J. F. Standiford, Photographer

Jacob F. Standiford was an early artist among the many photographers in Oklahoma. He grew up in a large farming family in Marshall County, Virginia. Marshall County is one of the western counties of Virginia that became West Virginia after the Civil War. He was born in February 1852. Jacob usually went by his initials, J. F. He did so because of a slightly older cousin also named Jacob Standiford.

J. F. moved to Muskogee in the spring of 1878 following a wanderlust that began at a young age. There he constructed a residence and art gallery. These were not separate structures. His photographic studio was his parlor. He developed negatives and made prints in a back room.

At the time, the Creek Nation required non-Indians to get a permit if they wanted to reside within the Nation. Because he enjoyed the rough western life, he applied for a permit. For many years thereafter, he advertised on the backs of his cabinet cards that he was the only licensed photographer in the territory.

Standiford covered most of Indian Territory in his photographic efforts. Partly this was because of his wandering nature. He was also aware that competitors could come into the area just as he had. His competition was the photographers living in adjacent states. Occasionally, such photographers came into Indian Territory only to shortly return to their native states. As time passed, more came and stayed.

Like the traveling photographers from adjacent states, Standiford regularly traveled throughout Indian Territory in a wagon. At every opportunity, he offered to take photographs at any gathering or farmstead. His photography business took him to Eufaula, McAlester, Tahlequah, Vinita and Wagoner.

During the mid-1880's, he moved to Kansas where he advertised himself as "The People's Photographer" in Parsons. After a brief spell, Muskogee drew Jacob back for another half dozen years. On July 14, 1892, he made application for a patent on a tool used in etching. Clarence W. Turner witnessed his application.

He married in 1886. His wife joined him in the business by assuming the developing chore. Later, Rachel L. Standiford, a sister, joined the couple in the business. J. F. and his wife had no children. The chemicals in the developing solutions might have been the reason for no children.

Here are some of the photographs Standiford took over the years in Indian Territory. He agreed with Campbell Russell about the need for paved streets in Muskogee. Standiford also appreciated the commercial possibilities of a photograph showing Russell fishing in a waterhole in Muskogee's Main Street in 1888. The powerful image was the result of their co-operative enterprise.

The following year, Standiford made a photograph of Tahlequah. He took the picture from the Cherokee Female Seminary on the outskirts of town. He also made a picture of fishermen at Flat Rock Bend. Another commercial success was Standiford's photographs of the inside and outside of Stampede's Saloon, Tulsa. His most common photographs surviving today are the numerous studio and tent photos he made of families and individuals all across the Indian Territory.

Muskogee's Welfare History

Before statehood and government social services, Muskogee residents formed the "Board of Associated Charities." Later, it became the "Board of United Charities." The Associated Charities generally undertook systemic projects not already provided by individuals and local organizations. It often oversaw the allocation of priorities when the needs were overwhelming. One example of the board's activities was its organizing a large meal for four to five hundred people at Christmas, 1916.

Associated Charities sometimes became involved after individual efforts began.. One woman from Coffeyville, Kansas, came to the attention of a trained nurse in Muskogee. The Kansan was very ill and destitute. At first, the nurse called upon a minister's wife and Dr. John Reynolds to assist the woman. Then the case became the responsibility of the Associated Charities. It seems the divorce of her elderly parents, an Italian father and a German mother, forced the destitute woman to fend for herself. With no close relative to turn to for assistance, she struck out on her own. Fortunately, a Muskogee nurse realized she needed help.

Muskogee's first urban renewal followed the disastrous 1899 fire that destroyed most of the downtown district. Part of that renewal took the form of realigning streets in order to improve traffic flow. This was partly because fire-fighting apparatus needed straighter avenues to race quickly to fires. Wider streets also helped to prevent fires from spreading. A look at a map of today's streets shows an orderly pattern because of the city council's improvement effort.

The realignment of streets, however, sometimes resulted in the destruction of buildings, both businesses and homes, which were found jutting into the path of a new street right-of-way. Removing these buildings sometimes caused hardships.

"Bread Mary" was an Irish woman. She lived near the intersection of Okmulgee and Cherokee in a house marked for destruction. This elderly woman made her living by selling homemade bread. Her hard work prompted some to chip in for the construction of a small house to be located out of the new street's path.

In addition to private individuals helping, societies aided people, too. Two organizations are noteworthy for their efforts. These were the Women's Christian Temperance Union and the Elks. The latter helped in another case caused by street realignment. The members of the Elk's lodge pooled their money in order to build another home for the Yates family in a situation similar to "Bread Mary."

Among other efforts, United Charities dispensed the money raised by the Phoenix Ice and Milk Fund, a Depression Era project of the local newspaper. However, generous donors eventually realized that there were more demands for donations than a single household could support.

A new approach offered a way forward so that organizations and donors worked together better. In 1932, United Charities was the second organization to join the newly established Community Chest. The new organization took donations and divided the money among competing organizations. Initially, fifty percent of the money went to the Red Cross.

Then the United Charities took the name "Muskogee Welfare Association" shortly after it joined the Community Chest. The Community Chest evolved into the United Way of today.

The Muskogee Welfare Association survived for decades afterwards. One of its accomplishments was its establishment and operation of the Day Nursery pictured above.

Karen Wagner contributed to this history of Muskogee's welfare effort.

Muskogee's Connection to "The Titanic"

The RMS Titanic, a White Star liner, sank in the North Atlantic on April 15, 1912. Before the end of the year, an imposter arrived in Muskogee to take advantage of the tragedy.

The Titanic's sinking served cheaters and conmen well because of the publicity about the enormous loss of life. For example, one liar claimed to have survived by cross-dressing as a woman in order to board a lifeboat.

In Muskogee's small world as a bustling city in Eastern Oklahoma, no connection to this historic event was expected. Suddenly, it arrived by train from Dallas in the form of a woman who called herself Mrs. Ellen Oldfield. She claimed two relatives were lost when the Titanic sank.

Mrs. Oldfield played upon public sympathy while she practiced the "advance-fee" fraud on a small scale. This fraud urges the victim to pay various amounts in hopes of receiving a larger sum later. Mrs. Oldfield's scheme began by collecting proofs of heirship from relatives for the estate of Nathaniel Kidder of England. In the process, she also collected a fee to cover nonexistent "legal" expenses. It is not known how many victims she conned in Muskogee.

There was, however, an unforeseen positive outcome to Mrs. Oldfield's visit. In co-operation with Mrs. Rose King, the wife of a local butcher, efforts commenced to establish a home for the mobile elderly who were no longer able to provide for themselves. Many residents joined them in establishing an Old Folks Home.

Initial plans called for the use of a vacant home located at 204 North K Street. This home was a single-floor, almost square building that sat on the northeast corner of K Street and Broadway. Unfortunately, this location soon proved to be too small. United Charities, a civic umbrella organization coordinating the effort, abandoned this structure for a larger building.

For the following several years, the Old Folks Home was at 2103 W. Okmulgee. This new location provided more rooms because it was a two-floor structure. The house is now the offices of the Betty Smart Bonding Co. This is how the former Old Folks Home looks today.

The first two matrons at the Old Folks Home were Mrs. L. E. Truman and Mrs. Nannie L. Bassham. They cooked when the residents permitted them. Many residents, though of diminished means, retained the vigor and the determination to help wherever possible. The matrons resided in the detached servant's quarter at the back of the lot. Together, matron and residents kept the property and quarters neat and trim.

When Mrs. Ellen Oldfield departed town, she said she was going to Nevada, Michigan and Ohio. With such a vague destination, she made sure it was impossible to track her future moves.

Sir Francis Drake Association scam began the following year. It followed the same pattern of collecting money to fund the legal expenses to settle a large estate in England. In this case, the fraud went international and took in millions of dollars from people who hoped to share in the noted mariner's supposed wealth.

Mrs. Oldfield did not intend to aid a good cause when she came to Muskogee in 1912. Her timing and charm put her in a supporting role that resulted in the establishment of Muskogee's first publically supported assisted living facility.

Muskogee's Old Folks Home provided needed services for decades. Today, the concept survives, but not the name. Thanks to a con artist who only wanted to defraud some residents, aid and assistance was given to many over the years.

The Murder of Officer Harvey

Lewis Franklin Harvey was the first Muskogee police officer to die while on duty after Oklahoma became a state. He was a New Yorker of about forty-five years of age at the time of death. As a rookie, Harvey drew the assignment of night patrol.

Officer Harvey was escorting another man into an alley off North Third Street on March 10, 1908. It was nearly eleven o'clock when Harvey met Jesse G. Cox, a waiter at the Ruby Restaurant. The two knew each other because policemen often ate at the restaurant.

Several weeks earlier, shortly after Harvey switched from working for the city fire department, the two men disagreed over Harvey's treatment of a woman Cox liked. Harvey, on the other hand, did not like the story Cox was telling about Harvey supposedly taking kickbacks from prostitutes, including from Cox's girlfriend.

Cox reportedly told another officer one day that he was going to kill Harvey. Because Cox was drinking heavily, the officer passed it off as "whiskey talk." Subsequently the two met at the restaurant where they seemed to get along. Nonetheless, there remained the undercurrent of mistrust between the two.

The night before the murder, Harvey told Cox that the girlfriend had to leave town. If she did not, Harvey would kill Cox. This upset Cox not only because his own life was threatened, but also of the murder of his father just a year earlier.

Cox apparently made up his mind about Harvey earlier in the day. Cox talked with a former coworker at Fire Station No. 1 saying that it was probably his last day of freedom. Then Cox stopped at the restaurant and picked up the manager's gun, a .45 caliber revolver.

Officer Harvey was making his rounds past stores downtown when Cox walked up. The two walked into the alley and shots rang out. At the inquest, the description of Harvey reported that he had been shot twice, once in the abdomen and once in the head from close range. His right hand held a slapjack. His revolver remained holstered.

A slapjack was a flat leather-coated leaded weapon similar to a blackjack. Many police officers carried them as an enforcement tool at that time. They usually inflicted pain and bruises when deadly force was not needed.

Unfortunately, the alley concealed the actions of both men. Then and now there is no way to know what happened first. After the shooting, Cox returned to the restaurant and announced, "I've killed Harvey, telephone for the police." He offered no resistance when arrested.

He remained in jail until his trial in mid-June. In a spectator-packed courtroom, Cox described the fear he felt that March night when he entered the alley between the Canadian Valley building and the McKibban building where the post office was located. Both prosecution and defense attorneys called for character references.

The jury's first ballot was nine to three for acquittal. Their final ballot acquitted Cox of the murder of Officer Lewis Franklin Harvey.

Officer Harvey's grave will finally get a tombstone Monday, March 10, 2008. Four police agencies will serve as honor guards. Services are at 10:00 am at Greenhill Cemetery. It is the 100th anniversary of his death. The public is invited to watch the honor guards and hear the bagpiper during the ceremony.