not very deep or impressive in any other way." -Gene Reed
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"We just returned from a cruise in the Caribbean. As we were walking in Cozumel,
Mexico we saw this bell and I thought you might be interested in it. My husband
thinks it must have been a Coast Guard bell. That is all the information we have on
the bell but thought we would send it to you."
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/CozumelBell03.jpg
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"Hi Butch. I have been in the cave you pictured as "Wagon Wheel Cave...Turner Falls"
many times as a kid. in the late 30's. It was hard to get into. the cave from the
trail below. as the wall below the cave was slick rock. We usually found a forked
limb to act as a ladder and climb into the cave. I don't know if it went very far
into the hill as the opening closed down very quickly We had no desire to explore
and didn't try to crawl into the small opening.at the back of the cave mouth."
-Bill Uhles
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"Hi Butch. Last weeks T&T was very interesting. I am looking for a picture of the
Carter Avenue Methodist church when it was a Methodist church. I think it now is a
Mormon church. My grandparents, J F and Lora Floyd attended that church back in the
40's and 50's. I remember the ice cream socials they had. My grandfather received a
plaque for perfect attendance for 30 years. If anyone has a picture of the outside
or inside of that church, I sure would appreciate a copy. Thanks and keep up the
good work." -Richard Henry
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"Butch, I thought EVERYONE remembered the old Skyview Drive-In. There was also a
drive in movie in town where the bank is on the corner across the street from the
Montgomery Ward mall (or where MW used to be) and there was also one south of town
up on the hill south of the Moose Lodge (that used to be the Club Avalon). One time
a bunch of us went to the Skyview and across the highway there was a little beer
joint. Kitty Wells was singing there that night and when the movie was over there
was a minor traffic jam what with the movie traffic and the people who had come to
hear her sing. Hadn't thought of that in a bazillion years."
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"Butch, I'd like to have any information about the history of the old Legate
community and the people who lived there. Would especially like to have pictures of
any part of the community if there are any available. I would really like to know
something about Laban 'Lab' Byrd and his wife Deliah Whitfield. They both died in
1915 and are buried at Legate. Folks can e-mail me." Bud Caudle budc34@cableone.net
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"Butch, The influenza epidemic of 1918 was called "Spanish Influenza". My mom lost
her birth mother to it. Mom had been born in 1911 (she'll be 93 years old next
month, January 9th) and still remembers those days (even though she may not remember
what she had for lunch today). Her mom's last words to her husband (my grandfather)
were, "what will you do?" (meaning how could he take of their 3 small daughters?).
Mom remembers how she helped where she could, but my granddad always saw to it that
the girls had clean clothes to wear, good shoes on their feet and he'd tie ribbon
bows in their hair before they left for school. Later he met and married a charming
schoolteacher to help raise his girls and together, they added a son to the family.
Mom's the only one left of that generation." -Roy Kendrick
RoyKendrick@oklahomahistory.net
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"My Dad was a fireman for the Katy RailRoad in 1918. He was the first one at the
train to get it fired up and after two hours and the rest of the crew did not show,
the Yard Master came and told him to shut it down as he was the only ne left alive
in his crew. The rest died of the flu during the night. I also lost a brother and
Uncle to the flu." -Paskell Poindexter, CA
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"Hi Butch, Santa Claus has answered your wish, I will get possession of a Folger
Adams key very soon and I'm going to send it to you. Please confirm your mailing
address and I will send the key along with some company info for you."
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos/jailkey.jpg
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"Oklahoma New Mexico & Pacific Rail To Be Removed. The extreme west end of what
remains of the old Oklahoma, New Mexico and Pacific rail line will soon be removed
to make way for road improvements. I shot the attached photos today, 12-17-03, which
show the preparation for straightening the curved section of 12th St. where it
intersects with Kings Road about two miles west of Ardmore. The ONMP which became
known as the Ringling Road once built and served the towns of Lone Grove, Wilson,
Healdton and Ringling. The rails shown in the photos are part of a one mile
abandoned section between Plainview Road and Kings Road which is now owned by
Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railroad but hasn't been used in years. These rails
are of historical value not only because being part of the original ONMP line but
also because they are some of the oldest rails in Oklahoma. The rails sections shown
being prepared to be removed have stamped dates of 1900 making them 103 years old."
-C. Dwane Stevens, Ardmore, Okla
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/ONMPkingsroad3a.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/ONMPkingsroad3b.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/ONMPkingsroad3c.jpg
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"Do you know the cemetery name in the Addington Bend area (Love county)? As a kid we
called it Graveyard Bluff (This is different from the GY Bluff on the island on
Texoma.). It overlooks an area of the Red River where Addington Bend runs into
Horseshoe Bend towards Loves Valley. There are several stones there and all flat on
the ground because of cattle being on the place. The property owner I believe is
Rick Monkres place on Addington Bend Road."
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"The lights at Regional Park are beautiful as are the ones at Central Park. But I
will always remember the Daube window. That was before everyone had lights all over
their homes. Every little kid in town I think made a trip to Daube's to see the
magic!!! I miss it. Maybe I'm just being a little nostalgic at this time of year but
sometimes when we didn't have so much....I think we appreciated the small things
more. I also remember the first artificial tree we had. It was one of the tinsel
trees. I have a picture of my mom by it. We were really up town then. My
children(now 29 and 31) remember their times of going thru the Wilson Oklahoma
Winterland (can't remember their names) but every Christmas we made our little drive
thru there. My mother is 94 and her memories of Christmas is going to the Baum
school house and all the kiddo's getting an apple and orange. That was basically her
Christmas in those years of long ago...but I always saw the joy on her face when she
told about the community Christmas party." -Sylvia Moore
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=========================================================================
The Carter County Courthouse Christmas tree contest continues! The sheriffs office
is ahead in votes, and the Mapping Dept on the 4th floor is coming in second right
now. If you havent voted, be sure and cast your choice of the best Christmas tree!
Just click at the bottom of the Voting Box to see the latest talley.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/christmastrees.html
I want to thank all of you who have sent Christmas wishes to me, whether it was by
email, instant messenger or snailmail. Without a doubt Christmas is the most
wonderful time of the year.
"Just remember this, Mr. Potter! That this rabble you're talking about, they do most
of the working and paying and living and dying in this community. Well, is it too
much to have them work and pay and live and die in a couple of decent rooms and a
bath?" -George Bailey (James Stewart) in the 1946 greatest Christmas movie of all
time, 'Its a Wonderful Life'
Happy Holidays everyone! See you next Saturday!
Butch Bridges
PO Box 2
Lone Grove, Oklahoma 73443
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Saturday December 13, 2003 T&T Weekly Vol 7 Issue 347
With the flu bug causing almost hysteria the past few days in the U.S., I remember a
lady over in the northeast part of Ardmore telling me that when she was a child the
influenza epidemic of 1918 had a grip on this country and Oklahoma. She and her
family lived across the street (604 'H' NE) from my great grandmother, Ida Murphree
Miller, and her whole family was deathly sick with the flu. She said her parents
were so sick they couldnt even get out of bed to take care of the children nor even
cook to feed themselves. Everyone was scared of catching this deadly flu in 1918
that had swept the world. The health officials put a sign on their door saying this
household had the flu. She said my great grandmother Ida Miller was the only person
who would come into their house and cook and feed them until they got better. She
said they would have probably died had it not been for Ida Miller and her courage to
come into the house to cook, clean, wash, etc. Here is a pix of my great grandmother
Ida Murphree Miller on her 90th birthday. She lived to be 92 and died in 1965. I
sure miss helping her make that lye soap every Fall.
http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/miller1.jpg
http://www.buffalocommons.org/docs/1918flu.html
We are still gathering a piece of information here and a piece of information there
on Hattye. Some more of you have joined us in this effort and shown your support
with a pledge. Thanks. I still believe her remains will come home someday to be next
to her family's.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/bringhattyehome.html
A Reader told me this week they still have just one traffic signal in the whole
county of Pushmataha county, (Antlers, Oklahoma). I hope when they finally add the
second light, they have a big all day celebration! Of course, I guess it wont
matter, looks like the guy in that little pickup truck just flat run that red light!
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos/antlight.jpg
Former Sheriff of Carter County, Gerald Cobb, emailed me a photo of himself this
week so I could add it to the Sheriffs webpage of former sheriffs. I only lack 4
pics now! If anyone knows of good photo of the remaining four, let me know.
http://www.brightok.net/cartercounty/photos/cobbgerald.jpg
http://www.brightok.net/cartercounty/CarterCountySheriffs.html
Some of you will remember reading in the T&T last December where the First
Presbyterian Church was packing their bells for shipment to The Netherlands for
tuning. Bill Lumpkin told me this week progress in The Netherlands was going well.
The church will be restoring the bells and pull mechanisms just like they were when
new. Its sure going to be beautiful to hear those bells pealing our again across
downtown Ardmore. Bill Lumpkin said they are still seeking donations to help pay for
the restoration of this piece of Ardmore history. Here are six photos sent from The
Netherlands this week showing the workers turning the bells with their equipment.
And these are the photos taken last December of the bells being removed and made
ready for the wooden crates for shipment overseas.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/bellphotos/presbell2.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/bellphotos/presbell3.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/bellphotos/presbell4.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/bellphotos/presbell5.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/bellphotos/presbell5a.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/bellphotos/presbell5b.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/bellphotos/presbell5c.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/bellphotos/presbell5d.jpg
83 year old Pat Ratliff of Lone Grove has been tearing quarters in half with his
bare hands all his life (does that leave him with 2 bits??). Anyway, this week he
used that same strength to break a carjacker's arm when they tried to steal his car.
Pat has got to be a breed of American that is slowing fading away.
http://www.ardmoreite.com/stories/121003/loc_carjacking.shtml
A Reader sent in an old photo of Wagon Wheel Cave. The Reader thought it was near
Turner Falls, but I couldn't find anything on it when I did a search on the Net. I
did find two Brownsville, Oklahomas. One somewhere in Marshall county and the other
somewhere in Hughes county.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/wagonwheelcave.jpg
This is an email I received where I asked about Wagon Wheel Cave:
"Dear Butch, I found an old 1958 report on Wagon Wheel Cave, it said that the cave
is one and a half mile north of Brownville, Oklahoma and that the cave is filled
with trash, including an old wagon wheel. The cave is about 100 feet long. If you go
to the cave take a trash bag with you, it sounds like it could use a clean up.
Sincerely, Bill Torode, NSS library" http://www.caves.org/
Has anyone heard of a Wagon Wheel Cave?
A friend in Lone Grove has a nice classic car for sale. Its got the suicide doors
which makes the car really neat. It is a 1949 Mercury and it runs great, purrs like
a kitten! If you know anyone interesting in this piece of history, call 580-657-3457
for details. http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/1949Mercury.jpg
I noticed this week the new CableOne towercam here in Ardmore is up and running. You
can catch a glimpse of downtown Ardmore on cable channel 7.
Fay Wray is pushing 96 now. You say you dont know who Fay Wray is? She's the blonde
lady King Kong was in love with in that 1933 film.
http://www.shillpages.com/faywray/wrayfq01.jpg
http://www.shillpages.com/faywray/fwmain.shtml
Recorded by Betty Carroll October 30, 1984: "Once upon a time.... there was a big
old home on 3rd Northeast just outside of the city limits where Felix and Callie
Boyd King reared 9 children and operated one of Ardmore's first dairy farms. The
big, 3-story home was built by the Kings in 1905 and had a total of 22 rooms. They
moved out in 1942 and the home was used as a nursing home for the elderly. Before
moving to Ardmore, Felix King was a druggist at Berwyn (now Gene Autry). Mrs. King
was the daughter of the Boyd who was a partner of a man named Love who operated the
Boyd and Love Oil Springs Health Resort, first northeast of Marietta then at the
springs of Oil Creek which are now on the Goddard Ranch northeast of Gene Autry.
This information is from the Ardmore Public Library from the files of Mac McGalliard
of his Reporter's Notebook columns."
SOME LETTERS FROM THIS WEEK'S MAILBAG
"I am aware of the Folger Adams Company making jail keys here in Joliet, Illinois. I
don't think that they are still a viable company at this time, due to the fact of
technology replacing tumbler type locks. If you are interested in the company, let
me see what I can find for you, as you may or may not know, we had two prisons in
this town. (one now shut down but Statesville is still going strong) the one that
has been shut down is the same one you will see in the movie the "BLUES BROTHERS".
In fact, Dan Ackroid and John Belushi's characters were named for two neighboring
towns "JOLIET" and "ELWOOD".
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos/jailkey.jpg
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"I found the article about the UFO outbreak over Oklahoma in 1965. I remember that
night very way. I was at church camp in Bristow Okla. It was the last night of the
camp meeting. I was setting with my mom and our minister's wife at that back of the
sanctuary. The sanctuary is large canopy. We were actually outside, I was sitting on
the ground not watching the sermon. That was when I saw it, coming out of the North
into the eastern sky. It was quiet, very bright and flat. Descending in the East. I
had to get the attention of everyone around me. My mom, the preacher's wife and her
son. We all watch it as it descended beyond some trees in the far distance. After
that we discussed what we saw. A plane, or a shooting star no one was for sure.
After the sermon my dad arrived to take us home. Getting out of the car the first
thing he asked was if we'd seen any fling saucers? "They've been seeing them all
over the state," he said. We knew then what we saw in the sky. It was very strange
that night. I knew the chances of me seeing a UFO was astronomical. Sometimes the
impossible happens." -Tony Trammell
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ufo.html
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"I noticed the reference to the Turner Falls Indian (Wirt Franklin) in your November
22 T&T. I have asked the same question of some acquaintances over the years and
found out only this much.
1. My information suggests only three existed. One at Turner Falls as we know,
another atop the Wirt Franklin Gas station (location of BancFirst presently) and the
third on a five or six foot pedestal on the S.E. corner of Main and D St. S.W., the
location of the same station.
2. After WWII, when Mr. Franklin sold or leased the station to others, the two at
the station location were removed. One was stored horizontally behind the station
(1945-1947 approx) and the other shipped to Ballinger, Texas (about 30 miles south
of Abeline) where my uncle, Elmer Shepperd, then mayor of Ballinger had my father,
V.A. Grissom who operated Grissom Drug Company across the street from the station,
arrange its sale (or gift) by Wirt Franklin or other owners, to the city of
Ballinger for their city park overlooking a scenic creek on a bluff above. He had
seen it numerous times during visits to Ardmore. I saw it there in my visits to
Ballinger as a boy at the end of WWII. While it was a resident of Ballinger, it fell
upon hard times, becoming the target of local pranksters/vandals who, as I
understand, roped it and dragged it into the creek below resulting in a total
smashup of the whole piece. Not much else to do in Ballinger for fun I suppose.
3. The other stored one... I haven't a clue as to its history or disposition.
All were symbols of Wirt Franklin's Palacine Oil Company and were known as the
"Palacine Indians". The cast metal part (statue only) stood approximately 12 to 15
feet tip of finger to toe, constructed of cast metal (?) and the figure stood atop a
rock molded from the same stuff adding another 3 or 4 feet. An inscription, in the
metal, at the base of each was simply "A Friend" cast into the rock-pedestal portion
of the sculpture. All of this was mounted on some sort of concrete base.
"Boots" Adams, (son of C.F. Adams I think) operated the station about this time and
he might have had a hand in their disposal...don't know if he is still around. He
also had a tire shop, as I recall on West Broadway near the present YWCA before
acquiring this station. Other operators followed him about whom I know nothing."
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"Hello Butch, As always I am enjoying the T & T each week, seems like it gets better
from week to week. Thanks for all your hard work and time spent. As often mentioned
by many of your readers, you are much appreciated by lots of people. Was wondering
if anyone remembers the old skyview drive-in theater east of town. There was a time
in the mid '50's that it was a very popular place to go. They had good food, cold
drinks, popcorn and some some good films sometimes."
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"Click here for a satellite Earth View." (zoom in and see the lights of Dallas/Ft
Worth easily)
http://www.fourmilab.ch/cgi-bin/uncgi/Earth?imgsize=320&opt=-l&lat=-33.4167&ns=North
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"We wrote a play about Buttermilk, Oklahoma!"
http://ardmoreite.com/stories/120803/loc_small.shtml
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"Ardmore-Akron Tire & Rubber Company closed its doors sometime between 1922-1926,
but they were actually bought out by. I know this because I have been doing research
into another of their companies, Oklahoma Peerless Oil & Refining Company of Ardmore
OK. If you or your readers have any information on this company, it would be
appreciated. I am doing research for a lady who is in dire financial need. Her
grandfather purchased 500 shares in Oklahoma Peerless Oil & Refining Company in
1909? or 1919? It was signed by Elmer S. Wood President, and Fox Wood, Secretary.
Any information would be appreciated. Send info to Brenda67sue@yahoo.com or
BowmanSharonM@yahoo.com Thank you. And I really like your website!"
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"I'm working on a.... well old computer. It has a socket 3 square CPU slot and a 486
Dx2 CPU Chip. It's missing a "thin long spring loaded metal clip" that holds the cpu
heat sink on. The clip goes across the heat sink over the cpu chip to snap on to the
ends of the square socket 3 slot built into the mother board. This has got to be a
hard to find item, but maybe you've got one or one of your readers will know where
to find one. The socket 7 clip is to long and I don't know if a socket 5 would work.
There is nothing holding the heat sink on the cpu and the original self stick paper
has been removed. Thanks." jj_bonnano@yahoo.com
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"Butch, I'm still on my quest to photograph early day oil field relics in Carter
County. Here's some more samples. I like the one with the unique exhaust vent on top
of the old pump house, reminds me of Darth Vader's Space Helmet. There's a shot of
the inside of the building showing the old pump assembly still standing and a close
up of the name plate on the pump. This building is located NW of Healdton,
Oklahoma." -C. Dwane Stevens
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/HealdtonPumpStation03a.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/HealdtonPumpStation03b.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/HealdtonPumpStation03c.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/HealdtonPumpStation03d.jpg
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"I enjoyed browsing through your web pages. However, I am looking for any
information about the founding of Slaughterville, Oklahoma or anything else about
its history. Do you have any information about this? Thanks." bob@wolfenet.com
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Below are a couple emails from this week's ConnectOklahoma Listserver. If your not a
subscriber (its free), then your messing out on some good posts!
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/connectoklahoma.html
"I remember well 62 years ago today. I was 7 years old, had gone to the "picture
show" with my older brother and a friend of the family that was about 16. We went to
the Ritz Theater. While we were there a friend of this girl came in and told her
that we were at war with the Japanese. I didn't even know who the Japanese were but
it scared me to death. When we left to go home my brother and this girl wanted to
walk home but I began to cry that the Japanese would get us and we had to call Daddy
to come after us. I made such a fuss that they did call. I remember the slogans,
Kilroy was here, we had to eat all the food on our plate, candy was scarce, my
beloved cousin, Doodle Guess had to go in the service. I was almost 12 before it
ended and a lot of boys from our neighbor hood left and some didn't return. Wars
didn't last a few weeks then. WW2 was a bad time for this country but the people
stood well and didn't try to hinder like today. I have enjoyed the emails for Okla
history. Grew up in Ardmore but have been a long time gone. You can leave Ardmore
and Okla but it doesn't leave you. Still love it." -Jo Evelyn Barton
joeveb2003@sbcglobal.net
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Linda, I was eleven years old and remember that day quite clearly. My family was
living in Alva. My Dad and brothers and I were getting into the car when our
neighbor came to the fence to tell us what he had just heard on the radio. I
remember glancing skyward, half expecting to see fighter planes overhead. (My sense
of geographical distance improved in the days that followed and newspaper stories
gave as much information as could be gathered). Dad tried to enlist, but was not
accepted because of his age. I shudder to think how our family could have subsisted
without our breadwinner. Automobile manufacturing was shut down immediately so the
factories could build tanks and other war vehicles. Rationing began. Sugar and meat
and butter were sorely missed. I still have some of the family's ration-stamp books.
Nylon had been developed just a few years ealier and more women could afford that
than the silk stockings previously in fashion, but nylon was needed for parachutes.
We schoolkids scoured vacant lots for scrap metal. Cotton cloth was very scarce.
Rayon was used for clothing and had to be laundered very carefully as the fibers
were weak when wet and tended to separate into shreds. Farm families were envied a
bit because they obtained some cotton fabric in the prized feed sacks. Many families
were already accustomed to hardships because the nation still had not fully shaken
off all the effects of the Depression. We were willing to endure even more because
we felt so helpless. The news was always so bad...especially the incredible losses
in the Philippines. Much more to relate, but I'll yield the podium to others."
-Elizabeth Dyer
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"I, too, remember well that Sunday afternoon when we heard the word that the
Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor. I was eight years old and living in Lawton. My
aunt and uncle from Stillwater had driven down to Lawton for the week-end. After
church, they had taken my brother and I to visit another aunt and uncle at Elgin.
That afternoon we were driving back to Lawton - we were just even with the Polo
Field at Ft. Sill - I will never forget it - when my uncle turned on the car radio
and we heard the news. There was talk of little else but the war during my
childhood. Living so close to Ft. Sill, I saw thousands of soldiers on the streets
of Lawton. My brothers had been working for Bateson Construction Company of Dallas,
building barracks at Ft. Sill and Paris, Texas - in anticipation of war with
Germany. My older brother wanted to join the service (Air Force) right away, but was
asked to complete the work at Paris and he did. He was later with the 8th Air Force
in England, shot down over enemy occupied France and got back to England 42 days
later through the efforts of the French Resistance (Underground). My other brother
was a senior in High School, graduated in May, but Dad would not sign for him to
join the Navy as he was underage. He signed on his 18th birthday in September. He
was a pharmacist mate (corpsman) with several Marine Air Groups all over the
Pacific. My Mom was secretary and event co-ordinator at the NCCS (Catholic) U.S.O.
club in Lawton. She helped so many servicemen, their sweethearts and wives and
families during the war. When she could not find hotel rooms for them, she brought
them home with her. She also planned entertainment events. As now, it was a very
traumatic time for families who had members in the various branches of service -
there were just more of them then. We owe them all such a debt of gratitude. My
prayers are always that those who are serving now will come home safely." -Irish
Annie in Lone Grove.
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"I too remember that Sunday December 7th, 1941! After church, my dad drove mom to
visit a family friend and while she was in the house, he, my 2 brothers, and I
waited in our 1939 Pontiac and dad turned on the car radio. We found the news
shocking and disturbing. Because dad had 3 small children, he was given a temporary
deferment. Many young men immediately volunteered to join the various services. I
think the military was almost overwhelmed with the number of volunteers, but they
also drafted many. Dad sought and got a job with Douglas Aircraft at the new plant
at Midwest City which was building C-47 cargo planes. He took great pride in his
work and when the plant had an open-house to show the public what they were
accomplishing, he took us to the plant to show us around and to show us the
milling-machine that he used to create parts with. Dad was trained to be a jig
builder (a jig is a tool used to help create unusual parts that cannot be made in a
mold nor on a standard lathe). He later used this same training after the war as an
employee at Little Giant Pump Company and then later at the Aero Commander Aircraft
plant in Bethany, OK.
Two of my friends spent much of the war in Japanese prison camps. Coach Faye Odell
was imprisoned by the Japanese early in the war, as was Wayne Liles. Wayne was a
survivor of the Bataan Death March. He weighed about 80 pounds when he was rescued
and when I knew him, he was closer to 200. Last I heard was that his widow was still
living. Wayne was already doing farm reports on KWTV when I went to work there in
1957 and was still there when I left in 1966. He and his wife were also members of
the church where I'd attended for more than 20 years (before I moved to Perry) and
they were best friends with my aunt Margaret Basey for 40+ years. I asked Wayne if
he'd written down some of his wartime experiences so that his kids would know of the
horrors of war (he was reluctant to talk to anyone about most of them), and he
replied yes, and that they already knew some of the stories. Coach Odell was
imprisoned at the Fall of Corregidor as I recall. Most of these survivors suffered
the effects from this lengthy and tortured experience for many years after their
release." -RoyKendrick@oklahomahistory.net
------------------------------------------------------------------------
========================================================================
I've set up the webpage for the county Christmas Tree contest again this year. Just
go to the link below, look over the trees, then vote the one of your choice!
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/christmastrees.html
When the late Nat King Cole was introduced to Carolyn Leigh, his first words were "I
goofed." He was referring to the fact that he had turned down this song a year
before, dismissing it as one for the "geriatric set." In the interim, Frank Sinatra
had made the definitive hit recording of it. Avant-garde arranger Johnny Richards
wrote the melody, determined to produce a "commercial" singable hit. Several
writers attempted lyrics, but none came up with a set to match the sunny mood of the
tune until the publisher approached Miss Leigh. At the time her father, a man with a
great zest for life, had become ill and depressed. "I wrote the words for him," she
recalled for this Reader's Digest Songbook article interview, "using some of his own
philosophy to cheer him up. When the song became No. 1, he became the most happy
fella in the hospital."
"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 its 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,
Then here is the best part
You have a head start
If you are among
The very young at heart.
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,
Then here is the best part
You have a head start
If you are among
The very young at heart."
-Carolyn Leigh 1954
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/leigh.jpg
http://persweb.direct.ca/fstringe/oz/f8.html
See everyone next Saturday!
Butch Bridges
PO Box 2
Lone Grove, Oklahoma 73443
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Saturday December 6, 2003 T&T Weekly Vol 7 Issue 346
I think we have made more progress this week in the Bring Hattye Home effort, but
there is still more to do if it is to ever happen. Thanks to a couple of T&T Readers
I was able to make contact with the grandson of Hattye Hinkle Chandler in Florida.
Jim Hill is living in the Florida sunshine state these days and we've had a couple
of good conversations about his grandmother Hattye.
Hattye died before Jim was born, but he had heard stories about her from his mother,
Hazen Hill, and about the strained relationship between the Chandlers and the
Hinkles. As Jeddie Harrison and I had surmised in our first talks, there could have
been bad blood between Hattye's husband James Chandler and her father Judge Hinkle.
Another painting has surfaced this week in Ardmore of Hattye, and we were surprised
at the artist's name on this painting (more on this artist later). It is a beautiful
color crayon portrait. When I look at the closeup pix of this painting, it is hard
for me to believe it was done in crayon. Oh what talent! Just visit Hattye's webpage
to see this new color portrait and how beautiful Hattye was as a young lady. There
is also a link to the close-up of Hattye 4 paragraphs down the webpage. Anyway, I
believe with all these pieces of info coming in, it warrants more research. We do
appreciate the support shown in the way of pledges.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/bringhattyehome.html
This is a link to a front page article in The Daily Ardmoreite this week (12/04/03)
about Jeddie finding at a garage sale the painting that Hattye painted back around
1895. http://www.ardmoreite.com/stories/120403/loc_hinkle.shtml
A T&T Reader's mother here in Ardmore had four black and white photos of the
students performing in one of Mrs. Doris Duston's circus plays at the Civic
Auditorium back in the early 60s.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/Duston3a.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/Duston4a.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/Duston5a.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/Duston6a.jpg
Another Reader bought a framed photograph at a garage sale. You can see it was an
important meeting of some kind with Indians and whitemen in attendance, maybe some
treaty signing? It shows in the lower right hand corner the photographer as Schultz.
Anyway, I hope someone out there can shed some light on this old photo. These first
three are reduced pics so they dont take long to load.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/IndianMeeting2b.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/IndianMeeting3b.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/IndianMeeting4b.jpg
These are over 300k pics and takes a while to load, but much more detailed.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/IndianMeeting2.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/IndianMeeting3.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/IndianMeeting4.jpg
Here is an interesting postcard of Ardmore's Carnegie Library back in 1908. There
are many pictures of the library back in those days. What caught my attention on
this one is the 2-story house across the street. This looks like it would be the SE
corner of Stanley and "E" Street SW.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/ardcarnegie1908.jpg
A Reader stopped at Boot Hill at Dodge City, Kansas last week and took some pics of
the old bell that is on display there. I only been there one time and vaguely
remember the place.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/BootHill1.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/BootHill2.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/BootHill4.jpg
http://www.boothill.org/intro.html
Ospam is working better with each passing week as I get it fined tuned to filter
spam. I see several of you have started using Ospam. One thing for sure, it works!
http://www.0spam.com/
Herman and Diane Caudle were at the courthouse this week taking care of business and
Herman was driving his 1949 Ford. It is one beautiful machine.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/CaudleCar.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/CaudleCarMotor.jpg
I've tried several CD burner programs, and its seemed like they all required me to
click my mouse a dozen or two times, just to start burning a couple of photo Folders
to a CD or archiving and emergency restore purposes. This week I ran across a little
free CD/DVD Burner that is so simple to work. Just a couple of mouse clicks and its
burning. Fast too! ttp://www.deepburner.com/
Recorded by Betty Carroll October 30, 1984: "Once upon a time.... there was a trail
from Duncan to Ardmore. "It went into Ardmore near the standpipe. It went through or
by Prairie Valley, Enterprise, Newport, Sneed, Wheeler, Graham, Fox and other places
to Duncan. There were no large creeks to cross, and no bridges." According to a
letter from James Steel to Mac McGallaird and reported in his Reporter's Notebook
column. "All of the cotton was hauled from Duncan to Ardmore until the Rock Island
Railroad was built to Duncan, Ardmore was the inland cotton market for many years.
The Santa Fe Railroad was built to Ardmore in 1887 and 1888. The farmers and
freighters drove their teams and wagons loaded with the big bales of cotton to
Ardmore, the teams and wagons were put in a wagon yard. The farmer and his cotton
money were soon parted if he took too much liquid celebration and mixed with the
wrong kind of people. The virgin land produced cotton and other crops almost beyond
imagination today."
SOME LETTERS FROM THIS WEEK'S MAILBAG
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"I, too, would like to honor Doris Duston. She worked so hard on putting on the
Spring Circus. My sister and I performed in, at least, three of them and it was such
fun!"
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"Tell LaRita McCabe Reynes that I have at least one picture of Ms. Duston's "circus"
at the Civic Auditorium (it will ALWAYS be the Civic Auditorium to me)."
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"I just watched the Lake Murray DVD on my tv. What a wonderful piece of history.
I've always been interested in the WPA projects around the state. They did a
wonderful job building the amphitheater and lodge, etc at Wintersmith Park in Ada,
and the park at Sulphur. After seeing this DVD, you realize how many improvements
have been made to Lake Murray through the years. Thanks for your work on this
project. Makes you hope more old films will be found."
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"Butch, I would like to find out if I can order one of those DVD's of Lake Murray
1936. My father from Custer County was a supervisor or some position there (I have a
photo of him in his office and the calendar behind him is on July 1936)."
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"Do you know the address of the "Duston Building" in downtown Ardmore? It is
mentioned in the Daily Ardmoreite Aug 4, 1894. "W.O. Duston and J. B. Spragins
returned last evening from a chicken hunt. They report having had a successful time
killing forty or fifty of the prairie feathered beauties. Douglas & Douglas
architects today awarded the contract for the W.O. Duston brick building to T.N.
Harris. The figures are about $4,000. Work will be commenced at once; the building
completed as soon as men and money can do it."
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"Butch, Wayne's (Payne Grocery) brother Earl was married to my aunt Bertha Holley. I
remember going in there in my early teens for a Chocolate Soldier pop and candy."
-Kirk Holley Smith, Hamilton, Montana
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"Friends, my cousin loaned me her digital camera for a few days to try out so I
stopped by the old ONMP line west of Uniroyal and shot a few photos. The rail shots
are of the extreme west end of the one mile abandoned section located at the
intersection of Kings Rd. and 12th Street (one mile west of Uniroyal). As you can
see in the photo the rail date is 1900. Ken, I didn't hike down to the bridges that
are falling in because as you can see it's very brushy and I didn't have my "brush
clothes" on at the time! Besides I'm waiting on you to go with me! The photo of the
Ardmore switcher is behind Uniroyal. They had a car on the ground and the crew had
just finished putting it back on the rails when I shot this photo. Some of the
photos are grainy because I did a lot of cropping to them and the lighting wasn't
the best." -Dwane Stevens
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/ONMP1a.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/ONMP2a.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/ONMP3a.jpg
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Carter County: The Daily Ardmoreite, Thursday Jan 18, 1893.
Miss Hattie HINKLE has returned from an extended visit to Little Rock, Ark. Miss
Hattie HINKLE is visiting relatives and friends in Arkansas. Judge HINKLE, Silas
BOYD, and Will PYEATT came in from the canyon this evening, where they had been for
the past several days fishing and rusticating. They brought with them a nice lot of
fish and remembered the Ardmoreite with a liberal supply for which due thanks are
extended.
JUDGMENT (US Court, Indian Terr., Southern Dist. Ardmore): W.F. Cobb, et al. VS
Choctaw Nation. On this the I8th day of January, I898, came on to be heard the
report of the Master in Chancery in the above styled cause , and after duly
considering said report and the evidence in support hereof, the Court is of the
opinion that said report ought to be confirmed. Wherefore, it is adjudged and
decreed by the Court that the report of the Master in Chancery, John Hinkle, in the
above styled cause be and the same is hereby confirmed and it is hereby ordered
adjudged and decreed by the Court that the following named applicants be and they
are hereby adjudged and decreed to be citizens of the Choctaw Nation and entitled to
be enrolled upon the rolls of Choctaw citizenship, to-wit:
W.F. Cobb, Ida May Cobb, wife of W. F. Cobb, Grace M Cobb, Walter M.Cobb, Lillian B.
Cobb, Sallie B. Cobb, Hugh T. Cobb, and Geo. A. Cobb; Geo. S. Cobb and M.F.A. Cobb,
wife of Geo. S. Cobb, Simon S. Cobb, Ethel B. Cobb, Edna Cobb, Florence Clark Cobb/
wife of Simon S. Cobb, Claude Cobb and Nina Cobb, James Cobb Harrison, Jas. G.
Harrison, Claud M. Harrison, Joe K. Harrison, Major?P. Harrison, Edgar G. Harrison,
and Thos J. Harrison, Minnie Kelley Harrison wife of Claud M. Harrison; Mrs. A. .J.
Dowd, Henry Jordon Cobb.
It is further adjudged and decreed by the Court that the above named applicants do
have and recover of and from the Choctaw Nation all costs of this proceeding.
Judge Hosea Townsend, Johnston Co: Tishomingo
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"Butch: Judge Hinkle lost his law office in the 1895 fire."
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"Butch, Could you please let everyone know who reads this very cool newsletter that
I am searching for any and all Oklahoma Urban Legends, especially in the
northeastern part of the state? I would also appreciate any Tribal legends as well
(for example stories on the DeerWoman, Little people, etc). Much appreciated, and
keep up the good work! Please send to Caitorrie@hotmail.com and title the email
"ULS" so I don't accidentally delete it."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The KVSO tower on NW Blvd was there in 1984 and was probably taken down by 1988.
The 1984 date is confirmed by a man who moved near there in 1984."
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"Hi Butch, I read the story about Katherine Cross blaming the doctor and the school
teacher. The article did not say why the school teacher was arrested or how he had a
part in the abortion related death? Do you know?"
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"We made a quick trip to Sulphur earlier in the week and noticed a lighted Christmas
display along I-35N, just north of Ponders Restaurant at Exit 33. It went for quite
a distance and really looked nice. Do you have any info on it? Question #2 - we
passed Lake Jean Neustadt as we were headed south. In all the years we've passed by
that lake, I can only remember seeing one person fishing on it? Do you have any info
on the lake?"
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"I wondered if you'd post our Christmas for Critters event for December 13th to be
held north of Claremore, Oklahoma at Foyil."
http://www.wildheartranch.org/
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"We are new subscribers and enjoying T&T very much. In your Vol. 7, Issue 340,
someone wrote in about Whit Carroll having a grocery store at Brock. He also had a
cotton gin. He was Jim's great grandfather and we are living on land that was once
his in Brock. He's also the same Whit Carroll that was mentioned in last week's
Ledger in the column "From the Archives, 84 years ago." Also, in the Wed. Nov. 26
edition of the Daily Oklahoman, Food Section, there was an article on punch bowls
and their history. One of them that was featured was designed by a silversmith named
Walter Dean. It was designed for the battleship USS Oklahoma in 1912. The man's name
sounded so familiar when I realized I had a set of silverware that had Walter C.
Dean, Ardmore, I.T. on the box. I'm wondering if he once lived in Ardmore and if
anyone would know about him. I called the Okla. Historical Society and the earliest
he was listed was 1911, but I'm wondering if he lived in Ardmore before Statehood.
If anyone could help, or could direct me how to find out more about this man, I
would appreciate it." -Jim and Norma Carroll carrolling@brightok.net
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"Just try typing in http://memory.loc.gov/ then click Collections, and then type in
Ardmore, Oklahoma and click search. If you want to see all the pictures and other
items (there are 500) that relate to Oklahoma (not Ardmore) go back after you view
the Ardmore Pictures and type in Oklahoma. Some of those pictures that had to do
with poor people in Oklahoma were heart rending."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Here is an interesting weather info site."
https://afweather.afwa.af.mil/
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"I read these mailings all the time and subscribe to Butch's great T&T newsletter
and seldom have anything but pure joy to add. This time however I happened to read
someone mention an old trolley over Turner Falls. Well I was eating in the Dougherty
Diner in Davis and they have a great picture of it on the wall there. When I saw it
I thought maybe others would enjoy seeing it also. The Dougherty Diner is located in
davis about one block North of the stoplight on the west side. And by the way they
cook a pretty mean(and Cheap) hamburger and I hear their catfish is good as well.
Thanks for the entertainment." -David Dill
------------------------------------------------------------------------
========================================================================
I've been having problems getting my new DVD burner to burn blank DVDs. But just the
last couple of days I think I've found the problem. Seems like those generic el
cheapo blank DVDs I bought dont work well in my DVD burner. I bought some name brand
and they are working fine. So hopefully I'll get caught up with all the requests for
the DVDs soon. http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/LynchMovieDVD.jpg
'An Unexpected Visitor'
I drove home after a long School day
And was glad it's over - needless to say
Walked in the door
As I've done a million times before
I couldn't believe what I found!
Scattered all around
Was green and black pills
The smell made me quite ill
My son made the stairs two at a time to check out the room
He let out a blood curdling scream
And this was no dream
I simply flew
Crying "What's the matter with you?"
He was standing at the door with an incredible look on his face
A smile - not a trace
In the middle of his bed stood - a sheep
It gave a mighty leap
Bounded out the door
I stood in amazement - as before
Catch him! I cried
I could have just died!
Then believe it or not - I heard a meow and we looked all around
In my room I finally found
Under the bed a mother cat and three new kittens
Enough said?
I saw red!
The moral of this story:
Be sure when you leave home- you shut the door tight
Or you could find an uninvited visitor - right?
-Irmadene Mapp Blankenship
See everyone next Saturday!
Butch Bridges
PO Box 2
Lone Grove, Oklahoma 73443
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Saturday November 29, 2003 T&T Weekly Vol 7 Issue 345
Just when I was getting a little discouraged trying to find relatives of Hattye
Hinkle, at the last minute before this T&T came out, here comes an email from a
Reader in Wilson! She found a relative of Hattye living in Ft Smith, Arkansas! The
Ft Smith area is where Hattye's father, Judge John Homer Hinkle, came from when they
relocated to Ardmore. I haven't had time to get hold of these Hinkles in Ft Smith
yet, but I will! My aunt Helen Carmon (widow of Pratt Carmon) could really help here
too if her mental state allowed. Sadly her mind is not what it used to be. She
worked over 20 yrs for Hill Shoes at 123 West Main here in Ardmore years ago. Hazen
Hill, born 1898 (she and husband Hubert Hill owned Hill's Shoes) is a daughter of
Hattye Hinkle. The Carter County Pioneers Book lists 3 boys for Hubert and Hazen.
James who died at age 2, Wilbert a pilot and killed while in active duty, and a
James R. Hill. James and his wife Joan lived in California. James and Joan had a son
James Chandler Hill. We can use all the help we can to find any kinfolk of Hattye
and Hazen, so send us the names of any relatives you know about.
This is a photo of Hattye's daughter, Hazen Chandler Hill (1898-1990).
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/HillHazen.jpg
If anyone knows the whereabouts of any decendents of Hattye Hinkle or Hazen Hill,
please let us know. Also several more of you have joined us in this effort to Bring
Hattye Home. Everyone's pledge is appreciated. I believe patience and determination
is the key here! http://www.oklahomahistory.net/bringhattyehome.html
A Reader brought by two campaign cards of Carter County Sheriff Robert Denney. I
notice two differences between the cards. One is a different Labor Union seal is on
each card. The other is the 1988 election was held in the November General Election,
meaning there must have been a Republican candidate running against him during that
election.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/DenneyRobert7688.jpg
Here is an interesting old photo sent in by a Reader who was raised in Lindsey,
Oklahoma. I bet this brings back some memories. It sure did for me. Being raised in
a lumber yard, I made several attempts to make a homemade cart, but didn't do to
well. haha
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/LindsaySoapbox.jpg
Here is another interesting photo I ran across this week. I guess its the first
Ardmore High School before the one everyone is familiar with that is located at
North Washington and 2nd. I believe that school was built around 1910. But this one
is before that, maybe someone knows where it was located?
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/ArdmoreHighOld.jpg
Ospam is working better with each passing week as I get it fined tuned to filter my
spam. I see several of you have started using Ospam. http://www.0spam.com/
I've talked several times about my OklahomaHistory.net website's Hit-O-Meter the
past few weeks. I reported a couple of weeks ago the photo of the spoon in the
persimmon seed as receiving the most Hits with over 500 Hits. Not far behind is
Katherine Cross's tombstone at Konawa, and coming in third is the Bring Hattye Home
webpage. But what has really surprised me is the "Anti-Virus Help' webpage has came
from almost obscurity after being created two years ago, to number 13 this month.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/virushelp.html
Here is a list of the top 20 with number 1 at top:
persimmons3b.jpg
konawa88.jpg
bringhattyehome.html
HinklePainting.jpg
bellpage.html
HinkleHattye2.jpg GoodnightMarjorie.jpg
coins.html
hinkle3.jpg
brownspr.html
normanhill.jpg
palacinestation.jpg
virushelp.html
clouds2.jpg
HinkleHattye.jpg
Recorded by Betty Carroll October 24, 1984: "Once upon a time.... in The Reporter's
Notebook of April 2, 1967 Mac McGalliard interviewed Hale Dunn recalling his long
years as a law enforcement officer in and around Ardmore. He was Ardmore Police
Chief for 16 years, but before that, before 1924 he was deputy sheriff under the now
almost legendary Sheriff Buck Garrett. He said Buck Garrett was Carter County's
second sheriff, serving from about 1920 until 1924. The first sheriff was a man
named Holmes Akers from Woodford, elected after statehood came in 1907. Garrett was
Ardmore police chief before he became sheriff. When he became sheriff in 1924 he
recalled there were only 8 in the department, including himself, 4 patrolmen, 2
jailers and a jail cook. The patrolmen worked in pairs on 12 hour shifts, and there
were no days off. During his 16 years as chief, he got the force increased to 16 men
and changed to 8 hour shifts."
SOME LETTERS FROM THIS WEEK'S MAILBAG
"I saw this week that a couple of people wanted to low down on Katherine Cross who
died in 1917 and whose tombstone notes that she was killed by human wolves. Period
newspaper accounts seem to indicate that she underwent an "illegal surgery"
performed by a local doctor. It is assumed that this was referring to an abortion.
She died soon after. The doctor had been charged with a similar charge on at least
one previous occasion." -On the Trail, Diron Ahlquist, Oklahoma City, OK
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Human wolves" are ones who are suffering from LYCANTHROPY, a disease that makes the
person act and believe as though they are "possessed" by the werewolf curse. There
is another associated genetic disorder, where they people LOOK like werewolves, but
indeed are just very hairy." http://www.timberwolf.org/html/werewolf.html
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I found the answer to the Katherine Cross tombstone question everyone was asking
about.(If you haven'tt found it yet) Click on sites below."
Seminole County genealogy website
http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/ok/seminole/seminole.html
Or you can go directly at
ftp://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/ok/seminole/history/cross.txt
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Butch, I was talking to an old timer in Konawa about the writing on Katherine
Cross's headstone (Killed by human wolves. He told me that she had gotten pregnant
out of wed lock. She had an abortion, The people who did the abortion, killed her
and when the family found out about it they had it put on her stone, (KILLED BY
HUMAN WOLVES) This is the story he told me."
ftp://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/ok/seminole/history/cross.txt
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Butch, I have seen this "killed by human wolves" story before. One of the OKC TV
stations did a story on it some time ago. Found some links that make mention of the
stone. As near as I can see, none tell the tale, but more reading bout this spooky
little story."
http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/OKGEN/1999-01/0917451789
http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/OKROOTS/1999-01/0917384056
http://www.ghostgadgets.com/media.html
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
"This letter is in reference to that poor girl buried in Texas. That is such an
abomination. I may only be able to give five or ten bucks a week but beginning next
weekend I will begin to ferry you money to help. I will bring the money by on
Saturday or Sunday and if you are not there I will leave it under a rock or
something on your porch. If there is no rock I will bring one just in case. LOL This
is a most noble thing you are doing."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The newspaper had some articles about old timers in September 1925:
Came in with Santa Fe; Mrs. Hines has served here 38 years-Among the old timers,
none of them could have lived in Ardmore much longer than Mrs. Ada Hines of A.
Street Northeast. She and her husband Daniel Hines came here with the Santa Fe and
she has been here since that time. It was I 1887 they landed here. Mrs. Hines said
they feared starvation in Indian Territory and when they left Kansas City to come
here, they brought quantities of flour and canned goods and vinegar and supplies to
last the family for a year. Mrs. Hines said she has 'served' in this city for 38
years. She nursed the first woman that ever had a surgical operation here and her
hands have always been busy. She has raised a family of honorable boys and clean
girls and has buried a husband and she has a grandson sleeping in a soldier's grave.
Her husband, in partnership with a man named Drake, owned the first lumberyard here,
she says and they nailed the shingles on the first roof in the city. For 37 years,
Mrs. Hines has lived at 407 A Street Northeast."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"there has been several people trying to locate the Palacine Indian that was on
Turner Falls lookout.... my guess it was used for scrap during WWII." -Bryan, Davis,
Oklahoma
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/TurnerFallsIndian3a.jpg
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I believe my dad said this was the first automobile to come to Marietta. Dr. Autry
and Sam Fox." -Nellie http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/MariettaDoctor.jpg
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I really wanted to lurk instead of write, but very little was said of Doris Duston.
I was hoping to hear more about her in the years to follow all of us going our
separate ways. I was in at least two of her circus performances and graduated from
high school in 1954. I'm wondering if there were any photographs taken? Perhaps
somebody in Ardmore could check the Ardmoreite?" -LaRita McCabe Reynes
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Does anyone know the history on Creek Churches down and around Eufaula, Oklahoma? I
am also interested in any urban legends from around that area." caitorrie@hotmail.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Anyone remember the old cable car that stretched over Turner Falls? One could ride
it across and back. I remember as a child riding across with my parents. It was so
high I was on the verge of sheer terror."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Butch, I was surfing the net and ran into your newsletter, quite by accident. I
wonder if your Readership knows how instrumental you were in the founding of the
Oklahoma State Emergency Medical Technician Association. If I remember correctly,
you attended the first meeting of the National EMT Association in Chicago." -Tom
Cody in CA
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Friends, We'll be showing work like this, A Wave for the Fireman, at the Oklahoma
City Train Show December 6 and 7. It's the biggest show of its kind in the Southwest
- and fills up the Travel and Transportation Building at the State Fairgounds. Hope
to see you there! -Tom Elmore"
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/wavefireman.jpg
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Butch, I can't believe you don't have Clyde Minter's grocery store on the grocery
store list. It DID burn a long time ago however. It was on the NE corner of Hwy 70
and I think that's Plainview Road. Across the street/hwy from the car lots. I think
there's a car wash there now. I'm just giving you a hard time today. Have a great
Thanksgiving. I tried to get my kids to go someplace else but NOooooo, they have to
come to Mother and Daddy's house!!!!!!!!!! Again, have a great day."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Here's a custom WWII diorama and figure I've finished. I built the diorama from
scratch, even hand twisted the barb wire then I repainted the head to look more
realistic. For those of you that know me well, you know I still love my toys. But
most think I have TOO MUCH SPARE TIME.... "Life's a garden, DIG IT." -Bryan Pullen
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/pow03.jpg
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Today I was working on another file, that of Ardmore Constable D.B. Cook and found
a couple articles where John Braziel is the one who killed him. It sounds like from
the two articles from the Daily Oklahoman, that Constable Cook was going to arrest
John Braziel and Braziel shot him and both of the unarmed men walking with him about
2 a.m. J.A. Sims was dead at the scene, Cook died 4 hours later (6 a.m.) and Jim
Billings recovered from his wounds."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Dear Butch, My favorite E-mail is your "This and That" RE: "A Song of Ardmore" I
love that song. I graduated from Ardmore High in 1940. A couple of minor corrections
to what you printed are: The second line should be "wafting o'er the air" rather
than "waiting o'er the air." In the second verse it should be "From the sunny shores
of Frisco" rather than "Even the sunny shores of Frisco"-------trivial matter!
Thanks!"
------------------------------------------------------------------------
========================================================================
I've been working on making DVDs of the 1936 Jack Lynch Film on Lake Murray. I have
a few DVDs ready at $5 each. So if you want one put your order in now. It is taking
longer to make the DVDs then I originally thought it would. I dont have any on VHS
yet but working on that too.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/LynchMovieDVD.jpg
The stars at night, are big and bright, (clap, clap, clap, clap)
Deep in the heart of Texas,
The prairie sky is wide and high, (clap, clap, clap, clap)
Deep in the heart of Texas.
The sage in bloom is like perfume, (clap, clap, clap, clap)
Deep in the heart of Texas,
Reminds me of, the one I love, (clap, clap, clap, clap)
Deep in the heart of Texas.
The coyotes wail, along the trail, (clap, clap, clap, clap)
Deep in the heart of Texas,
The rabbits rush, around the brush, (clap, clap, clap, clap)
Deep in the heart of Texas
The cowboys cry, "Ki-yip-pee-yi," (clap, clap, clap, clap)
Deep in the heart of Texas.
The doggies bawl, and bawl and bawl, (clap, clap, clap, clap)
Deep in the heart of Texas.
-by June Hershey, 1942
http://hotx.com/tjsjukebox/files/t002.html
See everyone next Saturday!
Butch Bridges
PO Box 2
Lone Grove, Oklahoma 73443
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Saturday November 22, 2003 T&T Weekly Vol 7 Issue 344
Several of you emailed me last week to say you want to help 'Bring Hattye Home'. I
really do appreciate those of you who responded, because I have never taken on a
project like this one. I know it will take all of us to make this happen. We are
still working on the many details. As in so many things in life, its seems like
getting that foothold in the beginning is the hardest part. I'll keep everyone
up-to-date here. When I look at Hattye's expression in her photo, she seems so sad,
as if she wished she were home in Ardmore.
I went to Rose Hill Cemetery this week and took some pics of the Hinkle family lot.
There is plenty of room for Hattye and her beautiful granite marker. At the time of
her death here in Ardmore in 1900, she and her father Federal Judge John Hinkle and
wife Mary lived at 302 2nd SW (Stanley SW now). She died
at noon that day in 1900, a service was held at the homeplace, and by midnight
Harvey Brothers Funeral Home had her on a train to Greenville for burial per her
husband's instructions.
This is an overall view of Hattye's burial spot. On the back side of her marker
stands a big cedar tree. It has partly pushed over her 5 foot tall marker, causing
it to lean toward the burial spot.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/HattyeMarker5b.jpg
This a close up of Hattye's marker. Born July 20, 1873 Died April 16, 1900 at 26
years, 9 months and 26 days. "Precious in the sight of the Lord."
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/HattyeMarker2.jpg
This is another view of Hattye's marker showing the tree next to it. She is buried
on the other side of the marker.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/HattyeMarker3.jpg
This is a view of Hattye's in-law's markers. The small flat one on the left is her
father-in-law's Dr. Marshall Marion Chandler. The tall marker on the right is her
mother-in-law's marker. The big cedar tree and Hattye's marker is in background.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/HattyeMarker4.jpg
So far abou 15 people have stepped forward to say they will help. These supports are
listed at the end of the 'Bring Hattye Home" webpage. I hope more of you who
are reading this will join us. If you can help find any of Hattye's living
defendants, let us know. Let's bring Hattye home.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/bringhattyehome.html
A lady sent me photos of an old bell that used to be on top of the Methodist Church
in Roosevelt, Oklahoma (NW of Lawton). The church recently closed down and the bell
was moved to the Methodist Church in Snyder, Oklahoma.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/RooseveltBell03.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/RooseveltBellCloseup.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/SnyderBell03.jpg
Speaking of Snyder, Oklahoma. Here is a photo of the old Snyder High School. My
grandfather, Stanley Carmon, was the contractor for the school's construction in the
1930s. http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/SnyderHigh03.jpg
This is the old Douglas High School Gym my grandfather built in this same time
period. You can even see the similarities between the one at Snyder and the one here
in Ardmore. He built 29 schools all over southern Oklahoma during the depression
years of the 30s.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/DouglasGym1930.jpg
A Reader sent me an old pic of the Wirt Franklin Indian statue that used to be at
Turner Falls Lookout point. I'm sure someone somewhere has one of the original
statues.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/TurnerFallsIndian3a.jpg
This week a Reader told me about Grindstone Creek just west of Springer, Oklahoma.
After learning about this piece of Carter county history, I know there must be a
story here, but what it is? I was told that years ago people in the area found old
grinding stones used at Indian camps along the creek. Has one every heard about a
grind stone Indian camp west of Springer?
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/grindstonemap.jpg
I noticed on my website's hit-o-meter that my lowly persimmon seed photo has
received more hits than any other file so far this month. When you have a photo that
can be found no where else in the world, the world wants to see! A spoon predicts
'a harsh winter with wet heavy snows'.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/persimmons3b.jpg
I've been using Ospam for a week now, and it is working flawlessly! It grabs nearly
all the spam before it reaches my Outlook express Inbox. It will even filter Hotmail
accounts. I haven't lost one "real" email since letting Ospam filter my emails. And
best of all, its free! http://www.0spam.com/
Some of you will remember I mentioned a couple of times the past few months about my
electricity dimming on and off in the evenings. Guess what? It happened at 1pm last
Monday in my neighborhood. Mine and my neighbors electricity was off for nearly one
hour Monday. OG&E trucks came out immediately, just down the street, fixing the
problem and my lights have not flickered since!
Recorded by Betty Carroll October 25, 1984: "Once upon a time.... you could ride a
street car to the old Lorena Park near the present Dornick Hills Club. There was a
ball park out there with grandstand seats for about 300. And there were baseball and
football games on sunday afternoon, and a picnic area near the lake on the east side
of the park. This was around 1907 to 1912, according to an interview Mac McGalliard
had with Mattie Aston Cravatt. She also remembered that Dr. Walter Hardy founded the
Hardy Sanitarium and started Oklahoma's first airplane ambulance service, lived west
of the present 12th Avenue NW and Commerce Street and had a fruit orchard and
vineyard. There was a Hill Sanitarium for alcoholics in a big 2 story brown house of
12 to 14 rooms on the corner of West Main and K Street. Dr. Von Keller later built
the Von Keller Hospital on the corner of 12th Avenue and Commerce, all here in
Ardmore."
SOME LETTERS FROM THIS WEEK'S MAILBAG
"Speaking of the Naval Air Station near Norman, my husband was stationed there in
1945 when he returned from the South Pacific and after WWII. His time was almost up
and he was trying to decide if the Navy was going to be his career. Being young and
having the desire to travel but on his own the civilian life won out. I didn't meet
him until a few years after that but I was living in Ardmore." -Jo Evelyn Barton
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Butch, as a young girl, I was told that the large mound of dirt you mentioned this
week in T&T near Norman, OK, was a firing range when the naval base was there.
Don't remember who told me." -Jo (Fronterhouse) Long
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The T&T is a memorial this week, your friend, the nice banner for the troops, the
veterans memorial, Thanksgiving and Hattye and the others you mention at the
cemeteries. A very warm and touching issue. God bless you."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Butch, what the heck is a human wolf? I never heard of that before."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The "Killed By Human Wolves" inscription on Katherine Cross's headstone in Konawa
made my hair stand on end. Does anyone know exactly what happened to Ms. Cross?"
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/konawa88.jpg
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Hello Butch, As usual with your weekly "This and That", some interesting bit of
news, history or a photo gets my curiosity going, similar to "Inquiring minds wanna
know" and next thing I know I have been on-line for hours searching and researching!
LOL! What got me curious this time was a T&T reader's mention of the photo of a
tombstone in Oklahoma. The deceased had been murdered by "human wolves". What a
statement to engrave on a tombstone! Okay Butch! "Inquiring minds wanna know"! What
is that all about?? AND as usual always looking forward to next week's T&T! Good
work!"
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Butch, I love your T&T letters and am so glad that I am on your mailing list. I
have Braziel ancestors who lived in Oklahoma Territory in about 1906-08. We have
Headen/Haden ancestors who married into our Braziel family just after the
Revolutionary War. The name of Haden or Headen has been handed down in every
generation of Braziels since that time. I was interested in your story about Dow
Braziel and John Thomas Braziel in Vol. 7, issue 343, and appreciate your sending
photos of their gravestones in the Rose Hill Cemetery. You did overlook another
Braziel headstone in the same plot (#44) as Dow Braziel, and that is the stone for a
Robert Haden Braziel (1842-1929). I would like to be in contact with anyone who may
have family information to share about this Robert Haden Braziel. Perhaps your
reader Shellie Hoffield (Random Acts of Kindness) could take a photo of Robert Haden
Braziel's gravestone for me? That would be very kind." -Rochelle in Hot Springs,
Arkansas rochelle@cablelynx.com
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/brazielrobert.jpg
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Butch, I can't believe that picture painted by Hattye Hinkle is over a hundred
years old! Looks so fresh. You always come up with such interesting things and
stories on your site. I cried when I read that Hattye is all alone out there in
Texas. I am reminded of my daughter who died just after she turned 21 and is buried
(due to my ex-husband's wishes) two to three hours drive away with no family nearby
and because I have not been able to drive for many years due to bad eyesight, I have
not been able to visit her grave for quite a while. That hurts. Can't afford to have
my daughter reburied where I am, but I hope that Hattye will be able to come home to
Ardmore. God bless you for wanting to do something about getting her back to her
family."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"As always I enjoyed this week's T&T, thank you for your extra effort. The article
mentioning the Gold Star Mothers caught my attention. Just recently became aware of
who these women are and what the name represents. Am sure you know all about them
but I have sent along a link to their web page." http://www.goldstarmoms.com/
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Does anyone know the history on Creek Churches down and around Eufala, Oklahoma? I
am also interested in any urban legends and ghost stories from around that area."
caitorrie@hotmail.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I am looking for information on the Bank of Hunter/ the first national bank of ok-
hunter branch and the ioof hall at Hunter, Oklahoma. all the same building. I know
the teller stuff is at the Hall of Fame in OK City... that is about all I can find.
I was hopeful to find a picture, article or advertising." vocollins@hotmail.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Butch the artist's name on the mural at Cornish Ford in Healdton says Firquain on
it, his Oklahoma City phone is 405-755-4881. Bill has the car in his garage, if you
want to see it."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Here is a website All GeoCachers should go to and bookmark. the web site owner is a
cacher. the site contains map after map after map. stay with it and see all of it.
if you want a map source go here. Pass it along to other cachers."
http://www.brillig.com/geocaching/maps.shtml
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Hi Butch, So sorry to hear of the loss of your boss and friend. In regards to the
mention you made a couple of weeks ago about the community pool, I worked there for
two summers as a lifeguard while I was in high school. I spent many days there just
goofing off and trying to work on my tan in addition to the time that I was working,
Those were some pretty fun times."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Hi Butch, I love your history site about Ardmore...I am interested in Ardmore and
Wilson because of the Finley family that lived and worked there...Thomas T. Finley
owned a operated a "green grocery" store at 4th Ave. N.E. in Ardmore from the early
1890's until a fire destroyed the store and home there, killing his wife, Lizzie,
Lizzie's sister Dora Murphy, Dora's daughter Corrine Murphy, and Lizzie's daughter
Mabel Cutts..this happened in Mar. of 1914..all are buried in Rose Hill
cemetery..Ardmore..then a daughter and son of Thomas, Minnie and Elmer, were
involved in a shooting at the Mobley hotel in Wilson, Minnie was the operator of the
hotel and Elmer shot and killed Minnie's son-n-law, Art Watkins in 1926 in the hotel
lobby after a fight about Art abusing Minnie and her daughter...just thought that
maybe you might have access to or know how to obtain some more information on these
events. I have just little articles clipped from papers about it...Thomas T. Finley
was my g-g grandfather. I lost track of Minnie and know not where she went after
this incident but I see that a Finley family must have been in the area for there to
be a cafe and feed and seed store operated by some member of the family. Was hoping
that somewhere in your travels you might have a picture of the old hotel or some
information about the above stories. any help would be so appreciated. hope to hear
from you, thanks so much." -Christie
------------------------------------------------------------------------
========================================================================
Over 800 people filled the First Baptist Church Wednesday at 2:00pm November 19th to
show their respect for Carter County Commissioner Joe Dean McReynolds and say
goodbye to a man who gave 12 years in public service to the people of this county.
Farewell Joe, you'll be missed by many.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/McReynoldsFarewell.jpg
http://ardmoreite.com/stories/111903/obi_McReynolds.shtml
The following is Ardmore's school song years ago. It was being sung as late as the
40s and maybe even the 1950s at pep rallies and games. I was told it was sung to the
music of 'The Grand Old Flag', although I haven't got the words to match the music
when I hum it. Does anyone remember?
"A song of Ardmore and her love so true
Comes waiting o're the air
And thrills us through and through.
While the bells of Victory do ring
We'll answer back by rising to sing-
Hail! Ole Ardmore, hurrah, hurrah, hurrah,
Our Alma Mater;thou art loyal, brave and true.
Her spirit guiding as we journey on
We'll always wear the red and white for Old Ardmore.
You may talk about your colleges, Fair Harvard and Old Yale
And all the universities whose banners brave the gale
The azure flag of Cambridge, and Old Oxford Noble Blue
That fly in far off England o'er hearts both brave and true.
Even the sunny shores of Frisco to the distant Portland, Maine,
Away off to the Philippines and away back home again-
No college, university, or school can ever show, so brave, so
True, so great a crew as students that we know.
CHORUS:
For we are jolly students of the Ardmore, Oklahoma Schools
Our colors are red and white.
We wear the emblem of our Alma Mater true-rah-rah-rah-
We're the kind that dare and do.
For we are the jolly students of Ardmore, Oklahoma, schools,
Our colors are red and white.
We wear the emblem of our Alma Mater true, rah-rah-rah-
We're the kind that dare and do."
Have a safe and bountiful Thanksgiving everyone! And see you next Saturday!
http://www.jacquielawson.com/viewcard.asp?code=0183913358
Butch Bridges
PO Box 2
Lone Grove, Oklahoma 73443
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Saturday November 15, 2003 T&T Weekly Vol 7 Issue 343
I had a visitor this week with an interesting story. His name is Jeddie Harrison
here in Ardmore and he had quite a story to tell. It all started nearly two years
ago when Jeddie went to a garage sale here in town and bought a painting. He didn't
give much attention to the painting at the time, so he just stored it away. This
week he thought about that painting, and remembered some names written on the back
of the painting along with the artist's name, so he decided to do some research. He
discovered the artist was a Hattye Hinkle Chandler (1874-1900). She painted the
picture when she was attending North Texas Female College for art in Sherman, Texas.
The best guess is Hattye painted the picture around 1893 or 1894.
Hattye Hinkle married young but because of a lingering illness, the newspapers said
she died here in Ardmore at age 26. Her husband, James J. Chandler, sent Hattye's
body to Greenville, Texas for burial since he was from that area. James Chandler
would later remarry, and through the years his first wife Hattye buried in
Greenville, Texas was all but forgotten.
This is a photo of Judge John Hinkle and his wife Mary in the front row. Their three
children are behind from left to right: Carra, J. Homer, and Hattye.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos/hinkle3.jpg
This is better photo of Hattye Hinkle as a very young lady.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/HinkleHattye.jpg
What makes this a sad story is all of Hattye's relatives are buried here in Ardmore
while she is still buried by herself in Greenville, Texas. Hattye's parents were
Ardmore's Federal Judge John Homer Hinkle and Mary Morgan Hinkle. Hattye's parents
had already had a burial spot paid for and in her name at Ardmore's Rose Hill
Cemetery in the Hinkle burial lots. So the burial spot has been waiting for her 103
years. As a side note, Hinkle Street along the north side of the courthouse is named
after the Hinkle family.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/HinkleStreetSW.jpg
Now let's flash back to school days in Ardmore. Everyone sit up straight in your
chairs, look toward the front, don't say a word, and listen carefully: Myself and
many of you reading this newsletter has a round-about connection to Hattye Hinkle
Chandler. That connection is Marjorie Chandler Goodnight. Thousands of us kids were
taught penmanship at Ardmore Junior High by Mrs. Goodnight, as she was a teacher for
many years at Ardmore. You see, Mrs. Goodnight (1905-1998) was the granddaughter of
Hattye Hinkle Chandler. Here is a picture of Marjorie Goodnight in case some of you
have forgotten what that kind, gentle, wonderful teacher looked like.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/GoodnightMarjorie.jpg
http://www.ardmoreite.com/stories/020998/obits/obits.html
Right now I don't know what it would take to move Hattye from Greenville, Texas to
Ardmore. I'm sure it would take permission from her kin, obtaining a re-burial
permits in Texas and Oklahoma, lots of red tape, grave opening and closing costs,
transportation costs, etc. But I do believe there are enough of us dyed-in-the-wool
Ardmoreites who would like to see Hattye Hinkle brought to Ardmore from that lonely
grave in Greenville, Texas and buried with her family members at Rose Hill Cemetery.
She has been at Greenville since 1900. If you would like for me to pursue this
further, let me know. One man ion Ardmore said when he learned of this, he broke
down and cried, knowing she has been buried at Greenville all these years, all
alone. Two or three people have already told me they will help. Can we bring Hattye
Hinkle home?
I have set up a webpage to keep track of the Bring Hattye Home effort. Those who
would like to support me and others in this effort, send me an email.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/bringhattyehome.html
And finally what brought all this about the past few days is this 1893 painting by
Hattye Hinkle which is now owned by Jeddie Harrison of Ardmore.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/HinklePainting.jpg
A Reader called me this week and said there was a bell east of Ardmore near
Springdale Road that would soon be in Dallas because its owner was moving there. So
everyone knows me, I rushed out there and boy what a find! It's an 1886 design, but
not a 1886 bell. They are not sure where it came from.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/SpringDaleRdBell2.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/SpringDaleRdBell4.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/SpringDaleRdBell3.jpg
Here is what Carl Zimmerman in St Louis had to say about the above bell:
"Interesting! As usual with C.S. Bell stuff, "1886" is not the year when the bell
was made, but the year the pattern was redesigned (I think). The only other date
that's ever been seen is 1889, and I think that may be a typo for 1886. So the bell
is probably somewhat younger than 1886. Anyway, this bell is a Size 1, which is the
smallest made. That's probably why the lettering (especially the 1886) appears so
large with respect to the size of the yoke. Most unusual is picture 4, which shows a
small word just above the bracket on the base. I guess it says "upright", but it
took me a while to figure that out."
And this will take some of you back in time. Sitting right next to that bell
southeast of Ardmore was this old wood stove. The lifting handle is still laying on
top. The legs/base to the stove is not under the stove, but sitting off to the side
out of the picture.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/SpringDaleRdStove2.jpg
I was at the Rose Hill Cemetery this week and just a few feet west of the Main Gate
I saw the name Braziel. So I stop, and sure enough, it was the marker of Dow
Braziel. Most of you will remember the story on Dow Braziel. He was shot and killed
at the California Cafe in 1919 by Deputy Sheriff Bud Ballew. Next to Dow was John
Thomas Braziel.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/BrazielDowMarker.jpg
This is a photo of U.S. Marshal Dow Braziel.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/BrazielDow.jpg
John Braziel killed two men in 1907 names of Cook and Simms. He was sentence to life
in prison at McAlester in 1908.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/BrazielJohnThomas.jpg
From Nov 4, 2000 T&T:
"Yesterday I received a package from Del City. It was a rare photo of the Braziel
brothers along with five others in the photo. The photo belonged to Bill Moncrief's
grandmother who recently died at age 104. His grandmother used to tell Bill how Bob
and Dow Braziel would come over to her house when a child dressed in the same
uniforms. Dow Braziel died looking down the gun barrel of Carter County Deputy Bud
Ballew in 1919 at the California Cafe here in Ardmore. The Dow brothers were
partners in the cafe, which was located on the corner where Stolfa Brothers Hardware
is presently located. In the photo Robert H. "Bob" Braziel is the man at top left.
His brother Dow is the second top left. Both are in dark suits. Bill Moncrief
believes the man at the lower bottom right, is John "Buck" Garrett."
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/BrazielBros.jpg
This is the Braziel Family Marker
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/BrazielFamilyMarker.jpg
Just a few feet north of Dow Braziel's marker is where Con Keirsey and his wife are
buried. Con Keirsey was the first and only deputy sheriff of Carter county who lost
his life in the line of duty.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/KeirseyConVella.jpg
William Oscar Alexander was a "special Officer" killed in 1916 when he and others
stopped a load of illegal whiskey SE of Ardmore at Hoxbar. Along with Alexander was
U.S. Marshal Dow Braziel. Leaning up against William Oscar Alexander's tombstone lay
a marker that caught my attention. It was a Hardeman lady and read:
Here lies one who in this life,
Was a kind mother, a true wife,
She was by many virtues blest,
And Piety among the best.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/OneTrueWife.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/OneTrueWife2.jpg
Not knowing what piety meant I looked it up: 1. the quality or state of being pious:
as a. fidelity to natural obligations (as to parents) b. dutifulness in religion.
http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=piety
In Healdton, Oklahoma on the side of the Cornish Motor Company building is a
beautiful mural. I do not know who painted the mural, but it is a work of art. Its a
picture of a 1915 Model 'T' Ford. Maybe someone in the Healdton area will let us
know who the artist is.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/1915HealdtonFord2.jpg
A Reader sent me photos of an old bell in Handley, Texas. Handley, Texas is just a
piece of history today. In 1946 it was annexed into Ft Worth.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/handleybell2.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/handleybell3.jpg
I found what seems like an excellent Free web based anti-spam program this week. It
has worked even better than the n-dreams.com I talked about a couple of months ago.
Like n-dream.com Ospam using a verification process. Plus you can Add emails of
your friends or you Address Book to a whitelist so they don't have to Verify they
are a real person sending the email and not a robot. I suggest you to to their
Support Page first and read about how Ospam works.
http://www.0spam.com/
Recorded by Betty Carroll October 25, 1984: "Once upon a time.... try to imagine
Turner Falls and the Honey Creek canyon as the scene must have looked thousands of
years ago. The stream and the cascade of the falls probably would have looked much
as they do now. There would be camps or villages of pre-historic people. Some of
these people at some time lived in a wonderful cave in cliffs above the falls. There
is a room about 15 to 20 feet across, there a natural window in the sheer face of
the cliff for a lookout down the canyon, a small opening in the rock of the roof
provides a chimney, and the entrance opens in the cliff so it can be reached fairly
easily but would be easy to defend against animals or other men. The ceiling of this
cave is blackened by layers of soot from the ancient fires. It is easy to see why
these people would have been attracted to the Turner Falls area with the springs of
pure water, the canyons and cliffs and caves providing natural shelter. There would
have been an abundance of wild game and fish for food. I'll be thinking of those
ancient peoples and looking around for signs of them when I go up there next time."
SOME LETTERS FROM THIS WEEK'S MAILBAG
"That is such a great photo of the big dirt mound in Norman. I have lived in Wichita
Kansas for seven years and every time I drive back through Norman on my way home I
look at that hill, which I have looked at since I was in high school in the 80s and
I have wondered why it is there.. how it got there, how long it has been there etc.
I have seen signs on it and trees on it and a few weeks ago there was a sheet with
OU letters on it. I never drive by it without giving it though. I've always thought
this was a weird quirk of mine. I mean how many people even give a dirt mound a
second thought? So I was very excited to see something come through the list about
the hill. Now I want to know more!!!"
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Butch: I know "the big dirt mound at Norman, Oklahoma" very well. I watched them
build it in early 1942. We lived on a farm a few miles southwest of Moore,
population 499. WW II had just started. I was 14 years old. We could see "the big
dirt mound" grow daily. We wondered what it was. They were busy building the Naval
Air Training Station north of Norman. We knew it had something to do with the Navy
Base but could not imagine what it was for. At the time there was no IH-35, just the
interurban tracks from Oklahoma City to Norman. Highway 77 then was a couple of
miles east of "the mound". It was much later that we learned it was a firing range
for the Navy and "the dirt mound" served as the backstop for the lead bullets. Moore
was only about three miles north. I wonder how many rounds went over the mound and
fell somewhere around Moore. The Navy took the 320-acre farm across the road from
our farm on what is now Santa Fe. It was already fairly flat and they made it into a
landing strip for the Navy pilot trainees to practice doing touch and go landings in
their yellow Stearman PT-17 open cockpit biplanes. I remember there being as many as
twenty or thirty of them at a time flying around and around from daylight to dark
practicing touch and go landings. It wasn't very long until one of them smacked into
the ground. My dad jumped into the 1929 Windsor and went tearing across the landing
strip to rescue the pilot while I ran a quarter of a mile to the nearest neighbor
who had a telephone to call the Naval Station. This happened twice more before the
Navy built a crash and aid station at the north end. A lot of the WW II Navy pilots
trained on that landing strip. A few years later I enlisted and served in the Army
Paratroopers." -Don Davidson, Brenham, Texas.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Butch, re: the statue of the Indian. There is a car dealership in San Antonio that
has a humongous Indian statue in front of their lot. They used to be on Broadway
close to downtown SA but they moved several years ago to Loop 410. Next time I go to
SA I'll go over and take a pic for you."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"That mound of dirt at Norman, OK is called Mt. Williams by the Navy guys who
trained at the Naval Air Technical Training Center. At Norman there was a north base
and a south base used during WWII and the south base was closed in 1959. My dad,
Buck West, and my husband, Dale Wise, both trained at that base many years apart."
-C Wise, Kingston, OK
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The mound used to look the same on both ends, sloping down to the ground. The
western end was sliced off almost vertically when they built I-35."
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/normanhill.jpg
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The mounds at The Norman Airport were used for sighting in guns on aircraft when
that was U.S.Navy North Field. The main naval base was S.W. of town about two blocks
of the college stadium,which wsa given to them when the base close in the 50's."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Butch: When I attended OU after WW2 I was told that Norman had a north Naval Base
and also a south Naval Base. I had classes in buildings on the north base, the south
base and the regular main OU campus. I have always thought this firing range was for
the Navy, not the Army, maybe I have not been properly informed. Also, In more
recent times I believe they considered moving the dirt away but realized there
could still be some live armament present and reconsidered, before taking the risk."
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"I admit that I'm sort of enthralled by the Brown's Spring saga, but why is there no
mention of the origin of the placename? Has anyone done any digging (excuse the
term) to find out who the area and cemetery are named after? I have wandered down
that little road from the smoke shop just to see where it went but stopped short of
the springs. Don't remember if I felt a little spooked or not. I suspect it just
didn't seem like a good idea at the time. I'm curious to know what old data you
might have about the Simon, Hickory and Burneyville areas. I'm trying to put
together some family tree information about a few families named GOODWIN, HILL,
WALKER, LINDSEY and MOORE. Many from this extended family are buried in the Simon
and Lakeview cemeteries but there are people missing! Especially from the Moore line
in the Burneyville area." lhead@netexas.net
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Is anyone going to offer any persimmons for sale? I just had a very wonderful 70th
birthday party and haven't had persimmons for a long time. When I was a kid
(1938-1948) we went to Poteau, OK for a week at Thanksgiving time to visit with my
grandfather. We always got some wild persimmons and most of the time they were ripe.
Sometimes we got the ones that would make your mouth pucker. I would like to get
some wild persimmons?" -Ted Edwards tebear@air-internet.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Hey Butch & Sweatpea, Liked the picture of the pin from the swimming pool. I
remember all that learned swim there in 1963 Really brings back a lot of good
memories. Fact my last trip to the pool in 64 at the age of 14 resulted in First
degree burns and I ended up in the hospital. Since then I have stayed out of the
son."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"As usual I am reading and enjoying the newsletter tonight. That was good to see the
old Ardmore Hotel. My sister, Jackie worked there as a top waitress when I was just
a kid. It was a fine Hotel! I looked at the lost pictures too and the one by Jack
Patrick, Deventer, The Netherlands, the sign reading Trois Ponts the man seems to be
photographing says "Three Bridges" according to my French husband. Oh, and the P-nut
harvest last week was interesting too. I never knew it so good. What I remember is
shaking them by hand and piling them in a windrow? for drying. By evening or
quitting time, I had more dirt on me than the pnuts ever had. lol Looking forward to
next issue. This gets better all the time. I am just one of so many who appreciate
your hard work." -Nellie Combe
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"Butch, I am a volunteer for Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness. I take photos of
Carter County cemetery headstones for genealogists around the nation. Lately, there
has been a boom in genealogy interest, I suppose, and I have been inundated with
requests. I am looking for more volunteers for Carter County, Oklahoma, to help me
out with these requests. I use Bill Hamm's cemetery index
http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/ok/carter/cartercm.htm to locate which cemetery a
person is buried. (His work has been invaluable). I locate the plot of the grave
using books in the Chickasaw Library for the smaller cemeteries (published by local
genealogical societies); if the grave is in Rose Hill or Hillcrest, all I have to do
is call and they can bring up the name on their database and give me the location.
Once I locate the grave, I take a photo with my digital camera and email to the
requestor. If any T & T readers would like to help me (along with Ruth Bellamy) with
Carter County (please, there are over 70 cemeteries here!), you can sign up through
http://www.raogk.org . Volunteers are needed all over Oklahoma as well as the
country, so please sign up to help out with the county in which you live. You can
ask to be reimbursed for your expenses. Thanks so much!" -Shellie Hoffield
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I have created a website that locates America's Military Memorials and Military
Museums by city and state. The information is FREE OF CHARGE to everyone. The
Smithsonian Institute provided the initial data for the guide. Folks from all over
the nation send in locations or suggest corrections on the list. If your
municipality or county has military monuments that honor veterans of World War I,
World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm and Iraq, I would be glad to enter them
in the guide. In order for tourists to locate the exact site, it is most helpful to
include cross streets. You may check to see if your memorials are listed on my
website. I am 75 and a retired school administrator and my wife and I live on a farm
in North Carolina. I deeply appreciate your assistance with my project."
Donald B. Conrad, 48 Carriage Lane, Piney Creek, North Carolina 28663. 1-336-372-4454
http://web.infoave.net/~donbarb54/
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"Dwane Stevens' photos and description of Central Power Units reminded me of growing
up in the Samedan Oil District#1 camp, just up the road from the old Cannon School.
There were several "powers" , as we called them, all over those hills, but one of
the largest was less than a quarter of a mile behind our house. The natural gas
engines that ran those units were very loud and had a distinctive rhythm. Once,
around 2:00 a.m., everyone in the house woke up at the same time. We had no idea
why, until we noticed neighbor's lights on, too. We went out into the yard and saw
most of the folks in the camp just looking at each other, trying to figure out what
was going on, when someone noticed how quiet it was. The power unit had stopped. We
were all so used to the rhythmic sounds that we had been awakened by silence. That
is one of my most vivid memories of growing up in Carter County in the 50's. Thanks
to Dwane for the photos. The last time I was at the Permian Basin Petroleum Museum
in Midland, Texas, they had moved an old power unit onto the grounds and had a few
rod lines to show how they worked." -Chuck
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/cannonschoolmap.jpg
http://community.webshots.com/photo/16560143/16809105cyPJnObNsn
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"I was trying to view this photo, but I couldn't. Is there any chance that you could
email it to me? It is the one about human wolves in the Konawa, Oklahoma cemetery."
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/konawa88.jpg
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"Butch, Organizers of the annual Veteran's Day observance at the Oklahoma Veteran's
Center were rewarded with great weather and a large, attentative audience. Many of
the veterans at the Center were assembled in wheel chairs and chairs on the lawn
near the ceremony. The audience was sprinkled with the faces of the old, middle-age
and young soldiers of the recent wars. An uplifting speech by Norman A. Lamb,
Cabinet Secretary,Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs emphasized the blessings
of being an American with material things many of the world can only dream about.
With many of their group in Iraq, the Army Reserve 910th Quartermaster Co. presented
and retired the colors. Missing this year was the 21-gun salute due to a lack of
910th personnel. The Davis High School band, directed by Kern Farve, presented music
for the occasion. Troop 39 Boy Scouts participated in the ceremony as did M/Sgt.
Kent Tucker (retired), Jared Pollard, Gold Star Mothers and Pastor Frank Young. Gary
Robertson, center administrator, acted as moderator. The observance is supported
annually by American Legion Posts 65 and 264, Carter County Military Memorial
Museum, VFW Post 4865, Marine Corps League, Disabled American Veterans Chapter 30,
and the 345th Support Battalion, Oklahoma National Guard. Wal-Mart personnel were
recognized for their support of the program. A few pictures of the ceremony are
included." -Gary Simmons
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/Vetdaydavisbandvets03.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/VetDaycrowd03.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/Veterans111103.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/vetdayspeakcrowd03.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/Veteransday111103.jpg
------------------------------------------------------------------------
========================================================================
It is with a sad heart I write this issue of T&T. I've struggled with getting it
finished all week since learning my boss had a massive heart attack earlier in the
week. I would come home in the evenings and just didn't have it in me to write, but
I knew many of you would be waiting for this newsletter. Most of you know I work for
the Carter County Commissioners Office taking care of the computer networks of
county government. My office is by Commissioner Joe McReynold's office and when you
work with someone on a day-to-day basis you get to know them very well. Joe was like
a father figure to me, someone I could go to when I needed help with something, and
he always did what he could. Many days Joe would come in to the office from the
District 1 County Barn around 4:00pm. I would be in my office, and he always took a
minute to stop, and ask me how things were going. Joe McReynolds was one of those
kind of people that was never to busy for a friend. Joe passed away around 4:00pm
Friday November 14th, never recovering from that heart attack. He will be dearly
missed by many. He was a true friend through the years, and I want to dedicate this
issue of T&T to him. We'll miss you Joe.
http://www.brightok.net/cartercounty/CommissionerJoeMcReynolds.html
Doug Williams and I would like to thank those of you who made possible the new
"Welcome Home" banner that is now in place on a billboard by the armory building at
the north edge of Ardmore. I knew we could do it!
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/NotForgottenBillboard.jpg
In 1558 three of my Carmon ancestors were burned at the stake in Norwich, England
for practicing their Puritan beliefs contrary to the Church of England. Finally in
1633 their decendants, my ancestors, left England and settled on 120,000 acres in
Hampstead on New York Island. 370 years later here I am in Ardmore, Oklahoma
enjoying freedom that came at a price. Even today a high price is being paid by many
so you and I can enjoy turkey, dressing and giblet gravy in a few days. But its more
than that. I hope we all take time to give thanks next week and being able to live
in a land of freedom.
"Come, ye thankful people, come, raise the song of harvest home;
All is safely gathered in, ere the winter storms begin.
God our Maker doth provide for our wants to be supplied;
Come to God's own temple, come, raise the song of harvest home."
Written by Henry Alford, 1844
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/c/o/comeytpc.htm
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/bio/a/l/alford_h.htm
See everyone next Saturday.
Butch Bridges
PO Box 2
Lone Grove, Oklahoma 73443
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Saturday November 8, 2003 T&T Weekly Vol 7 Issue 342
Last week we talked about the persimmon seed as a weather predictor. It looks like
the persimmon is proving to be a correct forecaster of Oklahoma's weather the past
few days. Temperatures have dropped down in the 20s and 30s in many areas after
being in the 80s and 90s a week or so ago.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/persimmons3b.jpg
Here is a 1942 photo of the old Ardmore Hotel. It was later modernized into the
present day bank building at "C" and West main.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/ardhotel1942.jpg
Back in the early 70s I took a photo with a 35mm camera of the "big dirt mound" at
Norman, Oklahoma. This is the hill that was used for shooting practice by the navy
in WWII. I've heard there used to be and probably still is lead bullets in that
mound. I can't find the original photo right know, but I should have it by the next
T&T. Then we can get a real closeup! This mound of dirt is right along the east side
of I-35. http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/normanhill.jpg
I received a call this week from a lady in Snyder, Oklahoma. She is sending me
photos of the old Methodist Church bell that was originally in Roosevelt, Oklahoma
just north of Snyder. Not long ago the bell was moved to Snyder, Oklahoma and placed
on display. When I get the photos I'll let everyone see this 100+ year bell.
I remember as a kid in the early 60s the building of what we called the "big
swimming pool" at 3rd and F Street NE just west of my grandfather Carmon's lumber
yard. (The correct name is Community Swimming Pool.) I'd ride my bicycle up to the
site and watch that bulldozer dig what I thought was the deepest hole in the whole
world. When we wore our street clothes to the pool, we'd go into the dressing room
and change into a bathing suit. Our street clothes where put in a wire basket and a
big safety pin with a number on it was given to us. The number on the safety pin
matched the number on the wire basket. We would attached the pin to our bathing
suit, and se it to get our wire basket when we were ready to leave. Here is one of
those big safety pins with the number 37 on it from the 1960s that I just happen to
have! http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/poolpin65.jpg
Once in a while I take a photo with my Olympus digital camera that turns out good
for an amateur. Here's a photo I took that I'm proud of...... proud its being used
on an historical website of locomotives!
http://test.steamlocomotive.info/vlocomotive.cfm?Display=956
Speaking of photos I counted all the pixs I have in several Folders on my computer
and came up with 5,634. That's a lot of photos. I'm sure glad I have a CD burner in
case my hard drive crashes!
Back in the 1920s and 30s Wirt Franklin Oil established filling stations in Ardmore
and other areas. The well known and recognized landmark in front of each station was
a statue of an Indian brave holding up his left hand in friendship. This photo is a
good closeup of the Wirt Franklin Station and Palacine Oil along with the Indian
statue. I wonder if there is a statue still in existance somewhere?
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/palacinestation.jpg
Criner Hills: A small group of hills southwest of Ardmore is known as Criner Hills.
They were named after the earliest resident of the hills, John B. Criner. John was
born in Sherman, Texas in 1859 and the family moved in 1860 to Indian Territory.
John made the hills his headquarters for various ranches he operated at
Thackerville, Tatums, and Brock. He was one of the first settlers south of the
Arbuckles and lived for 98 years, witnessing the tremendous growth of the area he
pioneered. He died at his home in the Criner Hills in July 1948. -from Paul Frame's
'History of Ardmore'
TimeTales is a collection of found photographs. Found at fleamarkets, thriftshops,
some are scooped up from streets and alleyways, fallen from an overstuffed bag or
torn pocket. Others turn up in a cabinet's hidden compartment, found while wandering
the rooms of an abandoned house. Now the photos exist by themselves, lost in time.
Time Tales does not want to reveal their mysteries. Time Tales asks to be the new
home for lost photos, a resting place, for the nameless and the lost.
http://www.TimeTales.com/
I still get calls and emails and hear stories about people losing everything because
of a virus on their computer. I created a webpage two years ago to help the novice
computer user with this ever growing problem. I updated it this week so maybe it will help with the popups
too by using a program called FreeSurfer.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/virushelp.html
I know there are T&T Readers who have emailed the Number 1 historian of Healdton
about local history in that area after he's posted an email in the Mailbag. I
received an email this week from Kenneth Eck letting me know he has jumped into the
fastlane and broadband internet. His new email address is kenlorek@cablerocket.com
Recorded by Betty Carroll October 2, 1984: "Once upon a time.... its hard to believe
14 different flags have flown over all or part of Oklahoma. I certainly didn't know
what they were until I read the list in one of Mac McGalliard's Reporter's Notebook
columns. Here's the list: Spain twice, England, France, French Tricolor, striped
U.S. Flag, U.S. Flag with 13 stripes, and 20 stars, Mexican Flag, Texas Flag,
Choctaw Flag, Texas Lone Star Flag, Oklahoma's First State Flag, Present Oklahoma
State Flag, the Present U.S. Flag. We overlook the fact sometimes that Oklahoma has
a richer historical heritage than most states. Here in Southern Oklahoma, was a land
of cowboys and Indians, outlaws, stage coaches and covered wagons to match the drama
and excitement of any area. We have historic sites and trails, and stories and
legends with heroes and villians, to learn about, enjoy and be proud of."
SOME LETTERS FROM THIS WEEK'S MAILBAG
"This is a picture of the Cornish Orphan's home burning in 1917. The picture
belonged to my grandmother, Tommie Taylor Hall."
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/cornishfire1917.jpg
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"Hi Butch, Enjoy reading your This & That letter. I would like to know more about
the Simpson community which is located east of Durwood, OK. My Dad attended school
there in the early 1920s. Maybe one of your Readers could tell me when the town was
formed as well as it's history. Thanks." -Barbara Bwallace63@aol.com
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"My grandfather, Lamar Howell and my grandmother, Inez Howell, used to spend every
Saturday at the Cornish Children's Home. They would go there and my grandfather
would give all the boys a haircut and help them to get ready for church the
following day. My grandmother would help all the girls wash and roll their hair and
help them to lay out their Sunday clothes. When my mother, Janet Shockley, was in
grade school, her class saved all their pennies and then put them in a bubble gum
bucket and when the bucket got full, their teacher went out and bought the Cornish
Children's Home a record player because they had lost theirs in the fire." -Tonya
Rangel
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"As a Girl Scout in the sixty's we took a camping trip to Devil's Den and the place
has always remained with me. However until I found your pictures on the Web I had
decided perhaps it was just imagination!" -Dallas, Texas
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"Butch, Thanks for all you are doing to preserve the history in and around Ardmore.
I faithfully follow your This N' That newsletters and from time to time I send you
stuff by email. Our AHS Class of 1963 reunion in Ardmore last month was a great
success and many of the participants spoke of you and the pictures and anecdotal
items you have so graciously shared with us. Please inform me how to obtain a copy
of the video or DVD about the CCC 1936 documentary. My dad worked there at Lake
Murray in 1936. We still have his CCC discharge papers showing that he "left to make
better of himself (get married)." He would get a kick out of viewing such a film. He
is 89 years old and still lives in Ardmore near the Emmanuel Baptist Church. Keep up
the great work, there are hundreds of us out here that deeply appreciate and enjoy
the fruits of your labor!" -Dennis Medrick, Irving, Texas
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"Sue, Your aunts [Mamie Ellis Harris and Prebble Ellis Thompson] taught at EavesCity
in 1933. Pat Allen has a picture of Mamie, Mother and Pat on the front steps of the
school. Your aunt Nell will have alot of info." -David K. Thompson, Bakersfield, Ca
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"Butch, Just recently found and read your T&T column. I realize this is not a
genealogy site but since there has been so much information regarding Indian
Territory, particularly that area which is now Jefferson and Custer Counties. I
wonder if you, or any of your readers might know of a man named George R. Tucker who
reportedly had a varied and colorful career in the northern area of Texas as a U.S.
Marshall, was a lawman in Spanish Fort, TX, a law enforcement officer in Ardmore,
Healdton, Possibly Ringling, and chief of police in Waurika. My reason for this
inquiry is that my Grandfather's Sister, Martha Ellen Chapman married a George R.
Tucker in Hill County, TX, Nov. 1, 1877. Several folks, including those that are
definitely related to George Tucker, are researching this individual and the Tucker
Family. Unfortunately there were so many Tucker Families in that part of Indian
Territory around the 1880 - 1900's, and since we have found no documented record of
George R. Tuckers first wife I was hoping someone would have some information on
this family. Thanks." -Glen Hamilton
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"Butch, My Dad (Carl W. Stevens) and I have been shooting some photos in the oil
patch around Healdton, Wilson and Ringling and just thought your readers might like
to see a few. The photo titled "Oil Boom Relics" is an old abandoned oil well with
the pipe broken over and the rod still in it. This one is very old as the rod grip
connection indicates it originally had a rod line type pump jack possibly produced
by "Oklahoma Pump Jack." These jacks were operated by rod lines from a power house
containing an engine driving a large band wheel. An eccentric assembly under the
band wheel in turn pulled the rod lines back and forth operating the pump jack. The
power house was normally located in the middle of a group of wells operating a
number of them from one engine. These rod line systems were still all over the place
around Healdton when I was a kid. The photo titled "Power House" shows an old
abandoned power house still sitting in it's original location that once powered
several rod line wells. The engine was located in the end closest in the photo while
the band wheel was located in the larger section toward the back. The rod lines
radiated out in all directions through slots in the lower part of the building near
ground level This would be from the widened part of the building seen toward the
back end Not many of these left now days." -Dwane Stevens
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/OilBoomRelics3a.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/OilBoomRelics3b.jpg
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"The dream of a lake, later to be known as Lake Murray, had been created, but it was
only a dream. Dreams without follow-through are just that, dreams. Projects can
remain in the file folders for a lifetime, and that is all they are, just projects.
Tomlinson, Milner, and Guthrey did not let this potential project remain only a
dream. They got both the State and Federal governments involved, and brought them to
Carter and Love Counties. They called former State Senator (1912-20) Fred Tucker, an
oil man from Ardmore, and explained the idea of the lake to him. State Senator
(1933-35) Louis Fischl of Ardmore authored Senate bill 382, which gave the State
Board of Affairs authority to condemn and buy the land for Oklahoma's first state
park. The bill was supported in the Oklahoma House of Representatives by Floor
Leader of the 14th Legislature, Representative (1931-33) John Steel Batson, of
Marietta. The bill was passed in 1933 and the land (with minerals) was purchased for
$90,000. Governor (1931-35) William H. "Alfalfa Bill" Murray, a brilliant man, was
not in favor of this project. Later, however, when the name was changed from
Arbuckle Lake to Lake Murray, he agreed to lend his support to the construction
plan. In 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected President of the United States. The
country was in a deep economic depression. Very few people had any money, and there
were no jobs to be found. Bread lines literally were miles long. Dr. Tomlinson and
his team agreed that something must be done to help the unemployed in Oklahoma. The
federal government had formed the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) and the WPA
(Work Projects Administration). These government agencies employed people to perform
useful work on building projects in communities. The Lake Murray project seemed
ideal for these programs and was submitted for federal evaluation. Approval was
granted, and work on the lake began in July 1933. Members of the CCC cleared the
trees and the area; members of the WPA built the dam. There was no power equipment,
only teams, wagons, and hand tools. A total of 10,000 men who had been on relief
shared the jobs. Each man worked five days, for $1.80 per day. The wages for one day
of work provided food for a work week. The balance was enough to feed a man's family
for about one month. A group of approximately 1,000 men would work for a week, and
then another group would relieve them. A federal relief fund of $20,000 per month
($5,000 per month, each, from Carter, Lover, Johnston, and Marshall Counties) kept
2,200 families from starving. Progress was made."
http://www.oklahomabedandberth.com/lakemurray.php
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"Dear Butch, My mother and her family moved to Ardmore in 1921 when she was about a
year old. Ardmore is full of history and family history for us. I LOVE Ardmore! My
dad worked for Oklahoma Natural Gas Co., and transferred to Tulsa in 1949. But we
visited Ardmore very often and I still do! A friend gave me your website address and
I am delighted to have found you! I am very, very interested in receiving your
weekly newsletter. Please add us to your list. Thanks. -MaryAnn Robb VanVeen
(Grandmothers: Minnie A. Hicks and Cecile Hendon)
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"Hi there Butch. I need to get in touch with the folks at the Ardmore tag agency.
Need to see what all they require to change the title of My dads car so I can bring
it to Texas. Think you could find that number and email it to me. Would really
appreciate it." Hardey Tag Agency, 2001 Veterans Blvd, Ardmore, OK 73401, PH:
580-223-8664
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"I loved to read all about them peanuts last week, something else I had no idea at
all they were harvested like that not a clue what an eye opener... No farms like
that in this country... Thankyou for educating me yet again."
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"Last week Mike Carr sent the picture of Sulphur looking west down Muskogee Avenue.
As he said there on the the right is the old Artesian Hotel. But I am sure that it
burned in later part of 1961 or very early 1962. I have noticed in a lot of papers
or books about Sulphur there are varying dates when it actually burned. The gray
building on the left is the old Delay hospital I do not know if it was ever called
anything but that. There was a doctor in Sulphur by the name of Delay. I do not know
when the building was leveled. It was still in business in the 1940s and 1950s."
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/delayhosp.jpg
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"Hi, Butch. I hope that some of your readers may be able to furnish details on this
picture sent to me by friend, Bill Thomas, who grew up in Sulphur....Would love to
know just where this store was and who ran it then! I grew up in Davis and it is
very dear to me. I invite everyone with info to write to me."
mornsidemtn@sbcglobal.net
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/generalstore1908.jpg
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"In 1983 Patty Norton and Layton Sutton compiled and published a book called "Indian
Territory and Carter County Pioneers, Vol. 1." Copies of this book should be in
local libraries and might well have useful information for many searchers. The
planned second volume was never completed due to Patty's illness and death. In 1962
Julia Sparger wrote a treatise called "Young Ardmore". (Mrs. Sparger was a teacher
in the local school system. She was the English instructor during my senior year at
AHS.) The Daily Ardmoreite published it as a supplement July 25, 1993. I would hope
that this is also available in libraries as it has much useful information on local
history. Perhaps we could persuade the Ardmoreite to run a reprint." -Elizabeth Dyer
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"I recently ran across a reference to a book by Paul Frame entitled HISTORY OF
ARDMORE, OKLAHOMA, FROM THE EARLIEST BEGINNINGS TO 1907. I searched all the web
sites which I use to locate and purchase used books, but, not surprisingly, no
copies were available. I have no idea when it was published but I imagine it has
been out of print and probably our of copyright for some time. I wonder if you know
of anyone who owns a copy and would be willing to copy it for me. I would be happy
to pay for the copy." tomwatson@bellsouth.net
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"Guess you are tired of hearing about persimmons but the ones in Tahlequah have
spoons in them too. Today my son-in-law was listening to K-Love and a lady called in
and began talking about persimmons. He didn't know why and did not hear the first of
the conversation but told the Dj that inside the persimmon seeds was either a
shovel, a pitch-fork, or a knife. The shovel meant lots of snow that you would be
shoveling, the knife meant a cutting cold, icy winter and he didn't know what the
pitchfork meant! It will be interesting what you will hear for your T&T this week."
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"Reminder: The Big Canyon Photo Session is this weekend, Nov 7th and 8th, Saturday
and Sunday. Weather could go either way but I'll be there regardless. If anyone
needs a map with directions let me know and I'll email one. Remember, you never know
about Oklahoma weather. During the last spring session it was raining when everyone
arrived but within about an hour or so it cleared off completely and we had a
beautiful day of shooting. So far we have never been rained out during a session so
keep your fingers crossed and maybe our luck will hold once again!" -Dwane Stevens
onmp@juno.com
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"Hi Butch, I admit that I'm sort of enthralled by the Brown's Spring saga. But why
is there no mention of the origin of the placename? Has anyone done any digging
(excuse the term) to find out who the area and cemetery are named after? I have
wandered down that little road from the smoke shop just to see where it went but
stopped short of the springs. Don't remember if I felt a little spooked or not. I
suspect it just didn't seem like a good idea at the time."
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"Butch, I remember a motel on the east side of the highway back in the 50's......I
thought that was the Tower Motel. Seems like it was just brush and trees where the
Nichols store is now......and wasn't the drive-in where the OLD Wal-Mart was? Just
wondering... Sure enjoy T&T!"
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========================================================================
I'm still learning how to use all the features of my new DVD-R/+R burner. A couple
of days ago I ordered 25 blank DVD-Rs from a place in California along with
clamshells to protect them. They should be here next week. Here is one of the first
DVDs I created using the original DVD Doyle Williams made converting it over from
VHS of the 1936 Charles Lynch Movie of construction at Lake Murray. More next week!
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/LynchMovieDVD.jpg
http://www.meritline.com/
YOU'VE LOST THAT LOVING FEELING - The Righteous Brothers 1965
"You've lost that loving feeling
Oh that loving feeling
Bring back that loving feeling
Now it's gone gone gone
And I can't go on
No-oh-oh
Baby baby I get down on my knees for you
If you would only love me like you used to do
We had a love
A love a love you don't find every day
So don't...don't...don't let it slip away."
11/05/03: Bobby Hatfield of the Righteous Brothers has died at the age of 63.
http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Articles.asp?Article=66124&Sn=WORL
http://www.righteousbrothers.com/
See everyone next Saturday!
Butch Bridges
PO Box 2
Lone Grove, Oklahoma 73443
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Saturday November 1, 2003 T&T Weekly Vol 7 Issue 341
I was down at Thackerville, Oklahoma last Sunday afternoon picking up some peanuts.
I was at the Anthony Reed's farm and found out he is a former Love County
Commissioner. He was a great guy, showing me around the farm and all the equipment
and how it works in peanut farming. His dad bought the 350 acres back in the 30s
just north of Thackerville, and its been in his family ever since. This first two
photos is of "digger". Back in the 60s this peanut machine it was called the
"digger/shaker/inverter". Thats because it does three things with the peanuts. Digs
them up from the ground, shakes the sand away from the peanut roots, and then
inverts them as they fall back on the ground so the peanuts are up and the roots are
underneat, ready for the peanut harvester when it comes along later. Here is a
couple of pixs of the "digger".
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/thackervillepeanuts01.jpg
This is where the just dug peanuts fall from the "shaker" and are inverted or turned
over just before falling back to the ground. This inverting gets the peanuts and
roots faceup, ready for the harvester when it comes along later.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/thackervillepeanuts02.jpg
This is one of 25 "bins" Mr. Reed has to hold the peanuts. You can see the opening
near the bottom where he attaches the peanut blower/dryer.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/thackervillepeanuts03.jpg
This is the electric ran dryers. Propane is used to dry the peanuts. It take around
8 hours to a day to dry the peanuts.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/thackervillepeanuts04.jpg
This is the new peice of equipment Mr. Reed recently installed. The peants are
poured through this cattle guard looking thingy, on to a conveyor belt, and sent up
to the spout where they drop of into the semi trailer trucks for transport out. This
year since the Marietta mill stopped buying peanuts, Mr. Reed has been selling his
peanuts to a buyer in Anadarko, Oklahoma. That company sends their trucks down to
Thackerville to pickup Mr. Reed's peanuts, he doesnt even have to transport them.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/thackervillepeanuts05.jpg
This is the beginning of the conveyer chute.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/thackervillepeanuts06.jpg
This is the end of the chute where the peanuts will fall off into the awaiting truck.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/thackervillepeanuts07.jpg
Here's an intesting part. This is where the tailend green "bin" is stopped on the
cattle guard looking thingy, and the front end of the bin is hydralically lifted way
up, so the peanuts pour out that back and fall in to the conveyor belt trough.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/thackervillepeanuts08.jpg
This is a couple of pixs of the peanut harvester. It follows the "digger". It pulls
the peanuts from their roots and readys them for the bin thats following.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/thackervillepeanuts09.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/thackervillepeanuts10.jpg
This is a pic of the peanut crop ready for harvest. You can see Mr. Reed uses what
is called a Pivot Watering System. The water comes from wells on the property.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/thackervillepeanuts11.jpg
This is the peanuts Mr. Reed pulled up by hand, and turned so we can see how they
are rooted in the dry very sandy soil.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/thackervillepeanuts12.jpg
This is a close-up of the peanuts and root system.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/thackervillepeanuts13.jpg
I need to back up here just a little bit. Two weeks ago in the Mailbag a Reader
mentioned that the Tower Motel and Restaurant was by the present day Walmart on
North Commerce. The Tower Motel was on North Commerce, but it was located where the
present day Nichols Supermarted is now. It was the Corral Motel and restaurant that
was located where Walmart is located today.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/towermotel3.jpg
A Reader sent in a pix of the old Central School bell in Stephens county. Central
was located about 7 miles west of Marlow, Oklahoma.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/centralhigh3.jpg
A Reader gave me some really nice persimmons this week. I had almost forgot what
they tasted like it had been so long since I've ate any. The seeds inside are so big
there is not a whole lot of pulp, but what pulp there was, sure had a very good
sweet taste. But you know if you eat one a green persimmon (light yellow one on the
right in the pix) it will make your lips pucker so bad you can't even pronounce your
words correctly! These particular persimmons came from the SE part of Ardmore next
to the railroad tracks. Thats the persimmon's seed in the foreground in the pix.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/persimmons3a.jpg
I even took one of the seeds and split it open to see that tiny spoon inside. You
just use a sharp pocket knife to trim all the way round the outer rim, then
carefully pry the seed halves apart. You may find several places on the internet
that tells/shows about the lowly persimmon, but you'll only find it here where you
can see an actually photo of the "spoon" inside the persimmon seed, right here at
OklahomaHistory.net!
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/persimmons3b.jpg
And here is a photo of the persimmon tree and the seed! Maybe some of you know what
the persimmon is predicting in your locale or state? Accordinng to the
http://www.FarmersAlmanac.com website, when the seed is spoon-shaped, it is going to be a
harsh winter with heavy wet snow. Fork-shaped denotes a mild winter with light
powdery snow. And, knife shaped, an icy winter with cutting winds.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/persimmons3c.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/persimmons3d.jpg
Here is a help page I ceated to assist with keeping viruses off your computer. If
you dont run a virus check, keep its DAT file undated, and run it regularly, then
you probably have a computer virus. If you dont want to buy a virus checker, and pay
the yearly updates, at least run the free Online Virus checkers mentioned on my
Virus Help Page. They do work.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/virushelp.html
A couple of weeks ago we talked about the 1980s radio spots "Once Upon A Time" that
was done by Ardmoreite Betty Carroll as one minute spots for a local bank. I talked
to Betty this week and she has graciously consented to post one of her 1980s "spots"
here each weekend! So here is the first!
Recorded by Betty Carroll October 17, 1984..... "Once upon a time.... some Ringling
residents will remember the Cornish Children's Home that began as a dream for Moses
E. Harris, who taught school at the Chickasaw Chapel near Marietta. He dreamed one
night that he built a magnificent orphanage. Shortly after his dream, Harris began
securing funds to build such a place in Cornish, Oklahoma.
The frame structure was started in October 1903. Then in 1917 the three-story wooden
caught fire. It was a sad day for all the kids who lived in the home, but it didn't
take long for rebuilding to begin. Funds were slow to come in so Wirt Franklin, a
local oilman, paid for the completion of the building after striking oil near
Oklahoma City.
After Harris reached old age he sold the 297 acres and home for $7,000 with the
understanding that the home would keep going. After about two years it sold to an
individual and the doors were closed forever. The home ultimately housed over 1,700
homeless children.
SOME LETTERS FROM THIS WEEK'S MAILBAG
"A biography of FRED BEAVER can be found here."
http://www.askart.com/artist/B/fred_beaver.asp
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"The Taylor store was also were Sooner Foods was when it first came to Ardmore in
the late 50's early 60's then they moved over on Washington were Dollar General
store is now next door was Bill and Barbs Restaurant. I work at the store when the
safe was stolen from window, when the a A-frame truck back though the window and put
a cable around the safe. And down the road they went, out Refinery Road near Caddo
Creek on Clyde Elmore's place they put the safe in a car and got stuck. They might
have made there get away but Bill and Barb's was still open and Mr Short heard the
crash and call police. The store was burglarized again and a police officer was
killed by the last name of Rudisell and also one of the buglers was killed. They
would have more than like succeed if hadn't been for Mr Red who was cleaning the
floors at night. And heard the concrete hitting the floor in the meat market. He
unlocked the front door and went down to Washington and Highway 70 at that time.
Caught a ride to the police station and told them. They had a big shoot out knocking
out the freezer compressors. When all was done the two men where dead. The store was
owned by Mr Howe and Mace Williams."
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"Here's a copy of the 1900 map of Oklahoma and Indian Territories that appeared in
the "National Standard Atlas of the World". If you like, I can also scan in maps of
Texas or any other map (from this book) that you might enjoy. I've had this book for
several years now. It also shows the population noted as of the 1890 census, and a
description of the states and territories. Quite interesting. Enjoy!" -Roy Kendrick
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/okla1900a.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/okla1900b.jpg
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Q. My sister and I cannot remember what the spoon, knife and fork inside the
Persimmon seed stand for.
A. According to folklore, when the seed is spoon-shaped, it is going to be a harsh
winter with heavy wet snow. Fork-shaped denotes a mild winter with light powdery
snow. And, knife shaped, an icy winter with cutting winds.
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I was rummaging through some of my Dad's old stuff and found some negatives taken
about 1950. My Dad owned the lumber yard shown in this picture. He also owned the
building that the P&B Electric is shown. I thought maybe you would enjoy looking at
a little history from Sulphur. The location of this building is now the new location
of the Sulphur Chamber of Commerce. It's located just west of the Rock Creek bridge
and on the south side of Sulphur High School. The second picture is scanned from an
old scene on East Muskogee street, don't know the date, but very early as indicated
by the cars. The large building is the old Artesian Hotel which burned about 1955."
-Mike Carr
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/SulphurBuildersSupply.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/Sulphur03a.jpg
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"Hello Butch, You should find "Mary Holland (McNeish) Kinkaid" in this index. In the
This n That you said Helen but it should be Mary. I hope this helps you find the
info you want.
http://www.ionet.net/~okhombre/hton.html
Also Mary Holland (McNeish) Kinkaid is listed as one of the Correspondents on this
document." -Lee Wages, Ft. Worth, Texas
http://www.indiana.edu/~liblilly/lilly/mss/html/dreiser2.html
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"When i was a child my family would get together for a nice sunday picnic at Devil's
Den. Most of my family is gone now but i still have very fond memories of Devil's
Den. I still live here and i wish that my daughters and grandchildren could have the
same memories that i have it is such a beautiful place."
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"The website below about the aircraft at Ardmore is not current. It is my
understanding that the organization that was salvaging the aircraft is no longer
active at Ardmore. As I recall from my last visit to the airfield, only one gutted
aircraft used by the fire department for training is there presently. Although
interesting to see when several were there, it also detracted from the appearance of
the industrial site as it appeared to be a junkyard as they remained in various
stages of dismantling."
http://www.airchive.com/SITE%20PAGES/VIN-ARDMORE.html
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Interview
Date: September 17, 1937
Name: John WARD
Address: Chickasha, Oklahoma
Name of Father: Sam WARD
Name of Mother: Leza TINER WARD
Field Worker's name: Etta D. MASON
The first church bell ever brought to this country was one bought by the Masons and
used in their hall at Boggy Depot. The bell was shipped to Kansas City and had to be
hauled in a wagon from there to Boggy Depot. My father furnished the oxen to haul
the bell with. It took two yoke of oxen to make the trip. After the lodge was
dissolved at Boggy Depot, the bell was given to the Indian Baptist Church at
Standing Rock. I do not know where the bell is now. Standing Rock is eight miles
west of Atoka in Atoka County.
http://www.rootsweb.com/~okgenweb/pioneer/ohs/wardjohn.htm
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"Butch, Assessor's website went over 500,000 Hits this week!"
http://www.cartercountyassessor.org
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"The brochure states: Marlow, Indian Territory Est. 1898 Marlow was laid off by the
federal gov't in what was known along the Chisholm Trail as "Marlow Grove", at which
cattle trains stopped over for night and rest stops. Marlow has an interesting
history to tell, from the Marlow brothers, who spawned the movie, "The Sons of Katie
Elder", to the exciting historical activities of present day community."
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"Butch, I shot the attached photo a few days ago on the old ONMP (Oklahoma, New
Mexico and Pacific) line better known around here as the Ringling Road that BNSF
uses today to get to the Uniroyal Tire Plant. The manufacture date is 1909 as shown
in the photo. Quite unusual that itactually predates the line itself. Construction
on the old line was started in 1913 and most of the rails have dates of 1944-45 and
some with 1926 markings as you would expect. The 1909 rail is a very short piece and
located under the I35 underpass and is the oldest one I've found so far. Apparently
it was spliced in some time after construction even though it's older than the line
itself." -C. Dwane Stevens
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/1909rail.jpg
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"I was born in San Angelo, TX in 1910. My father W.B. McMurry was a construction
foreman of a railroad crew building the rail lines into New Mexico. My grandparents
were early settlers in the Ardmore area, arriving from Texas about 1888. My mother,
Clive Thomason had attended school in Ardmore, and graduated about 1907. When I
was a year old my parents returned to Ardmore, and settled in the small community
of Provence, in Carter Co. OK. Children 5 years old were allowed to start to school
in those days. I do not remember much about the school building but I remember the
class room and my teacher, Miss Loggins. My grandmother on my father's side was a
widow, Mary S. McMurry. She took in laundry, washing and ironing for others. Miss
Loggins was one of her customers so she knew me through my grandmother, before I
ever started school. She was always very sweet and kind to me.
My parents moved again, this time near my mother's parents, the E.C. Thomasons. It
was one and a half miles northeast of Ardmore, OK and I attended a second country
school. Thhis was Hignight school. Hignight school had one room and they taught
first to eighth grade. The grades were divided by having the children seated in
certain rows. This was a two teacher school. My teacher, Miss Bonnie taught the
younger children, and Miss Callie my aunt taught the older students. There was a
wood stove which the teacher came early to start each morning before the students
arrived. We walked to school each day and took our lunch in a syrup bucket usually
biscuits or cornbread with salt pork. I remember one little boy brought what looked
like vanilla pudding or clabbered milk in a jar, he'd eat it with a spoon. It always
looked so good. Sometimes he'd trade his lunch with one of the other students. I
thought he always had a "good lunch". Each student was asked to bring a folding
metal cup, so we could drink from a bucket of cold water drawn from the well in
front of the school.
I finished the second grade at Hignight then my grandparents decided that my uncle
and aunt who were only a few years older than me, could drive a horse and buggy and
attend school in Ardmore. They could stop by and pick me up each morning. I went to
Washington grade school in Ardmore for 3rd through 6th grade. My aunt lived in
Ardmore, and we could leave the horse and buggy at her home and walk on to school
from her house. I attended 4 grades at this school in town and then I returned to
the little country school. There was only one teacher at that time because there
were fewer students in the community. My aunt Callie Layman was the teacher. I
finished the 7th-8th grade at Hignight. I have happy memories of attending this
country school both when I was just starting school and also the later yrs. We had
slate to write on at first. Our class of young students was seated on a bench. In
the entry way at the school door, the teacher kept a few long willow switches. I saw
them used many times, usually the teacher used them on the older boys.
I'll tell you about one incident during second grade that was funny for others but
tragic to me, my teacher was single, her gentleman friend stopped by the school to
take her home one afternoon. She told him she couldn't leave yet so as he went out
the door, he gathered up all of our coats and caps and left with them. As he got
into his car, I caught sight of my new red cap and I just knew I'd never see it
again, I was broken hearted. He brought them back later and to heal my broken heart,
he gave me a nickel.
My second time at this school for 7th and 8th grade, I was older, and we had less
children attending. There were not enough boys or girls to have separate teams for
sports so we had mixed teams. We played baseball and basketball. This one time we
were playing baseball and I was the 3rd baseman. One of the boys hit a ball to 3rd
base, before I could catch it the ball hit the ground and bounced up my skirt. All
the boys hee-hawed and of course I was very embarrassed.
Another time, my mother had made me a new dress and I was a little late getting off
to school that morning so my brothers and sisters had walked on. A friend came by in
his car and asked if I'd like a ride, so at first I turned him down but then I told
him I'd just ride on the running board. He had to take the cream and milk into
Ardmore each morning before he came on to school. When he reached the corner where I
needed to get off he told me he was going to take me on to Ardmore. I didn't want to
go of course so I jumped and fell tumbling on the ground. It hurt but I was more
concerned that I had gotten my new dress dirty. He thought it was so funny, he
laughed and laughed. He was a good friend, but he liked to tease like all the boys
at that age. One time during one of our basketball games one of the big boys,
grabbed me and another girl and bumped our heads together. I happened to be wearing
a new dress this time also, and the girls' head hit me in the nose, and it bled all
over my new dress. It was kinda scary too because we had a hard time stopping the
bleeding. Still I was more upset that it might ruin my new dress. The teacher tried
all the old remedies, like putting scissors to my back, and putting a dime under my
lip, the kids were all offering advice. Sometimes things got a little rough but they
were fun and happy times." -Ruth M. Calvery in Duncan, Oklahoma
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Mr Bridges: I was pleased to read the article in T&T on 10-17-03 that referred to
Taylor Bros Grocery on "A" street and 11th Ave NE. We were very familiar with that
store- we lived at 1100 "A" NE for several years and did a lot of shopping there.
But the amazing part was finding out who wrote the article about the store to you.
Turned out to be a class mate of mine at Mt. Washington school. We both graduated in
1944, he from Ardmore High School while I had continued at Mt Washington and
graduated from there. We always appreciate the T&T but that made it EXTRA special-
so a BIG THANK YOU for making it possible to make contact with a long lost friend."
-Virginia (Gilstrap) Farrington BobF327631@aol.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Butch, Re the pics of Dr. Emmajean Anthis: I recognized Mrs. Joyce (Mrs. Reynolds
Cantrell Sr.) on the front row with white scarf - am not sure but think the lady on
right end of front row might be one of the Massad ladies. My mother, Vera
Fronterhouse Horton, worked for Dr. Em for several years." -Regards, Jo
(Fronterhouse) Long
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/anthis3a.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/anthis4a.jpg
------------------------------------------------------------------------
========================================================================
I'm still working on the 1936 Charles Lynch Movie. But here is that one minute clip
again. Its a pretty large file if you dont have broadband. Its over 1 meg in size so
it could take 15 minutes or more to download on a slow modem. Here is a link to that
one minute clip! Must have QuickTime to see. Also I got my new DVD burner working,
so I'm making progress.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/downloads/lynch1min.mov
Speaking of that 1936 Charles C. 'Jack' Lynch film, there was a nice write-up in The
Daily Ardmoreite about it last Sunday.
http://ardmoreite.com/stories/102603/loc_movie.shtml
I've added some more coins this week to my Coin Page. I've also added a Page telling
how I got into the coin collecting hobby years ago along with an interesting story
or two.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/coins.html
Last week when I told about receiving word from Doug Williams that our troops were
due back next month, I had a typo in the link to the 12' X 24' banner that's being
printed. Donations continue to come in from people who want to help pay for the
banner and billboard. If you made a pledge back last summer and still want to help,
let us know.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/notforgotten3.jpg
"It is the Veteran, not the preacher, who has given us freedom of religion.
It is the Veteran, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press.
It is the Veteran, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.
It is the Veteran, not the campus organizer, who has given us freedom to assemble.
It is the Veteran, not the lawyer, who has given us the right to a fair trial.
It is the Veteran, not the politician, who has given us the right to vote."
See everyone next Saturday!
Butch Bridges
PO Box 2
Lone Grove, Oklahoma 73443
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Saturday October 25, 2003 T&T Weekly Vol 7 Issue 340
Lone Grove resident Troy Loard brought by a 1968 Carter County Civil Defense
pamphlet this week. I worked with Troy a couple of years at the ambulance office
back in the early 1970s. Troy then went to work at the new Uniroyal Plant and just
recently retired from there, now living the good life out at Lone Grove.
This 1968 Civil Defense pamphlet is about what to do and where to go in case of a
nuclear attack, and how to build a fallout shelter at home. Those who endorsed this
pamphlet back in January 1968 were: Huss Standifer, County Commissioner District 1;
Joyce Taliaferro, County Commissioner District 2; Thomas M. Fraser, County
Commissioner District 3; Gerald D. Wilkins, City Manager, Scott F. King, Vice-Mayor
of Ardmore; and Carno R. Elkins, Civil Defense Director.
The pamphlet list dozens of buildings in Ardmore where citizens can go for shelter
along with how many people each of those buildings can hold. If you lived outside
Ardmore you were instructed to drive to the city limits, park your vehicle, and walk
to the nearest designated shelter. This was in order keep the streets of Ardmore as
clear as possible for emergency vehicles.
Some of the lesser known buildings to everyone might be: Chickasha Hall at Carter
Seminary (130 people), Colverts Dairy (1,902 people), State Armory on Sunset Drive
(1,080), Daube Building at #5 South Commerce (341), Ardmore Jr High (466), Cooper
Farms on West Broadway (187), Noble Building at 100 W. Broadway (328), Carter County
Courthouse House (680), Federal Building at North Washington and West Broadway
(1,586), Weithall First Presbyterian Church (412), Washington School basement (11),
Echols Building at 200 East Main (200), Little Building at 10 West Main (1,637),
First National Bank at 15 West Main (489), Tivoli Movie (233 people) and many others.
The old 1968 pamphlet also has diagrams of how to make a homemade shelter in your
basement or a room of your home. Those who had shelters at home were asked not to go
to the public shelters. This was really an interesting piece of history that Troy
Loard brought by. We still have the yellow triangle signs in the courthouse that
designated it at fallout shelter back in those days.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/civildefense1968a.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/civildefense1968b.jpg
A Reader brought me by a photograph of James Holmes Akers, the first sheriff of
Carter County. The photo was by Webb Studios of Ardmore. I can only imagine the
pride and honor Holmes Akers must have had to be the first sheriff of this county.
http://www.brightok.net/cartercounty/photos/AkersHolmes03a.jpg
Speaking of sheriff Holmes Akers, here is a listing of the deputies he had under him
back in 1907: A.L. Davis, L.B. Tatum, G.B. Salyer, T.J. Storre, John Harrison, John
Mahoney, W.E. Landrum, C.F. Worley, G. Paschal, Fred Williams, L.B. Johnson, E.R
Poole, J.W. Bochers, J.B. Smith, Ed Heart, N.H. Simmons.
Now I only lack photos of 4 past sheriffs of Carter county! Maybe someone out there
has a lead on these four.
http://www.brightok.net/cartercounty/CarterCountySheriffs.html
I also had a Reader bring me by an old photo with Dr Emma Jean Anthis in it, along
with some of her friends. We are not sure when the two photos was taken, but it
looks like they may have been taken as part of the Healdton Frontier Days. We are
hoping someone out there recognizes some of the people in the photo. Thats Dr Emma
Jean Anthis on the left in the photo.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/anthis3a.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/anthis4a.jpg
Has anyone ever heard of a book called 'Man Of Yesterday' by Helen Holland Kinkaid?
The 1908 book is centered around Tishomingo, Oklahoma. A Reader in west Texas
originally from Mannsville, her mother has had the book for many years. I did a
search for the author's name and found nothing.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/manofyesterday.jpg
A T&T Reader was over at Cordell, Oklahoma at the Washita County courthouse doing
some business this week. She noticed a granite marker outside that was a real piece
of history info.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/whitemanplaque.jpg
Maybe we need to have a campaign started to re-open Devils Den north of Tishomingo.
This week my webshots.com albums lacked only 9 Hits at going over 1,700 Hits for the
week, another record week! And guess which album received the most Hits, again? You
got it, the Devils Den photos. Maybe the powers-that-be over in Tish will work on
opening Devils Den, the public wants that recreation spot open to the pubic again!
Boy, I still remember from my teen age years that COLD water!
http://community.webshots.com/album/29733398gxVnvBScVX
Doug Williams notified me this week that our troops will be coming home next month.
He has been receiving the pledges promised last summer by some of you who wanted to
help pay for a banner. If any of you didnt get your chance last summer, now is the
time to help. Just send an email to Doug. nascar88@cableone.net Here is a pix of how
the 12 ft by 25 ft banner will look.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/notforgotten3.jpg
Browse the Index of Photos from July 1, 2003 to date
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b
Browse the Index of Photos before July 1, 2003
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos
"I pledge allegiance to my flag and to the republic for which it stands; one nation,
indivisible with liberty and justice for all." "The flag is displayed in every
school room in Carter county, and the flag salute given each week." -from the 1923
Kate Galt Zaneis Carter County School book
SOME LETTERS FROM THIS WEEK'S MAILBAG
"Hi Butch, thoroughly enjoy reading "this n that" and the email received on
ConnectOklahoma Listserver. Just wanted you to notify all interested parties on your
mailing list that the AHS Class of 1953 will be celebrating their 50th class reunion
Friday Oct 31 at the Nobel Pavilion beginning at 6pm. If members of other classes
would care to drop by to visit we would love to see them. They can reach me at
lastout@brightok.net. Thanks and keep up the great work." -Lou Ann Fraser Stout
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/connectoklahoma.html
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Butch, I just read the latest T&T and as usual was very informative. In past
article, there was an inquire about the Grocery store at Brock. I was born close to
Brock and spent most of my life there. In the late 30's and early 40's I remember
there being (2) stores there. One was owned and operated by Whit Carrol sr. and one
was operated by a Mrs. Trent. Trent was post mistress, as the post office was in her
store. I attended 7th and 8th grade in the Brock school. Mr. L.F. Freeman was my
teacher those 2 years. I have a brother living at Brock, on the lot where the
grocery stores were located. He has lived there over 40 years. SO times change. I
also had a Sister and her Husband owned and operated a small country store at
Stobtown. When they closed at Stobtown, they moved south off hwy 70 west going
toward Brock. Called the Brock road. They operated there for a few years. Mentioning
the W.P.A. work relief. my Dad helped build Lake Murray in the 1930's. Each year my
family have a family reunion at the lake and relatives come from far distances to
attend. Our Great uncle was in the C.C.C. and helped build the camp grounds at Lake
Murray."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Airline aficionados are familiar with the typical graveyards of Mojave, Marana, and
Las Vegas but an impressive collection of derelict airliners exists 75 miles south
of Oklahoma City in Ardmore, Oklahoma. The short runway, barely 5,000 feet means
this is the air equivalent of "The Roach Motel" - Planes check in but they don't
check out. Virtually every airframe here is destined for the scrappers. It's most
famous victim was the L-1011 prototype which was scrapped in 1986. These images were
taken in November, 1999."
http://www.airchive.com/SITE%20PAGES/VIN-ARDMORE.html
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"hi butch, got my latest pictures up on worldisround.com, have cushing,perkins,sayre
ok, sayre ok courthouse. thank you."
http://worldisround.com/articles/20735/
http://www.worldisround.com/articles/23280/index.html
http://www.worldisround.com/articles/23265/index.html
http://www.worldisround.com/articles/23143/index.html
http://www.worldisround.com/articles/23143/index.html
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Butch, I was in Miss Duston's "Three Ring Circus" at the Civic Auditorium for about
three years. She always put me in the middle of the dance line because I was the
tallest! That was quite a spectacular thing in the 1950s. I was in it in the early
50s, I guess. Don't know if she had it my senior year (1955) Too old to remember!"
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I was wondering if you or someone else might have some information on the Eaves
City School. It was located about 2 miles southwest of Tatum. I had two Aunts that
taught there, probably in the 30's. The church building was about 1/2 mile east of
the school site and it was moved out in the early 50's. I understand it was moved to
Graham to become classrooms. I lived about 1/2 mile north of the school site & all I
can remember are some foundations. Hope someone knows something. Thanks." -Sue Walker
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Hi Butch, Enjoyed your T&T tonight. I have posters of Obie Johnson when he was
running for Constable July 6, 1954."
http://peggysue5.homestead.com/Obie.html
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Hi Butch. I enjoy your newsletter very much. I have a picture of sheriff J. Holmes
Akers. He was my grandfather's brother. My Grandfather was George B. Akers, and he
had a store and post office in Woodford, Oklahoma." -Joyce Jordan
http://www.brightok.net/cartercounty/photos/AkersHolmes03a.jpg
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Hi Butch, This is old Luther L. Wooley. My dad told me that Convict Hill got it
name because convicts were used to cut the road through that stretch. Also the
person asking about the Taylor's Store, I remember Joe and Josie Taylor very well.
Me and my cousin and friends used to roll car tires to Joe Taylor's big green two
story store on A St & 11th N.E. and sell pop bottles and fishing sinkers me and my
cousin would make. The sinkers we made with a mold my uncle Albert Marr had. The car
tire are a story in there self. Us kids used to roll car tire every where we went
like other kids would ride bicycles. I would always buy licorice with my pennies, It
came in pieces about as big as a pencil and about 12" long in those days and was
only a penny a piece. Mr Taylor would give credit to a lot of the families in that
part of town. He also let people hock things to him and stuff like that. He was a
good person and was well liked and helped alot of people. Then when his store burned
he built a small building on that spot for a liquor store
but the city wouldn't let him open it so he opened it as a small grocery. They had a
small store there for a while. Mrs Taylor ran it I think. Keep up the good work."
-Luther L. Wooley wooley1989@wmconnect.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Butch, At the corner of highway 53 and the highway 76 that goes north out of
Healdton there used to be a grocery store named Sullivan's, the man's name who owned
it. West of Sullivan's was Convict Hill and they used convicts at the time to build
the road. At one time it was so steep you could hardly get up it."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Butch, Here are the photos I took in Gainesville. One is Denton Street at night.
The others are of old houses. I did not write down the addresses. As you can see I
am not a pro at taking pictures."
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/gainesville3a.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/gainesville3b.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/gainesville3c.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/gainesville3d.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/gainesville3e.jpg
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Butch -- I just got home from my vacation to Oklahoma. We did see quite a bit of
southeastern Oklahoma and did get to go to Turner Falls. I hadn't been there since I
was about 6 years old. And I also found Magnetic Hill. Very interesting place. It
does pull you back up the hill while you are in neutral. Found an interesting store
at Cushman's corner. Lots of neat stuff inside. And was able to do some metal
detecting in the Byars city square. Had a great time and Oklahoma is greener than I
have seen it in a long time. Was able to share "This & That " with some of my
cousins in the Stratford/Byars area." -Gary Shook, Tulare, CA
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I have 2 small prints by Fred Beaver and cant find any info on him could you help
at all?"
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"Wow, that picture of the old Tower Motel surely brought back many memories. First
of all, I used to live across the street from there, on Davis Street. Secondly, my
Grandfather, Raybon Wilkes, and I ate many a chicken fried steak at that place.
That's just one of the many great memories I have of my time spent with him. Most of
those memories include hours on horseback, and the old Ardmore Round Up Club. Thanks
for reminding me." -Christie Sullivan Reeves
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"You may want to share this web address with your This & That subscribers. It is the
best place I have found to quickly locate used, rare and out-of-print books. I
recently found a 1935 edition of a book there that I had searched for for the past
20 years. The web site is: http://www.abebooks.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Butch, there were several convict tent camps near Davis and Springer. The state had
convicts building roads and other state projects. I think they built their own
prison at McAlester. The state also had the prisoners raising their own food
including cattle. Sometimes the cattle were treated better than the convicts. There
was a tent camp near Turner Falls where the convicts repaired the road building
equipment and provided a staging area for some of the materials required to build
the highway. They provided labor for one of the quarries where stone fill was
provided. There was a small tent hospital of sorts where convicts with minor
injuries could spend a day or two recuperating. Trusties would sometimes be in
charge of other prisoners. That is the way I remember the stories from a class at OU
many years ago."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Where would I go on the net to find out about the utensils in the persimmon seeds?
I have tried several things but have not found any thing regarding this. We picked
some persimmons yesterday, opened the seeds of several and there is a perfect spoon
in each of them. I have asked some old timers, older and smarter than me :o), and
they can tell me they are there and that the spoon represents a mild winter, a knife
means a cutting cold winter but I have yet to find anyone who can tell me what the
fork means."
Accordinng to the http://www.FarmersAlmanac.com website, when the seed is spoon-shaped,
it is going to be a harsh winter with heavy wet snow. Fork-shaped denotes a mild
winter with light powdery snow. And, knife shaped, an icy winter with cutting winds."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Butch, Don't know if you have any readers with interest or ties to Eastern Johnston
county (besides me) but this saturday 10/25/03, Wapanuck Trades Day Celebration is
taking place. Parade at 10am, Then re-enactment of bank robbery, chuck wagon
display, and demos as well as garage sales, flea markets, etc. Dale Lay from noon to
2pm and a rodeo at 2pm as well as a street dance at 8pm." -Jerry Landrum
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Saw an ad for Sipokni West haunted town and woods (at Reagan, Oklahoma). It will be
open Oct 30, 31, Nov 1st from dark till 9 p.m. Adults $5.00, ages 6-11 $3.00, 5 and
under free."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Here is a group shot of men I believe that mom said they were plumbers. The guy
that has "Daddy" written about his head is William McDougal or Mac. I don't know
what type of badges they are wearing. The others I do not know but if anyone does
please let me know. Taken in Ardmore, Oklahoma. The year is long before I was born,
about 1920 or 1910. I have also include for you a receipt of 4 lots bought in
Rosehill cemetery. The rest of the pictures are of Ft Sill, OKlahoma that I wrote to
you about, taken in 1930. Sure like the roads back then, like the turn Pike. The
water picture I don't know where it "would" have been at on the Fort, my guess close
by just not there anymore. I do have more of the pictures on hand but did not want
to over wham ya. Thanks for letting me share." -Vera Jones
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/mcdougal1920a.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/mcdougal1920b.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/mcdougal1920c.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/mcdougal1920d.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/mcdougal1920e.jpg
------------------------------------------------------------------------
========================================================================
Concerning the McDougal photos above, I noticed the one of the 1917 cemetery receipt
was signed by a Charles C. Lynch. He went by "Jack" and was the father of Charlotte
Lynch Henderson of Houston who last week gave me the 1936 film her father made of
the construction work at Lake Murray. Small world sometimes. I'm still working on
that historic piece of 43 minute film. More next week.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/mcdougal1920b.jpg
I do have a 1 minute clip of the 1936 film for a glimpse of this old video. You can
download it, but it takes a free progam by the name of QuickTime to view it. If you
don't have QuickTime installed on your computer, you can download it here.
http://www.apple.com/quicktime
The one minute clip is a pretty large file if you dont have broadband. Its over 1
meg in size so it could take 15 minutes or more on a slow modem. Here is a link to
that one minute clip!
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/downloads/lynch1min.mov
I appreciate all the Hits to my coin pages the past two weeks. I guess there are T&T
Readers out there that like coins. I started my coin collecting back when I was a
teen. My 3rd cousin, Howard Heath (1897-1980) of McAllen, Texas was a coin
collector. He collected mostly Mexican coins since they were abundant in south Texas
where he and his wife Irene lived. He was a journeyman electrician and electrical
contractor many years in McAllen. Howard went to coin shows all over Texas, and
sometimes at Christmas time he'd bring coins up to our house and let me see them.
When he gave me a silver dollar or two, I was hooked. When Howard Heath died in 1980
at McAllen he had over $450,000 in coins in his estate. Anyway, I've added more
coins the past couple of evenings.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/coins.html
In Flanders Fields - 1915
By John McCrae, MD, Captain, Canadian Army Medical Corps
"In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields."
During World War I, on December 6, 1915, this poem appeared in "Punch," a popular
British periodical. Published anonymously, it was later discovered to have been
written that spring by Canadian medical officer Captain John McCrae. During the
second battle of Ypres, fought in Flanders, the French and Belgian lands bordered by
the North Sea, McCrae's best friend, a young officer, had been severely wounded by
enemy shellfire and McCrae was unable to save his life. He took charge of his burial
and the grave was dug and the service conducted in a field where poppies softly
trembled on their slender stalks in the gentle spring breeze. His friend's death,
one of so many Captain McCrae had already witnessed, inspired him to write these
words, which have since become characterized as forming the best-known poem ever
written about war and the price it exacts from those -- mostly young -- who are
called upon to wage it. (From an email)
http://www.abmc.gov/ff.htm
http://www.inflandersfields.be/
See everyone next Saturday!
Butch Bridges
PO Box 2
Lone Grove, Oklahoma 73443
Saturday October 18, 2003 T&T Weekly Vol 7 Issue 339
A couple of years ago I took a photo of the bronze statue of Ardmoreite Walter W.
Drew which stands in Rose Hill Cemetery as a remembrance of his courage in battle.
Lieutenant Walter Drew lost his life on the battlefield in France in 1918 during
World War 1. I re-took the pictures this week because the ones two years ago were
too dark from the sun setting in the background.
Walter was the son of Ardmoreite Byron Drew. Byron Drew sold all his property in
Texas in 1898 and moved to Ardmore, Indian Territory. He established the Drew home
at 403 F SW and purchased half interest in The Daily Ardmoreite. He would later sell
his interest in the Ardmoreite and go into banking and real estate business. Byron
died in 1932 and is buried at Rose Hill Cemetery next to his son Walter.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/DrewWalter2.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/DrewWalter4.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/DrewWalter5.jpg
In July 1938 there was a house fire at 1508 West Broadway here in Ardmore. The
occupant of the house was the J.L Duncan family. They lost all their belongings and
clothes. A Reader gave me a letter written by Mr. Duncan asking help to get clothes,
etc. to replace those that burned. Bear in mind that 1 dollar back in 1938 equaled
$12 at todays value.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/duncan1938.jpg
This is an old photo of a Harvey Funeral Home hearse/ambulance. Maybe someone knows
about what year this is??
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/harveyhearse2.jpg
Most have heard of the old Wirt Franklin Refinery here in Ardmore. It would change
hands several times over the years, and today is known as Valero Oil Refinery. But
in its beginning the owner was oil millionaire Wirt Franklin. This is Mr. Franklin's
campaign card he used in his 1944 bid for the U.S. Senate. Maybe his bid was doomed
from the beginning. Back in 1944 the county codes for Carter county auto tags was 13.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/franklincard.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/oklatagscodes.jpg
I ran across a photo of Walter Colbert this week. He is in the Kate Zaneis 1923
school book, listed as Chairman of the Oklahoma Cotton Growers Association. Walter
Colbert was the 5th sheriff to serve Carter County. The first one, J. Holmes Akers,
was elected in 1907. I have photos of all the sheriffs except Holmes Akers, Willis
Tennyson, Howard Johnson, Jack Powledge, Gerald Cobb and Elmer Fitzsimmons. I know
where there is a photo of Willis Tennyson I can scan, and I can get Gerald Cobb's
photo, I hope. (you hear me Gerald?) Just need the other 4!
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/ColbertWalter2.jpg
http://www.brightok.net/cartercounty/CarterCountySheriffs.html
Roosevelt School (Carter County) burned to the ground January 16, 1922.
Here's a postcard of the Tower Motel that used to be on North Commerce.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/towermotel.jpg
In July 1960 the school at Big Canyon near Dougherty was ordered to close and be
relocated by the next July. The entire community would finally be closed, consisting
of nearly 30 buildings, including a church.
Here is a photo of students who attended the old Provence School east of Ardmore.
Maybe someone will recognize some of the students and let us know their names.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/provenceschool2.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/provenceschool.jpg
August 14, 1976 Cooks Laundry on A Street NE burns to the ground. $300,000 loss.
I've been handed a lot of campaign cards through the years. But one card a Reader
gave me this week is for me the prize of them all. In 1966 Wilson resident Otto
Powell ran for sheriff. There would later be a Grand Jury investigation for alleged
irregularities in that July 1 Primary Election in Carter county. Otto Powell would
never hold the Office of Sheriff.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/ottopowell1966.jpg
Bridge of the River Kwai with William Holden and Alec Guinness was playing when the
Tivoli Theater burned in September 1958.
Convict Hill is located a few miles west of Graham, Oklahoma just west of Highway
76. A Reader wrote in asking if anyone knows how this hill got its name. I don't
know, maybe someone out there does though!
A Reader in Duncan sent in another 1930 photograph of the old Stephens County
courthouse. The courthouse served the public from 1921 to 1968 when it was torn down
and a new one built.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/stephensco1930a.jpg
Some of you have tried to send me an email this week and my anti-spam website got
hold of it first. Most of the time I can "resend" it to myself, and then read it
normally. I have received one email from a webtv user saying they can not click on
the "authenticate" link and enable their email to come on through to me. I'll check
on that. But all things considered, it seems like n-dream.com is catching nearly all
the spam. http://spam.n-dream.com
SOME LETTERS FROM THIS WEEK'S MAILBAG
"Hi Butch, Hey I just emailed you yesterday and today I checked my email that had
been forwarded to me by a friend and Lo and behold there was the nice listing of
schools as of 1923. My Grandmother Rosabelle Millington Pruitt (widow of Clint
"Pote" Pruitt) started teaching at 16. She was married to Theo Torgenson and went by
that name for a lot of those years. She taught 48 years total in Carter County. She
taught at Prairie Valley, Shady Grove, Brock, Cheek, Pooleville and retired from
Plainview in 1960 after 17 years teaching the 3rd grade. I wonder if any of her
students read your This and That newsletters? Again I am so happy to get a copy
listing the schools in Carter County so long ago." -Marcella Whitson Smith
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/cartercountyschools1923.jpg
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Butch, someone mentioned A&P Grocery in Ardmore and it reminded me of a "funny." I
was called Pete by my family and friends so when my niece and nephews came along
they called me "Auntie Pete." One day my nephew's wife told me that she thought
they were calling me A&P and she wondered why they were calling me a grocery store."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Butch, A reader in this weeks T&T asked if there was a flood of water in one of the
pictures. He must have been referring to the road in the picture. There is no water.
This picture was taken from the top of the hill looking at some of the company
houses that made up the village of Big Canyon. The main road from Nebo to the quarry
ran straight through the village, by the school and post office and straight into
the quarry gate. The houses you see in the picture are on a short road that turns
south off the main road just east of where the school building used to be. I think
you have another picture showing the houses on the main road..Another reader asked
about the river picture. This was taken in 1957 during a flood. The track that the
cars are on is Dolese Track one which was a storage track. The other two tracks ran
under the loading bins at the crushing plant and cars were loaded by opening trap
door gates loading crushed stone directly into the cars. These two tracks were
called track two and track three." -Roy Miller
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Stephens County had a District Judge for decades named Arthur Marmaduke who was a
fine, disciplined jurist. Top flight reputation for intelligence, fairness and
integrity. Without mentioning it to anyone but the Court Clerk, Judge Marmaduke saw
the need for a new courthouse and quietly began to accumulate funds over the years
in the local clerk registry from fines, costs, etc., until the fund reached 400k
plus. The judge then issued an order to destroy the old courthouse and build the new
one where it sits now. All hell broke loose, as the custom had existed for years
that Court Clerks simply used their money through the year, then sent in what they
didn`t use at the end of the year to the Supreme Court. Well, Judge Marmaduke`s
actions upset a lot of the Supremes so new orders came down and exist today that
severely restrict local courts from spending any money. All goes to Oklahoma City is
the rule." -james clark
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Hi Butch, Do you have any information on Shady Dale School south on Hedges Road. It
was about 1 mile south of the Bussell Road. My Grandmother taught school there
about 1927 and my mother and her sister walked to the Bussell Road and caught the
Plainview Bus. The school must have went to only the 7 or 8th grade. Do I have the
name correct. The old foundation is still there. Also my great grand parents are
buried in a small cemetery about 1 mile off Myall on Hedges Road. Their names were
Grounds. Do you have information about that burial spot. I would like to go there
this winter, but it is on private land. Some one told me the name of the people that
own the property but I have forgotten what it is. I was told there was a fence at
one time but it is torn down. Please email me your newsletter. Thanks."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Butch: I have read with considerable interest your stories of various grocery
stores in Ardmore. I graduated from AHS in i944 and went directly into the Navy. My
grandfather, James A. Taylor, and two sons, Bill and Joe Taylor, operated Taylor
Brothers Grocery Store in Ardmore for at least thirty five years. The last address
was 1023 A St. N.E., but papa's original store was on the corner of C Street and
11th N.E. J.A. Taylor was a master mason and pulled many a person in Ardmore through
the depression by extending them credit when they were out of work. Anyone with a
hard luck story could get credit from the old man. He also ran the family farm out
on the Mount Washington road, originally known as the old Cruce Place. The old man
died in 1958, and both sons a few years later. I would love to hear from any of your
readers that remembers and has a story about James Alfred Taylor, or Joe and Bill
Taylor. I always read and appreciate T&T." -John Graham grah4453@bellsouth.net
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The person who wrote about the small grocery stores in N.W. Ardmore, the one on E
by Franklin school was owned by Mr. & Mrs. Seagraves. He had a lot of credit that
wasn't being payed so he gave the people a chance to pay the debt off by working on
a house he was building. The house was at 531 G. N.W. My folks bought the house from
him in the early 40's and sold it in 48 when we moved from Ardmore to Denver,
Colorado. It was a big old house that set on 2 lots and had beautiful black walnut
trees in the yard. Those trees had been grafted with English Walnut and were big and
could be picked out in halves. If you know "black walnut" that was really
something. Mother mad pies like pecan pie." -Jo Evelyn Barton joeveb2003@yahoo.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Hi Butch - I'm still enjoying all your newsletters. As I remember, the old
Jefferson Elementary school had one of those curved metal slide fire exits up until
it was rebuilt as a one-story building about l938. The first graders were on the
first floor of the old building, so we didn't get to dream of a fire drill and going
down the slides! Too bad!" -gkallgren@aol.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Saw the e-mail in your last T&T about Doris Duston's 3-ring circus. I was in it in
1956. Might be interesting to know if there are anymore out there who participated -
may just find long-lost friends." -Christie Sullivan Reeves, AHS 1956
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Hello Butch, A lot of your Readers seem to be interested in the old City Drug
Store. Maybe they would like to see this photo again that I sent you in 2001. This
was me in white apron and the other boy was a friend of mine (now deceased, Leroy
Hattensty)." LEEWAS@aol.com
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/CityDrugStore.jpg
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Butch, my wife and I were looking around Wilson, Okla. a few days ago and I spotted
what I think is an old freight elevator at the back of a two story building. I'm
guessing that is what it is anyway, maybe some of your other readers can tell us for
sure. I've attached photos of (1) the front of the bldg. located on west Main St.,
south side of the street, it's the two story bldg in the middle of the photo, (2)
the rear of the bldg with the elevator, (3) close-up of the top of the elevator and
(4) close-up of the bottom of the elevator. Like you I'm always looking for
something to photograph and this thing just caught my eye." -C. Dwane and Terri
Stevens
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/wilsonelevator2.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/wilsonelevator3.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/wilsonelevator4.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/wilsonelevator5.jpg
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Butch, I remember back in the early 70's, the old Ardmore High School building had
one of those escape slides on the back side. Of course, I don't think anyone used it
because it seemed awfully unsafe. By the time they had the new high school built in
'74, they had removed the old slide. Not sure it would have been that fun cause it
seemed like you would have gotten you backside sliced up pretty good. I bet you that
if you could get a hold of some of the old AHS Criterions, that you could find a
picture of it."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Golly, I remember so many times seeing the Washita or Hickory Creek or Caddo Creek
flooding. Heck, I remember Steven and I driving down one time to see the Red River
flooding. That was really awesome, cause just a week afterwards, it had receded and
we drove down to the I-35 bridge and I got some really neat photos. Take care and
keep up the good work on the T & T. I sure appreciate reading it every Monday when I
get to work. It keeps me from being so homesick."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Butch I am looking for picture of wanette, oklahoma during the years of 1933 to 50s
do any of your readers have any from this time period. Thanks." -phdmom
------------------------------------------------------------------------
========================================================================
I received a great big surprise this week. A Reader in Texas gave me a 43 minute
film her father made in 1936 of the construction going on at Lake Murray by the WPA
and CCC workers. Maybe we should have an Initial Showing of this never before seen
movie? More next week!!
I mentioned a few weeks ago about my electricity browning out in the evenings. Its
still dimming down and coming back up every few minutes, really bad in the evenings.
Thursday Oct 16th is the worse I've seen it, dont know if or when my electricity
will just go out. Hope never. I talked to a main down on main street this week, he
said the he was having brownouts too at his house, and has been for about 4 months.
He said he's put surge protectors on everything he can trying to prepare for
whatever. Something's going on.
"It's good news week,
Someone's dropped a bomb somewhere,
Contaminating atmosphere
And blackening the sky."
-Hedgehoppers Anonymous, 1965
http://www.geocities.com/fabgear6366/hedgehoppers.htm
See everyone next Saturday!
Butch Bridges
PO Box 2
Lone Grove, Oklahoma 73443
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Saturday October 11, 2003 T&T Weekly Vol 7 Issue 338
I was in Gainesville, Texas last month and noticed the Cooke County courthouse is
doing some kind of remodeling on top. Workers had some scaffling up and a walkaround
near the very top. They said it was mainly just a cleaning of the dome and all. The
pigeons had done a number on it.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/gainesville91403a.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/gainesville91403b.jpg
This is the unusually slide fire escape on the south side of the Gainesville
courthouse. I remember as a kid seeing these same type slides at the nursing home on
3rd NE where the present day Woodview Nursing Home at 1630 3rd NE. Actually the old,
I think the name was... Evans N/H was just a few feet south of the present day
Woodview N/H. I guess they still have one or two of these 'slide' fire escapes at
the Veterans Center on South Commerce here in Ardmore too.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/gainesville91403c.jpg
This is a closeup of the decor that adorns the Cooke County courthouse.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/gainesville91403d.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/gainesville91403e.jpg
Speaking of Gainesville, Texas did you know there is a wonderful zoo there? I've got
some pixs of that too and will put them in next weeks T&T.
I saw Love County resident Jack Drennen at the post here in Ardmore this week. He
had just returned from a car show in Decatur, Texas with his 1979 VW Super Beatle.
He won First Prize! But then Jack also won First Prize at the Eureka Springs,
Arkansas show back on the first weekend of September. So his classic '79 convertible
is making a real showing everywhere it goes!
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos/drennen3a.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos/drennen3b.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos/drennen3c.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos/drennen3d.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos/drennen3e.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos/drennen3f.jpg
Decauter, Texas (Wise County) is about 50 miles west of Denton, Texas. Jack told me
when you get about 15 miles from Decatur, all you can see is that beautiful 1896
Romanesque Revival courthouse that looks like old castle on the Decatur town square.
It sits on a hilltop. The link below show this courthouse and all her glory. Be sure
and click on the color insets on the photo on the right to see a detail of the part
of the building.
http://www.3dphoto.net/stereo/world/united_states/south/courthouses/wise_main.html
http://www.cviog.uga.edu/Projects/gainfo/courthouses/decaturCH.htm
Speaking of courthouses, a Reader notified me this week that I do not have a pix of
Oklahoma's Stephens County (Duncan, Oklahoma) on my webshots.com albums. Boy, that
is one that slipped by me. But they did send me a photo of not only the Stephens
county courthouse as it is today, but also a photo of the one that was torn down in
1968. The photos are in the Mailbag below.
Electricians have the new lights installed on the outside of the Carter County
Courthouse.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/carterlights03a.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/carterlights03d.jpg
Back in the 1920s my uncle Abe Carmon and his wife Pearl lived at 1117 4th NE here
in Ardmore. He and his nephew Howard Heath opened Ardmore's first miniature gold
course near C Street NE and Highway 199 east. This would be just west of the
railroad underpass on the north side of the highway where a vacant convenience store
stands now. In 1999 I mentioned my uncle's miniature golf course and show a
photograph of it too. What I didn't notice in the photo at that time, was the word
"course" was spelled "coarse" on their bulding. I dont know if back in those days
that spelling was used, or if this was just a plain old mistake in the spelling on
someone's part???
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/golf20.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/golf20b.jpg
A friend of mine has been over in Iraq the past month or so. He just returned and
brought me a genuine Iraqi $250 bill with madman Saddam himself on the front of it.
Its worth about 3 cents.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/saddam03a.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/saddam03b.jpg
Devils Den was the hot stop this week on my webshot.com albums. That album had 161
hits with a total of 1,278 accumlation for all the albums.
http://community.webshots.com/user/oklahomahistory
A Reader sent me an email this week telling about a website by National Geographic
on maps. There are several categories, but one is historical maps. Pretty neat!
http://plasma.nationalgeographic.com/mapmachine/
SOME LETTERS FROM THIS WEEK'S MAILBAG
"Butch, seeing the posting on the Criterion year book of Ardmore High School
reminded me of Ms. Doris Duston's 3-ring circus she used to produce each year.
Fantastic production with all the high school taking part. I wish we had camcorders
back then. She really knew how to organize things. It was usually put on in the
civic auditorium for 2 or 3 nights."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I'm very interested in Roy Miller's photos of Big Canyon, and I have a question
that Roy (or maybe Dwayne Stevens) can answer for me. One of the photos
("bigcanyon7.jpg") shows a rail vehicle sitting on a rail line beside the Washita
River (which appears to be running high and fast). I assume that the two foreground
tracks, plus the track that the gondolas are sitting
on, are Dolese sidings. Is the track that the rail vehicle is sitting on the ATSF
mainline? If Roy has any more photos of this area I would very much love to get a
copy." Ron McFarlane bearmcf@alphalink.com.au
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/bigcanyon7.jpg
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I enjoy your weekly journals. They bring back many memories. Here are locations of
three neighborhood grocery stores that I remember back in the 30's. One was Kyles
Grocery on "C" st. N. W. btw 2nd and 3rd avenues. It was a nice little store. Mr.
Kyle and his wife lived next door to the store. Another store which was a little
larger and did a good business was Seagroves Grocery on "E" st. N.W., near the
Franklin School. Mr. Seagroves gave credit to his customers. Unfortunately, many did
not pay up. Then there was a tiny little store on the corner of 10th and "A" st. N.
W. We called the proprietor "Old man Holmes" We would buy R. C. Colas there or a
loaf of bread. These stores were very convenient for an item or two. But for weekly
shopping, Mother would go to the A&P downtown."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I was just catching up on last week's T&T, which I missed reading at the time. The
person who listed the Carter County country stores in the 50's didn't get out to the
far west end of the county. My folks ran the Ward's store in Wirt (Ragtown) from
1939 until my dad died in 1954, and my mom ran it until she sold out in 1956. There
was also Duke's Grocery, our friendly competitor down the street, where Donald Duke
still has a feed store. Both stores were in old sheet-iron buildings, built on 2x4's
on 24" centers, with NO insulation, and were sealed only with old 3/8 inch sheetrock
or "beaver-board"; talk about cold in the winter time!!
Also, regarding City Drug in Ardmore: It also had a wholesale division; or at least
it carried enough stock so it could sell wholesale to small grocers around the
county. We bought wholesale drugs and sundries from for our store quite regularly.
One very frightening experience I remember was early in 1958 when my wife was in her
first trimester with our first daughter, and caught the German measles (a variety
also called "three-day measles" which hardly slowed down the activities of a
"normal" person, but which were potentially dangerous to a first-trimester fetus).
I took my wife to Dr. Safley in Healdton for a gamma globulin shot, but he didn't
have enough to give her, so I drove to Ardmore to get another 10 cc's from City
Drug. I still have the old check stub book showing the $33.35 I paid to City Drug;
and I also paid Doc Safley another $8-$10 for the two office calls and all the
medicine he had; all of which totaled quite a bit of money for a couple of college
kids in a day when $125 would pay the O. B. bill for a whole pregnancy and
delivery!" -Keith Ward, Oklahoma City
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Hey Butch, another interesting edition of T & T. I have been following the many
articles about old grocery stores in our area, & was wondering if any of your
readers had information to share on the Brock, Ok. general store/post office(S. of
Lone Grove, Ok. approximately 4 miles). It was owned & operated by Isaac N. "Ike"
Brock, around 1896/1897. Uncle Ike took on a partner for a brief time, by the last
name of Smith. I would be especially interested in any pictures."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Have you had anyone show an interest in Dixie, Oklahoma (Stephens Co)? Only the
cemetery is left. Its a few miles north of Ringling."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Butch, Here is a photo of the "FORT WORTH DOUGHBOYS." This would be the forerunner
of the Light Crust Doughboys. I can remember when the Light Crust Doughboys came to
Ardmore in late 30s and played at Central Park from back of their Bus. It was
specially equipped for these tours."
Top L to R: Bob Wills Milton Brown
Bottom L to R: Clifton Johnston Durwood Brown
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/ftwdoughboys.jpg
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"A very interesting train trip for young and old of any age. You don't get a chance
to see and ride a Vintage Train very often and this is a close to Ardmore location.
I'm sending some photos of the Tarantula Train that I took at the Fort Worth
Stockyards Station on Friday, October 3, 2003." LEEWAS@aol.com
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/tarantulatrain2.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/tarantulatrain3.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/tarantulatrain4.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/tarantulatrain5.jpg
http://tarantulatrain.com/depot.asp
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Stephens Co Courthouse 1921-1968 Duncan, Ok "Celebrating 100 Years of Heritage"
June 27th - 1892-1992 official post card of Main Street Duncan, Inc
We are in the process of constructioning a new jail so the back of the courthouse is
still a work site.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/stephens1921.jpg
The Stephens County courthouse today.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/stephensco03a.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/stephensco03b.jpg
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Butch, is that water running through there? As in, flash flood? Couldn't really
tell from the photo."
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/bigcanyon6.jpg
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Do you know where I can find the names of the people who died in Ardmore's 1895
fire?"
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Here is a picture of my folks store in Wirt, which I wrote you about last week.
This was taken early in 1942." -Keith Ward, OKC
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos3b/WardsStoreWirt.jpg
------------------------------------------------------------------------
========================================================================
The Connect Oklahoma Listserver has grown to over 100 subscribers!
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/connectoklahoma.html
I've got a few coins I'm trying to sell. If you know anyone interested, let them
know.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/coins.html
"Nothing is so easy as to deceive oneself; for what we wish, we readily believe." -
Demosthenes
See everyone next Saturday!
Butch Bridges
PO Box 2
Lone Grove, Oklahoma 73443
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Saturday October 4, 2003 T&T Weekly Vol 7 Issue 337
A Reader brought me by a real piece of Ardmore history this week. It is a 1928/1929
Ardmore High School criterion. Back in those days the criterions were really made
different than the modern ones of today. This particular criterion is 18 inches by
12 inches, about 25 pages in length, and printed on newspaper. It is in pretty rough
condition, but still readable!
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/ahscriterion1929.jpg
Back in 1999 we talked about the silo north of Mannsville, Oklahoma and the tree
that was growing in it years ago. Joyce Franks took a photograph of it back in the
80s and thats the photo we talked about in 1999.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/silotree.jpg
Back in May 2002 Dwane Stevens sent in an email with 3 photos of this same silo:
"Butch, you've had some messages about the movie "Dillinger" in your newsletter so I
bought a DVD copy from "Movies Unlimited" via the Internet recently. Nice to see
scenes of the Carter County Court House, main street Dougherty and many others from
our area. The "shoot out" scene in Dougherty is my favorite and the DVD version is
really great because with the digital zoom feature of a DVD player, it's possible to
zoom in on background features that you wouldn't otherwise see. As in the Dougherty
scene, while in still mode, you can zoom in on the railroad crossing way in the
background and see the cross buck etc. Anyway, after viewing the movie I decided to
drive to the Washita River bridge north of Mannsville that was also in the movie. It
still looks about the same as in the movie. While in the area I shot some photos of
the "Silo with the Tree" growing out the top. I know you have posted photos of it
before but I shot two photos from the inside of the silo. One shows the base of the
tree and the other shows the top and there's one outside shot as well. Just thought
your subscribers might enjoy an "inside" shot! Ha! As always, your newsletter is
great and your hard work appreciated by all. Thanks." -Dwane Stevens
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos/silods2.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos/silods3.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos/silods4.jpg
This week I received a photo of another tree growing inside a silo. Its located near
the little town of Roff, Oklahoma (south of Ada).
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/roffsilotree.jpg
McAlister, Oklahoma is the county seat of Pittsburg county. A Reader took this pix
of the bell at the All Saints Episcopal Church in McAlister. This bell looks old to
me, and I bet there is a great story behind it!
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/mcalisterepiscopalbell.jpg
The next five photos are not exactly in Oklahoma, but since many of you are railroad
buffs, I knew you'd like these relics from the past. This number 4003 steam
locomotive is just across the Oklahoma state line at Ft Smith, Arkansas.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/ftsmithloco.jpg
This is a well preserved Katy Railroad caboose on display at Ft Smith. It reminds me
of the one in downtown Purcell, Oklahoma.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/ftsmithcaboose.jpg
Here is another caboose at Ft Smith. It needs some restoration.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/unionpacificcaboose.jpg
This is a MKT pullman car on display at Ft Smith. Its like the 1,200 pullmans that
were used during WWII for the mass transport of troops around the country. They were
custom made and would sleep 30 soldiers and one porter.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/ftsmithpullman.jpg
This is three more photos taken by Roy Miller of OKC. He's retired from Dolese
Company and worked Big Canyon rock crusher south of Dougherty in the Arbuckle
Mountains.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/bigcanyon5.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/bigcanyon6.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/bigcanyon7.jpg
If you're looking for an item, there's no need to resort to the Yellow Pages. Just
go to http://www.google.com and type the one word category followed by the area code. I
typed in "photographs 580-223- and here is what google found first:
Photographs By Lawrence 311 W Main St. Marietta, OK 73448 (580) 276-4670
Webshots look-sees more than doubled this week with over 2,300 Hits! Awesome!
http://community.webshots.com/user/oklahomahistory
< p>
This is the Future: Assume we can build a system that can carry the equivalent of 6
freeway lanes of passengers for less than $1 million per mile (installed, complete with vehicles and all electrification).
http://www.skytran.net/01Homepage/Introduction.htm
SOME LETTERS FROM THIS WEEK'S MAILBAG
"Butch, you left out my uncle's store in your list of rural grocery stores. Clyde
Minter had the grocery store out on Hwy 70 (I think) where the new car wash is now.
It was rock as was the house my aunt, uncle and cousins lived in right next to it.
The grocery store burned but I don't know what year. The house was moved several
years ago to a place west of the Plainview School. When I was a kid, Saturdays were
always spent at Uncle Clyde's store. About all I remember about it was in the back
of the store there were bags of flour (probably 20# bags) and they were all
different prints of material. "Flour Sack" dresses were some of my first clothes
before we moved to Ardmore and I started to school. Ah, memories!!!!!!!! -danna
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"butch, I don't believe U. U forgot to list nix's grocery as one of the gro stores
in lone grove way back then. how could U forget that 2 story white bldg. I don't
even know what all nadine nix had in there."
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"I really appreciate This and That, read it faithfully every week and learn
something new about the place I called home for a number of years in the thirties
and forties while growing up. It still has a place in my heart. I also read the
Ardmoreite on line whenever I find the time for news of former schoolmates (AHS
'43), etc. I appreciated the note about Andy Arnold and Arnold's Grocery at
Springer, named that by Andy's dad, Cecil Arnold. He bought the store after he
retired from the mail/freight run to Springer/Woodford/Milo and Graham. He was a
wonderful guy and a friend to everyone. They don't make 'em like Cecil anymore. I
don't know who ran the store before him or what it was called. I don't suppose there
is anyone out there who remembers the store at the crossroads at Woodford built by
my grandfather, William (Horace) Greer, and after his death in the early thirties,
operated by others. I loved to visit it as a child when I got to take my pick from
the penny candy (about the size of a quarter bar now) in the big glass case. It was
a General Store with gas, ice, feed in the store room, and anything else he could
sell to make a living. At different times he cut hair, raised chickens, roasted and
packaged peanuts, and rented a billboard to advertisers. Just like Walmart in
everything but profits." -Carolyn Frei cfrei@lewiston.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Butch, I grew up in Countyline. I lived on the Carter County side. The school was
across the road on the Stephens County side. I went to the first grade there in
1944. It consolidated with Alma and was closed in 1946 or 1947. It was built by the
WPA but the plaque is gone now as is the big bell. Countyline opened the first post
office about 1929 as the oil boom town grew up overnight. It is a ghost town now.
All that is left is a little store and the post office. I am sending a picture of
the school. http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/countyline3.jpg
This the town of County Line, on the Carter County side, that was in the Stephens
County History that was published several years ago. The town burned in 1950."
-Wanema Womack Bullard
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/countylineok.jpg
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"Dear Butch, On Oct. 18, 2003, Madonna Eskew Pumphrey will be inducted into the
National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City. She will receive the Tad Lucas Award.
Madonna's grandmother, Florence Randolph, was World Champion Bronc Rider and Trick
Rider in the late1920s, teaching her to ride a horse at an age when most people are
learning to walk. Her grandfather, Colonel Jim Eskew joined Buffalo Bill's Wild West
Show as a child and went on to become a pioneer rodeo producer. Horseback at the
ripe old age of two, Madonna developed a love for the lifestyle passed down to her
by the generations before her. Trick roping came naturally for Madonna and lessons
from her World Champion Trick Roping father, Jim Eskew,Jr., didn't hurt either. In
her twenties, Madonna worked for several Rodeo Stock Contractors such as; Harry
Knight, Mike Cervi, Harry Vold, and Butler Brothers. She worked as a timer and
carried a flag in the grand entry. Until her early thirties, Madonna crisscrossed
the United States working rodeos and enjoying the freedom that her profession
allowed her. Children and animals have always held a special place in Madonna's
heart. After retiring from the rodeo circuit, Madonna volunteered her time to help
troubled children in the Ardmore area with an organization called "CASA", Court
Appointed Special Advocates. Courage, passion, and generosity of spirit are all
qualities of a true cowboy. These things along with a sense of humor, talent and a
beauty that's evident on both inside and out make up Madonna Eskew Pumphrey.
Congratulations Madonna!"
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Butch, I enjoy your T&T very much. I know that others look forward to your
newsletter each weekend as much as I do. I was wondering if anyone out there
remembers a automobile wreck several years ago. it took place on Highway 7 someplace
between Hinnepin and Davis. I believe a truck hit a car head on and killed a mother,
her son and grandson. I believe her name was Kate Hasting. Any information on this
terrible accident and lost of life would greatly be appreciated." email Pat
sanfordjl@aol.com
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"hi butch. my mother inlaw was a Rhyne from Allen, and Stringtown Ok. her grandma
was Olllie Rhyne. her dad was Winfried Rhyne." -Pam Potter BPo5622338@aol.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Andy Arnold's father, C C Arnold, ran the Arnold grocery store in Springer before
Andy took over. I know there was an Arnold running it in the early 40's." -Nelda True
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Dear Butch, The Post Office has a new service for mailing material. It is called
Mailing Online. There might even be a way for you to qualify as a non-profit!"
http://www.usps.com/mailingonline/faq_print.htm
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"regarding Karla Johnson's grandfather James Minor Spurlock who was killed in a fall
from a train in 1935, Here's the rest of the story: The newly widowed Mrs Spurlock
managed to raise all 9 of those children by managing the cafe at the bus station
which was near the present Cook's paint building and there was no welfare system,
salvation army, social security system, etc. She did it by long hours. The children
made good grades and grew up to be productive citizens. What a Heroine!!!"
vdsvb@brightok.net
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The bell fell into the burning timbers and planks and was melted into a shapeless
mass. This metal was sent to the Andrew McNeeley Bell Company, West Troy, New York,
original casters of the bell, and it was recast with the same inscriptions and now
hangs at Park Hill Presbyterian Church, Cherokee County, Oklahoma."
http://www.cherokee.org/Culture/HistoryPage.asp?ID=36
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"the chickasaw name for blaze is kila (ke-lah). the chickasaw word for fade is
masali (mah-sah-le) you could call him Masali Kila."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Do you know of any murders at Wheelock Female Seminary/Wheelock Academy (McCurtain
County)?"
http://www.rootsweb.com/~okgenweb/schools/county/choctawnat/wheelock.htm
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Hello to all, We took a day trip to Texas on Saturday. Toured the state park of
Fort Griffin. It is a lot of fun to walk those places we have read so much about.
All of Josh's western books talk of all these places. You can just see the indians
hiding behind the hills, and imagine the buffalo ranging out for miles and miles.
The cattle drives to Kansas. Very colorful history in this area. The tress are
magnificent! To check them out, click on the image or photo album title link to the
right! Enjoy." -Susie http://community.webshots.com/album/92310455iiAJua
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Dear Butch: Mentions of City Drug bring back memories. I was a good fiend of Mr and
Mrs Vickers. They had two sons that were pharmacists. I was a member of the Oklahoma
State Board of Pharmacy from 1965 to 1972.....and sometime, I don't remember the
exact date, I think it was about 1966 we hired Bill Vickers, their younger
pharmacist son, as our Executive Secretary. I have no idea where he is today, if
someone knows I would like to have his address." -Pharmacist Kenneth Eck, Healdton
kenlorek@texhoma.net
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"My name is Gary G. Kilgore. I am a displaced Okie. My parents relocated me to
California in 1948. I am of the "Kilgore's" of Chickasha, OK. I was born in 1942 and
lived there off & on until 1948. My family's plot in "Rose" Cemetery will attest to
the length & size of our family. The first family member to move to Grady Co. was
Willis Solomon my Great Great Grandfather. He relocated there from Alabama shortly
after the Civil War. I became aware of you & the "T&T" via my cousin who was born &
raised in Ardmore. He is Neal Freeman & is retired and living in Ardmore at this
time. His family has roots back to the "Oil Boom" days. He has been sending me your
"T&T' for some time now. I've enjoyed the photos & stories very much. I am somewhat
familiar with Ardmore since my family lived there for a short time in the mid 1940's
and I've visited there frequently, my last trip was in 1996/7. I found one of my
most memorable was in 1959 just prior to my entrance into the Navy. My cousins & I
had a heck of a summer that year. There was an entrepreneur by the name of "J.B.
Ponder" who I was wondering what ever happened to him." -Gary G. Kilgore P.O. Box
1099 Victorville, Ca. 92393 E-Mail ARIES-G@WebTV.Net
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Does anyone have any information on a Sulphur High schoolmate of mine? Maiden name
was Irma Lee Williams. She had a brother named Gwen. Last I heard, she lived in
Pennsylvania. Would appreciate it. Thanks." Alleda Hale avhl1962@hotmail.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The Evening News, Ada, Oklahoma. June 20, 1905
Two places in this paper about the train wreck...
Ardmore, I.T. June 19, 1905
Traffic on the Santa Fe was delayed about twenty hours by the wrecking of a freight
train south of this city. Seventeen cars loaded with lumber and ties were ditched
and much damage resulted. No one was injured.
Escursionists Wreck-Bound
Ardmore I.T June 19, 1905
Seventeen carloads of lumber on the Santa Fe were wrecked south of here yesterday
afternoon, delaying traffic on this division for twenty four hours. A crowd of
fifteen hundred Sunday Texas excursionists to Arbuckle mountains north of here had
to remain over night."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The Evening News, Ada, Oklahoma. January 11, 1911
Duncan Ready for New Road
Duncan, Okla. Jan 9, 1911
A letter was received in Duncan today from parties at Lawton who are interested in
building the proposed line of railroad from Lawton to Ardmore via Duncan. The
letter states that all financial arrangements had been made and all that was now
necessary for the fulfillment of the project was getting the people of the places
together and discuss the bonuses asked by the promoters. Some years ago Duncan, by
subscription, raised a bonus of many thousand dollars for this road and stands ready
today to do its part."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The Evening News, Ada, Oklahoma. May 23, 1900
Excursion rates
Dallas---May 22 to June 2, for trains arriving as late as 3:15 p.m., limited to
return same day $2.50. May 28-June 3, limit June 3; rate $3.30
Houston-- May 17 & 18, limit 20th, rate $5.00
several other towns listed including Louisville KY $20.70
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I attended Ardmore Junior High from the autumn of ' 72 to the spring of ' 75. I
remember attending many dances at Teen Town which was held at the YWCA. As I recall
there was always a very good turnout and everyone seemed to have a really good time.
I was also one of the many local teens who spent alot of time hanging out at the Old
roller rink at the former armory building, bowling at the old Ken Cliff bowling
lanes where I also worked at the restaurant, watching movies on many weekend nights
at the old Skyview drive in movies or at the Tivioli, or just cruising around on the
" drag". During the time while I was attending Ardmore High I spent many weekend
nights at football games at Walker Stadium performing with the band.
I miss the old times but will always treasure the memories." -Roxanne
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I always enjoy your column, though much of it I don't relate to. I lived in Ardmore
only a few years between the late thirties and the mid fifties. I also lived at
Woodford and Springer briefly at different times, and enjoyed the article about Andy
Arnold. I knew his father, Cecil Arnold, who owned the store previous to Andy. Cecil
bought it after he retired from carrying the mail and freight from Ardmore to
Graham. Cecil and his wife Gladys were wonderful people. He was eternally patient
and accommodating to everyone. I don't suppose there is anyone out there old enough
to know anything about my Grandad, William Horace Greer, who operated a general
store at the Woodford crossroads in the twenties and maybe earlier. He would sell
anything that was needed -- besides the grocery staples, he had ice, gasoline, feed
by the sack, you name it. At different times he acted as a barber, erected a
signboard for rental, hatched and raised spring chickens, and roasted and packed
peanuts. Others had the store after him. As a child I was allowed to reach into the
big glass candy case for a penny Baby Ruth or Butterfinger, one that would probably
cost a quarter today." -Carolyn Frei
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Butch, Here is a picture of Countyline Baptist Church. It is on the Carter County.,
side and across the street is Stephens County." -Wanema Womack Bullard
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/countylinebaptist.jpg
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Les Gilliam: "Friends, I'm leaving tomorrow, Tuesday, Sept 30 for Silver Dollar City
in Branson and will not be checking my emails until Oct 13 when I return. My band
and I will be doing three shows per day Oct 1-5 and 8-12. Also, we will play a
family dance, open to the public, on Monday night, Oct 6, starting at 7pm, at the
Compton Ridge Campground Hall in Branson, near Silver Dollar City. Some of our
upcoming public performances include the Quail Valley Fun Barn in Winfield, Kansas
on Oct 18, a solo show in Herington, Kansas on Nov 8 and the WMA Festival in Wichita
on Nov 13-16 at which I will perform several times. For more information about my
schedule, refer to my website." http://www.lesgilliam.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I believe Oct 21st, on the Discovery Channel is supposed to be a documentary on
mass murders/serial killers, which is supposed to include the Nannie Doss story. As
you may or may not know, she was the only mass murderer from Tulsa Back in the
1950's. She killed her husbands (and other assorted family members), but with the
husbands it was because they were not "romantic enough"!!! She was sentenced and
died in prison here in OKlahoma of leukemia. She had her cell scattered with love
stories and romance magazines."
http://www.who2.com/nanniedoss.html
http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial6/doss/
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"The Heartland Flyer was a blur this morning when it flew through Overbrook, Okla.
(just south of Ardmore). I finally had a chance to get out to photograph some trains
on the Red Rock Sub today. I decided to go to Overbrook to catch the Heartland Flyer
coming through. Some of the signal maintainers were at Overbrook and other spots
along the way setting up to run some timing tests when the Flyer was to come
through. When it came through one of the guys said, "boy, did he have the hammer
down!", indeed, I could hardly believe it myself. I tried to catch up with him on
old Hwy 77 but No Way! I'll have to go from 100 to 800 ISO film speed now! Ha!"
-Dwane Stevens, Ardmore
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"This picture is of a butcher shop in Ardmore, OK. Cole Pate is on the R/H side of
photo." http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/colepatebutcher.jpg
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Did you know that the first 20 volumes of Chronicles of Oklahoma are online? Click
on one and find the index for that entire year with beginning page number.
Wonderful! Pictures and everything." -Voncille
http://digital.library.okstate.edu/Chronicles/bookshelf.html
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Here's a question maybe some of your readers could answer for me: Where, in Paul's
Valley or Ardmore, was there a place where musical concerts were given in 1899-1900?
Supposedly my husband's grandparents met when James Ashby Boyd attended a concert at
which Juanita Allen was playing her violin. I'd love to be able to find out about
any "music halls" that existed then. Any help out there?" -Donna S. Boyd
momdsb@summit.net
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========================================================================
I've started bagging peanuts. I'm selecting some history trivia to put on each bag
and printing labels. So far there are four different trivias printed on 4 by 3 inch
labels and attached to poly bags, then one scoop of roasted peanuts, in the shell,
sealed in each bag. If you see me around town, hollar at me and I'll see you get a
free bag of peanuts! Hard to beat a good tasting peanut when you need something to
chomp on. Remember how we dropped them in a bottle of coca cola?
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos3b/oncetime92803.jpg
Does anyone remember the lady's name who use to read a one minute history spot in
the mornings on a radio station in Ardmore about 20 years ago? She always started
each spot with "Once upon a time......" I always looked forward to hearing what her
next history lesson would cover. Each 1 minute spot started out with a few seconds
of some music, and then ended the last few seconds with that same music. What was
that song?
The past two weeks we've seen 100 people subscribe to the listserver! And there's
been some really good messages posted. If you havn't subscribed yet, then you've
missed some good posts from all over the country. Hope to see you at the
ConnectOklahoma Listserver. Its free, and fun!
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/connectoklahoma.html
Take Me Out To the Ball Game - 1908 version
"Katie Casey was base ball mad,
Had the fever and had it bad;
Just to root for the home town crew,
Ev'ry sou Katie blew.
On a Saturday, he young beau
Called to see if she'd like to go,
To see a show but Miss Kate said,
"No, I'll tell you what you can do."
"Take me out to the ball game,
Take me out with the crowd.
Buy me some peanuts and cracker jack,
I don't care if I never get back,
Let me root, root, root for the home team,
If they don't win it's a shame.
For it's one, two, three strikes, you're out,
At the old ball game."
Katie Casey saw all the games,
Knew the players by their first names;
Told the umpire he was wrong,
All along good and strong.
When the score was just two to two,
Katie Casey knew what to do,
Just to cheer up the boys she knew,
She made the gang sing this song:
"Take me out to the ball game,
Take me out with the crowd.
Buy me some peanuts and cracker jack,
I don't care if I never get back,
Let me root, root, root for the home team,
If they don't win it's a shame.
For it's one, two, three strikes, your out,
At the old ball game."
Author: Jack Norworth
Composer: Albert Von Tilzer
Published on: 1908, 1927
Published by: York Music Company
See everyone next Saturday!
Butch Bridges
PO Box 2
Lone Grove, Oklahoma 73443
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