Muskogee History and Genealogy

Working Women of WWI

noreply@blogger.com (Wally Waits) — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 16:14:00 +0000

Most Americans know that "Rosie the Riveter" worked during the Second World War. Less well known is the story of the mothers of these workers. This story is about the women who took on work during the First World War to free men for another war effort.

Women have always worked outside of the home in such occupations as store clerks, schoolteachers and nurses or mid-wives. Women did not normally work in many other occupations until a need arose. Just as the Civil War forced many women into heavy farm work because husbands, sons and fathers were in military service, Rosie's mother moved into similar jobs during World War I.

This war brought America to its feet. Shown here is a statute of an American "Doughboy" outside of the VA hospital. Doughboys were the GIs of the First World War. Over one million doughboys shipped from American ports for service in France by the war's end. More than twice as many went overseas in military service while America fielded a military force of nearly five million men. Months earlier, these soldiers were working on farms and in factories.

To fill the shoes and boots of servicemen, women began working in non-traditional jobs. One example is Miss Jennie Weatherford who became the first woman automobile mechanic in Muskogee. She worked at the Muskogee Garage. She wore "bloomers" while she worked and reportedly left her facial powder at home in March 1918.

Just as Miss Weatherford worked as a grease monkey, the federal government promoted hiring women. Government altered its policy so that women became eligible for jobs as rural mail carriers in 1918. It was the first time since 1911 that women could apply for these jobs. The Post Office held the first examination for them on April 27.

Miss Stella Pierce of Braggs was the first woman in Oklahoma to pass the examination. She received her appointment as a mail carrier for a rural route in late July. Born about 1900, she was the daughter of Mrs. Charles Pierce. Soon after the end of the war, she became a stenographer with a hardware firm in Muskogee.

Even the railroads employed women in traditional male occupations. Railroads played a major role in shipping of men and material during the war. The US Army focused its recruitment on railroad men for active service. In filling their boots, the local newspaper reported that women worked in railroad roundhouses and in the railroad blacksmith shops. Before the First World War, women rarely worked in these railroad departments. Supervisors reported the work performed by women to be satisfactory after the war ended.

Despite their successful work record, returning soldiers replaced many women workers. The balance of women working outside of home returned to a more normal level until daughters named "Rosie" were called to serve during the 1940's.

Here is a ditty that chronicled these changing times.

Women for the railroads,
Women for the farms,
Women for the duties
of bouncer and gendarme.
Baggage smashing women,
Trucks to load and shove,
There'll be women soon for everything,
Except a girl to love.

Social Security Death Index

noreply@blogger.com (Wally Waits) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 00:49:00 +0000

The Social Security Administration (SSA) has long kept records of reported American deaths. This effort is part of their fiduciary responsibilities for cardholders. Their database is called the Social Security Death Index (SSDI).

The general public is unaware that this index first became publically available in 1991. A free online version of the database is available at http://ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi.

President Franklin Roosevelt worked for the passage of legislation to help needy Americans during the Great Depression. The enactment creating the Social Security Administration passed Congress in 1935. The law assisted to the disabled and family members when the wage earner was no longer able to work. This law still serves American today.

The legislation also established an insurance program in which workers identified by a nine-digit number contributed to a retirement fund. Upon death of the cardholder, SSA staff created an entry in a separate database recording the closure of the account under that number. Financial data for an individual remains confidential.

The SSA began keeping track of cardholders' deaths electronically in 1962. Today there are more than 82 million names in the database. Statistically, however, most of the deaths before this date are not part of this collection. This is because the earlier years were not recorded electronically. As older files are reopened for some purpose, deaths before 1962 are belatedly added to the death index.

The information in the death index includes the cardholder's name, social security number, state where the number was issued, date of birth and date of death. Many genealogists use this public information to help locate distant family members.

It helps if the name being searched is an uncommon one. If you wish to locate a record of a deceased family member who has a more common name, it may be best to use the advanced search feature. This will help to limit the search results to those with a similar name and have some other detail in agreement with known facts. It is amazing how many people have similar names, but resided in different parts of the country.

Even though my name is not very common, if someone made a search for Wallace Waits, three names come up. Two of the names are of my grandfather and father. They died in 1964 and 1974, respectively. I have never heard of the Wallace R. Waits who died young in life.

There is a low error rate in this data because the SSA staff works hard to maintain file accuracy. Joseph Seller is one case in point where an error crept in. The Social Security Death Index reports him being born in 1899. According to the database, Joseph died at a very young age in 1900. This is an obvious error since the death index was not created until sometime after 1935.

I learned this from the SSDI: Joseph Caudillo died in May 1967. He was my Company Commander during basic training when I first joined the US Army. Further research showed that he was killed in combat in Vietnam. I would have never know this if I had not checked the death index.

Here are some ways a person may make use of the Social Security Death Index. With the first payment occurring in 1937, it is possible your Civil War ancestor lived long enough to benefit from this Depression Era program. Or, your high school reunion is coming up and you can not find all of your classmates. Maybe several have already passed away. The Social Security Death Index may have the answers to these possibilities.

Joseph Sondheimer, Fur Trader

noreply@blogger.com (Wally Waits) — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 00:17:00 +0000

Joseph Sondheimer was the first person of Jewish faith to settle in Indian Territory. He came to the territory after the Civil War to trade animal hides.

Mr. Sondheimer was a native of Valkerschlier, Bavaria. He was born on September 22, 1840. He came to America as a youth. Young Sondheimer began his business training as a clerk in stores in Baltimore and Pennsylvania. During the Civil War, he worked as a commissary agent providing supplies for men and horses in the US Army.

Sondheimer began trading in hides for the commercial markets after the war ended. He opened his business in St. Louis, Missouri.

The depopulated area of Indian Territory provided the best source of animal hides because of destruction caused by the war. When riding through the territory in 1867, he heard about the newly established Cobb brothers store on the west bank of the Arkansas River. He authorized the Cobbs to purchase hides on his behalf. He established similar agreements with other merchants along the Texas Road between Missouri and Texas.

Sondheimer also purchased hides from settlers throughout the Cherokee, Creek and northern Choctaw Nations. He established his home and warehouse near the Creek Agency. This put him close to the Arkansas River where he shipped his purchases down stream. He was also near the center of Indian Territory.

Joseph moved his home and storage buildings into the new town of Muskogee after it became a thriving business center. Hides were among the first commodities shipped by railroad from Muskogee. Sondheimer found train shipments reliable.

During fifteen days in the winter of 1881, Sondheimer shipped the following from his large warehouse in Muskogee: 4,500 raccoon, 3,000 skunk, 2,000 opossum and 3,000 pounds of deer hides. Additional pelts shipped on this order included gray fox, beaver, wildcat, wolf, pole cat and otter. The shipment went to dealers in major cities such as Chicago and St. Louis. Two years later, Sondheimer shipped seven railroad cars loaded with cured hides.

Building the warehouse in Okmulgee established him as the largest dealer in hides in Indian Territory. Sondheimer shipped other commodities, too. Pecans were his largest non-pelt staple shipped back east. He also began shipping hides directly to Leipzig, Germany. Many shipments also included wool and, occasionally, prairie chickens and quail.

After more than thirty-five years of buying and selling animal hides, Joseph Sondheimer summed up his observations in 1904 about his business this way. "business will be very poor this year-in fact it has been getting worse and worse now for several seasons. It takes a very wild country or a fairly well settled country to make a good fur business. In the very wild country the fur trader depends upon the skins of big game, while after a country has been fairly well settled the fur trader gets more mink, fox and pelts of small animals."

He continues "it is a fact that is not generally known that such animals valuable for their furs follow settlements. They leave the dense forests and follow on the boarders of small settlements where they are always found in greater numbers than in the thick forests where hunted by Indians."

Joseph Sondheimer's observations are just as valid today. My next-door neighbor saw a skunk in his back yard one evening and I have seen opossum and raccoons scurrying across roads. These are settlement small animals like Sondheimer observed a hundred years ago. He would have smiled knowingly.

The Beginning of Council Hill

noreply@blogger.com (Wally Waits) — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 01:45:00 +0000

Council Hill is a town in the southwest corner of Muskogee County. Its location was part of the pasture of the "Big G" ranch owned by Bill Gentry after the Civil War. The Gentrys raised as many as a thousand head of livestock yearly on the land.

Henry M. Sappington went into partnership with Gentry in the 1890's as he began slowing down in his elderly years. In 1901, Sappington purchased Mr. Gentry's remaining interest in the land.

The Missouri, Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad began extending toward Henryetta's coalfields in 1905. The M. O. & G. line wanted a location in the area for a depot, section house and shipping point.

An auctioneer sold Council Hill's first town lots on June 22, 1905. The lots brought in $17,500 in three hours of bidding. The money registered as the most paid for a single town in Indian Territory.

Council Hill was chosen for the town name because the Creek Indians once called a nearby hilltop by the same name. There was an excellent water spring on the higher ground where the Creeks held councils.

Two weeks after the auction, the town gained a post office. It initially operated out of the Case General Store. The first postmaster was Emanuel B. Case. His store offered cool drinks, groceries and fine shoes.

The town also saw the establishment of the "Council Hill Eagle" newspaper within months of the post office's establishment. Almost a decade later, the newspaper became the "Council Hill Times."

Even before the sale of lots, people began settling in the area in expectation of the new town. Dr. Andrew J. Lovell, for example, arrived in the area on January 5, 1905, with his family. He soon established a number of partnerships in local enterprises.

Traveling doctors regularly came into the area to treat medical and dental problems before the town grew up beside the M. O. & G. tracks. The new town attracted physicians who put down permanent roots. The Council Hill Drug Company soon was dispensing medical cures and notions.

Council Hill quickly took on the look of permanence. Businessmen used brick in many places to build their stores and offices. Six of them had concrete sidewalks twelve feet wide out front within months.

A new schoolhouse was built. The first classes began in September. Methodists also built a church as soon as the money could be raised.

The town's population grew to 200 by 1909. There were two banks, a livery stable, several general stores and a meat market. There was a lumber store, a blacksmith shop and a contractor to oversee building construction. A cotton gin joined the Council Hill Grain Co., the Council Hill Hardware Co., and Council Hill Telephone Company in providing services to the area.

The town added the services of a barber, a dressmaker and a jeweler, too. A hotel served the railroad traveler.

Council Hill also had growing pains. The M. O. & G. Railroad acquired the "Big Mallet" railroad engines to pull heavier coal cars to and from Henryetta. The first time a Big Mallet engine passed through town, it tore up the loading dock at the depot. Construction workers extended it too close to the tracks. The damage was repairable, but remained the topic of discussion for weeks.

Council Hill has continued to serve the agricultural community for over a hundred years. It remains a trading center in the southwestern corner of Muskogee County.

Boynton's Oil Field

noreply@blogger.com (Wally Waits) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 01:39:00 +0000

Americans today worry about high gasoline prices. This renews interest in drilling in the United States instead of overseas. History repeats itself: almost one hundred years ago, Muskogee County was the location of frenzied drilling.

The Boynton Field was the smallest field in the county. Oil fields commonly took their names from the nearest town. As time went by, the oil field's name morphed into the Boynton-Haskell Field and then into the Boynton-Creekola Field. As more was learned about the oil field's dimensions, geologists added Haskell and Creekola to Boynton's name to better describe the field.

During the early years, the size and shape of the field was unknown. The Boynton Field has a domed shape with the top of the dome located in the Boynton area. Drilling was initially to a depth of about one thousand feet. Drilling to the same depth in the surrounding area failed to produce oil because the drilling rigs were not reaching lower portions of the field.

The earliest report of oil drilling near Boynton occurred in 1894, ten years before the establishment of the town. A decade later, some forty wells were drilled on the location of the present townsite.

Wildcatters returned to the Boynton area in June 1910. This time they drilled on the Jackson farm to a depth of 1,700 feet. This well initially produced a mere twenty barrels a day. Despite the oil being of the highest grade, interest in drilling in the area dropped again. However, this well promised geologists that there was more oil deeper in the ground.

During the next few years, events brought wildcatters back to the Boynton area again. Part of the increased interest arose from the explosion in the number of automobiles using internal combustion engines. Another part of the increase came because of the declaration of war in Europe.

Drilling in Okmulgee County and the huge success of the Glen Pool Field brought more interest to the Boynton area in 1914. The Yoga Oil and Gas Company started drilling one and a half miles south of Boynton in mid-January. Then, Litchfield and Sullivan found oil that gushed 40 to 60 barrels a day on the C. Davis farm in early February.

This later well helped finally to establish the Boynton Field in Oklahoma as one worth extensive development. In May, a second Litchfield and Sullivan well on the same property produced paying quantity of natural gas. At the same time, the Pulaski Oil Company and the Prairie Oil and Gas Company began bringing in oil wells nearby.

Two years later the Boynton Refining Company invested about $90,000 in the construction of a refinery. Its initial capacity was one thousand barrels of crude oil a day. The facility had the capacity to produce about four thousand gallons of gasoline. About 1918, Oklahoma refineries were selling gasoline at nineteen cents a gallon. Major Refining Company constructed a second refinery in 1917 in Boynton.

There were seventy-six wells drilled into the Boynton Field in 1916. These wells produced 4,617 barrels of crude oil a day. The field's peak production was in 1915 with about 7,500 barrels a day being pumped out. By the end of 1919, however, field production dropped to 1,800 barrels.

All oil fields reach a point where wells are no longer producing sufficient oil to justify running the pumps. Boynton Field was a smaller field and that point came early. Today, Boynton Field is little more than a footnote in history.

Manual Training High School's Beginning

noreply@blogger.com (Wally Waits) — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 15:27:00 +0000

In 1909, the manual training educational system sweeping across America was ten years old. Following the new state's declaration for separate education for Oklahoma youths, Muskogee floated a bond proposal. Muskogee's Manual Training High School was a product of these twin drives.

The purpose of a manual system of education was to teach children in grades six to twelve to use their hands. In this manner, educators believed students would stay in school longer. It was also felt they would be better prepared for the industrial world when they left school. Muskogee's school was the second one constructed in the state for African Americans, after Oklahoma City.

Muskogee's bond in 1909 funded the construction of three schools. In mid-February, C. W. Briles and C. W. Dawson went to Missouri and Illinois schools to get ideas for the construction of the new school buildings. Briles was Muskogee's school superintendent while Dawson was an architect. All three schools were ready for use when schools opened in the fall of 1910.

About $75,000 went to purchasing the land and building Muskogee's Manual Training High School. The building and mechanicals cost $70,000. The balance purchased a trapezoidal one-acre lot across the street from the new Dunbar elementary school. Money also purchased playground equipment.

The building's two stories sat atop a full basement. It had a parapet around the front that added stature to the buildings yellow brick exterior. This touch of grandeur promoted a sense of pride among the students and faculty that lasted a century.

Manual Training High School educated 138 students in grades nine through twelve during 1916. Two-thirds were girls. Furthermore, its classrooms taught another 285 pupils in one class of the sixth grade and all of the seventh and eighth grades.

There were nineteen classrooms in the building. Four teachers taught the students below the ninth grade. Eight full-time and two part-time teachers taught the high school pupils. C. B. Bryant served as the school principal. The music teacher was Leanna C. Clark. The rest of the teachers were Elizabeth S. Brown, Lucy M. Elliott, Nellie W. Greene, M. Johnson-Jones, S. S. McCulloch, Julia E. Nickens, A. C. Perdue, Florence Pickens, Alma Ross, Susan A. Sharpe, W. O. Sneed, Myrtle Williams and S. E. Williams.

The high school students had two choices in their course of study. Eighty-seven pupils chose the general course that year. There were the basic classes of English, history, math and science taught to all students. Students often chose to take Latin during their last three years. The school's library was considered excellent for its day.

The manual training curriculum served boys and girls differently. The girls alternated sewing classes with cooking classes.

The boys in the industrial courses studied woodworking and mechanical drawing. Their classes were three double periods each week.

The Manual Training High School increased the emphasis on African American education in Muskogee County. The growth in student population caused the enlargement of the school building, first in 1922 and again in 1929. Additional buildings housing classrooms and vocational workspace came later, but the last addition in 1929 defined the main high school building until it closed in 1970.

Elbert Little, Dendrologist

noreply@blogger.com (Wally Waits) — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 01:43:00 +0000

Elbert Luther Little, Jr., moved to Muskogee in 1909 as an infant. In 1923, he graduated from the Muskogee's Central High School. Little is famous for the compilation of numerous atlases of American trees. These works are still constantly in use today in the study of the impact of global warming.

Elbert was the son of a railroad tax agent. Like his father, he was always interested in details. His excellent oral and visual memory served him well. He made good grades throughout his school years where his fellow students thought he was "smart." Even so, they never imagined the height of recognition Elbert would obtain.

He continued his Latin and Spanish studies during his senior year. At the same time, he was also class secretary cum treasurer and a class reporter for "The Scout."

Elbert attended Muskogee Junior College the last year he lived in Muskogee. Then he enrolled for a summer course at McPherson Collage in McPherson, Kansas, in 1924. There he took his first biology course at the private, liberal arts institution. For a few years, the college offered field-study courses in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It was in Colorado that his study of plants and trees became the focus of his life.

At the end of summer, Elbert enrolled at the University of Oklahoma. Because the university accepted the credits Elbert earned in the junior college in Muskogee, he graduated in three years with Bachelor of Arts degree in botany. The year was 1927. Without any letup, Elbert then enrolled in the University of Chicago. Within another two years, he earned a masters degree and a doctorate. Both advanced degrees were in botany. The topic of both his thesis and his dissertation was studies of plants of Oklahoma.

Elbert's first job was with the Oklahoma Forest Commission. Afterwards, he taught college courses at Weatherford for three years. During this period, he earned yet another diploma, this time in zoology.

In the height of the Great Depression, when President Roosevelt was trying to reduce the damage caused by the Dust Bowl, Elbert became a federal employee of the Forest Service of the US Department of Agriculture. He worked for the USDA for eight years as a forest ecologist based in Tucson, Arizona.

Elbert Little accepted a promotion and moved to Washington, DC in 1942. He worked for the next thirty-four years as a dendrologist. In his study of American trees (the dendro- in his title), he began his publishing career in earnest. He wrote over 150 handbooks and hardbacks, some multi-volume works, on the trees of the western hemisphere. His fluency in Spanish really helped him in his studies of trees south of the Mexican border.

He wrote the Field Guide to North American Trees. Published by the Audubon Society, this two-volume set is still in print with more than a million copies sold. The book for the eastern region covers Muskogee.

Elbert Little's list of awards and service is too long to cite here. In the early 1990's, he returned to his old hometown to see how much he remembered from his youth. Of course, he visited the library to see if any of his books were on the shelves. I found him to be a gentle man with just a tinge of pride. We searched for his books and then he left.

It was not until years later that I realized the measure of his contributions in the study of trees. If one searches for his name on the internet, the list of hits often include acknowledgements by other researchers of Elbert Little's contributions. This scientist truly surpassed his surname by a mile.

The Olympic Airdome

noreply@blogger.com (Wally Waits) — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 23:03:00 +0000

An "airdome" was an open-air theater. Muskogee once had a number of airdomes around town. They operated from late spring to late fall each year. This is the story of the Olympic Airdome.

The Olympic rose from the ground on South Third Street next to the Columbia Alley. Carpenters finished the theater in May of 1907. Maybe the wood for the theater came from the lumberyard located behind the Olympic. The location of the airdome in the 200 block retained a bit of old Muskogee town flavor. There were a couple of residences located across the street that were destined to be replaced by stores in just a few years.

The eighteen-foot high stage faced west. It was about twenty feet deep and had a performance area that covered thirty of the stage's fifty-foot width. The bleachers backed up against Third Street to a height of fifteen feet. Tickets sold for ten cents and a quarter each.

Most theaters of this period accommodated vaudevillian performances. Thus, it is no surprise that a troupe of performers opened the theater. "Ferris' Comedians" was one of Dick Ferris' four companies entertaining audiences in America. This troupe of performers remained in town for over a week.

Their first play entitled "Friends" headlined the Olympic Airdome's first season. The "Ku Klux Klan" followed, but was immediately cancelled after its first night. Thirty citizens petitioned the city in opposition to its performance and the acting mayor, J. B. Campbell, ordered it shut down. The actors performed the same play two days later at Hyde Park outside of city limits.

Being versatile, the sixteen-member troupe performed "Her First False Step" at the Olympic in place of the cancelled show. This five-act melodrama was one of several performances that greatly amused the viewers for the rest of the troupe's stay in town.

The Olympic opened with electric lights strung from the stage to the stands. Before the season was over, electricity also ran a movie projector showing black and white silent films. The audience waited at the end of each reel for the loading of the next one because the theater owned only a single projector.

Many casts of performers would be coming to the Olympic one after another during the next eight years. One comedy making the rounds of many theater circuits had a serious message. "Ten Nights in a Bar Room" drove home the value of temperance. The Sherman Stock Company performed it and the Russian drama named "Michael Strogoff." The last play was based on an original story by Jules Verne.

The "Ferris' Comedians" stayed long enough to put on one last show. It was entitled "The Cattle King," a western melodrama that was based on the dime novel of Frank Dumont by the same name. The first few lines from the actors ceased momentarily when a fistfight broke out in the back bleachers. A young man named J. G. Blalock was blocking some "ten cent" seats when instructed to sit down. The altercation lasted but a minute before the restoration of order.

Yet, this 1907 incident represented the nature of rowdiness common in general theaters of the day. Rowdiness did not doom open-air theaters. Their demise came about by the desire for more control over the elements.

Brick and mortar buildings paid investors with a steady, year-round income from ticket sales. As motion pictures became the most common form of entertainment, audiences were grateful they no longer had to suffer from an interruption in a performance when a train passed through Muskogee.

By 1916, the proprietors had abandoned the Olympic Airdome. The lumber company behind the theater asked the city to have the old theater condemned. The city fire marshal and building inspector both examined the theater. In their joint report to the city council, they stated that both the theater and the lumberyard were firetraps. In the end, the city took no immediate action against the old airdome, but it already had seen the last stage full of actors.

Dangers US Indian Police Faced

noreply@blogger.com (Wally Waits) — Thu, 29 May 2008 01:12:00 +0000

Before he became Oklahoma's first United States senator, Robert L. Owen served as an Indian Agent in Muskogee. During his tenure as Indian Agent, he constantly strove to improve working conditions for the Indian Police who worked for the agency.

The mid-1880's was a trying time in Indian Territory. Deputy Marshals and U. S. Army patrols provided some protection to Indian and non-Indian residents alike. In many cases, however, the Indian Police was important to successful police work in the territory.

In 1886, Owen reported having forty-three members of the Indian Police operating out of the Muskogee office. There were forty privates, two lieutenants and a captain. The police operated from their homes in order to provide service to their neighborhoods. Consequently, they knew their neighbors and the terrain nearby. This local knowledge frequently came in handy when tracking down a criminal.

However, there was an uncommon threat to service as a police officer in Indian Territory. Owen reported that some young Cherokees rode into Muskogee. Suffering from their consumption of alcohol, they began firing revolvers indiscriminately. Captain Samuel Sixkiller was shot and slightly wounded in one arm.

When the offenders were disarmed and arrested, they protested. They thought they were only shooting at the Indian Police. The intoxicated shooters were unaware that there were two Deputy Marshals nearby. At that time, there was no legal protection for the Indian Police except what local laws provided.

In another case, an Indian Police Lt. Thomas R. Knight killed Albert St. John in the process of arresting him. Members of St. John's wealthy family brought charges against Lt. Knight forcing the latter to make numerous trips to Fort Smith to defend himself.

One police officer was sentenced to hang by a tribal court for killing a desperado in self-defense. About the same time, the Federal Court in Fort Smith acquitted a Deputy Marshal, who was a US citizen, of the same charge.

Months after making his report for 1886, Agent Owen reported the killing of Captain Sixkiller the day before Christmas. Two young Cherokee half-breeds shot down the unarmed Sixkiller as he walked out of a Muskogee store. The drunks who committed the murder were never tried. One was captured and place in the custody of the Creek Lighthorse (tribal police) because the crime was committed in the Creek Nation. However, he was lightly guarded and soon escaped.

Thus were the variances of protection for lawmen. Owen advocated in his annual reports for passage federal legislation protecting the Indian Police. Then, no federal law protected Captain Sixkiller. Congress shortly afterwards passed such legislation.

For the risk they took, the Indian Police privates received eight dollars a month. Officers received a little more. Out of this salary, the police supplied their own provisions and a horse.

Lt. William Fields was promoted to captain following Sixkiller's death. A desperado murdered Lt. Fields about three months later while being arrested. His death on April 10th, 1887 led to the promotion of Lieutenant Knight, mentioned above.

Lt. Knight experienced a similar situation. While making arrest, the criminal resisted. Knight's killing of the offender was justified by Agent Owen who said he believed "it necessary to save his own life."

The passage of federal legislation to protect the US Indian Police began the process of reducing the threats these peacekeepers faced.

Girl Scout Statue Coming

noreply@blogger.com (Wally Waits) — Thu, 22 May 2008 01:14:00 +0000

Phyllis Mantik has cast a statue of a Girl Scout. She is a Canadian who has made sculpting her purpose in life. Now a resident of Stillwater, Oklahoma, she was chosen to make a bronze cast for the scouting program. That vision will be unveiled at the Three Rivers Museum on Saturday, May 31 at 4 o'clock.

Phyllis is celebrating the Scouting program by portraying a girl in her Scout uniform. This girl is an accomplished youngster as attested by the number of badges she wears on her sash. She has raised her right hand in the three-fingered salute recognizable around the world as a pledge to "do her best."

One tradition of the Girl Scouts is the selling of cookies to support the Scouting program. It is an important rite of passage for girls who meet the public while selling cookies. Thousands of local girls have become more confident in themselves while asking someone to buy a box of cookies.

The location of the statue in Muskogee is no accident. Four boxes of cookies are shown stacked by the Girl Scout who is forever frozen in bronze. Girls in the scouting program first sold cookies in Muskogee during December 1917 to raise money. The girls sold cookies in order to raise money to purchase uniforms.

The Muskogee's Mistletoe Troop was a new group in town. However, so was the Girl Scout organization. Juliette Gordon Low organized the first troop in the spring of 1912 in Georgia. It was only in 1915 that she incorporated the organization as Girl Scouts, Inc. Juliette sold her valuable necklace to support the society during these early days. This was because there was no regular income until troops all across the country began following Muskogee in selling cookies.

Members of the troop were able to sell cookies in Muskogee only until the middle of the month. A shortage of gas and the discovery that the heating plant at the Central High School was deficient forced the local school board to start the Christmas holidays on December 16th.

Since those days when Muskogee girls first peddled their cookies in the high school cafeteria, troop activities all across the United States have benefited. Because of those first sales, the "Cookie Seller" statue is coming to Muskogee.

Beginning May 21st, the Three Rivers Museum will display current and former Girl Scout uniforms. Also on exhibit will be memorabilia illustrating the scouting tradition and activities. This material may be viewed until June 7th.

Girl Scouts from all across Eastern Oklahoma plan to be at the Three Rivers Museum on the 31st to celebrate the "Road to a New Beginning." This celebration begins at 4:00 pm and will include the unveiling of the new statue.

If you were ever a Girl Scout, parented a Girl Scout or purchased cookies in support of the Girl Scout activities, plan to attend the dedication of the new Girl Scout statue at 220 Elgin Avenue in Muskogee.

Museum Digitizing Interviews

noreply@blogger.com (Wally Waits) — Thu, 15 May 2008 00:45:00 +0000

Alexander Hamilton Mike, Jr. was born in the Creek community surrounding the Union Agency now atop Agency Hill west of Muskogee. His birth occurred, he said, in 1874.

When Dub West interviewed Mr. Mike in September 1973, his voice showed the weakness of advanced age. Despite his low volume, A. H. could recall events and people from the earliest days of Muskogee's history.

Since 1860, man has been interested in recording the human voice. Mr. A. H. Mike was among the first persons Dub West recorded for posterity. Dub recorded nearly two hours of Mr. Mike's recollections.

Mike's interview is among the more than 180 discussions Dub recorded. He began in 1970 and continued recording on audiotape for nearly two full decades. His interviewees were all born before 1924. Mr. Mike, for example, was nearly 100 years old when Dub interviewed him.

Dub West sought out many long-time residents to interview. While most lived in the Muskogee area, he did not limit himself to the immediate area. He also sought out knowledgeable people in McIntosh and Cherokee Counties. Though West conducted interviews year round, he visited informants more between late winter and summer.

Following Dub West's death in 2001, the family donated the collection of interviews to the newly established Three Rivers Museum. The museum duplicated many of the tapes for preservation purposes years ago.

Developments in technological areas, however, mean today's audiocassette tapes are a dying recording media. Realizing this, the staff and volunteers have begun the process of digitizing these audiocassettes for the long-term future.

The process necessitate that each tape be played on a tape player that is connected to a computer. The computer used a recording program to re-record the stories digitally.

After this comes more steps before the interviews will be of much use to historians. Transcriptions of an interview are necessary, too. Such transcriptions point to accounts of an individual, place or event that historians will want to study.

The Three Rivers Museum has an offer for you. If you have a taped recording of an area resident, you may bring the cassette tape to the Three Rivers Museum. Then the museum will create a digital file for you to take home on the flash drive. There will be no charge for this service.

All the museum asks is that you allow it to retain a copy of the recording in order to expand the museum's collection. You get the added benefit of seeing that your relative's voice lives on in an institution dedicated to preservation of area history.

1916 Muskogee Balloon Race

noreply@blogger.com (Wally Waits) — Thu, 08 May 2008 11:42:00 +0000

Muskogee hosted the first of two "International Balloon Races" in 1916. While not officially sanctioned by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale, this race kept interest in ballooning alive in America during the years of the Great War.

The race was sponsored by the Oklahoma Free State Fair to promote that year's fair. In 1916, the contest drew six contestants. None was from foreign countries because of the outbreak of hostilities in Europe. The board posted a prize of $2000 for the entrant who traveled the farthest.

October 7th, the last day of the fair, saw the gas bags lift off from the fair ground racetrack. The Muskogee Gas and Electric had pumped 360,000 cubic feet of natural gas into six balloons. Three of them were 80,000 cubic feet in size.

The "Dayton" balloon launched first. A lumberman from Dayton, Ohio, piloted one of the smaller balloons. He sailed aloft without a rider. This balloon came down near Kansas City, Missouri.

The "Saint Louis No. 1" lifted off second. It suffered a rip in its bag at 14,000 feet. Fortunately, the fabric acted as a parachute. Both passengers landed safely near Macon, Missouri.

The "Wichita" departed with two dentists aboard. The balloon lifted slow enough to not even clear the north fence around the racetrack. This embarrassing beginning was quickly followed by a landing at Coweta.

The Kansas City Aero Club sponsored the "Uncle Sam." Its captain was Harry E. Honeywell of St. Louis. He won the silver trophy for the greatest distance traveled at the 1909 International Balloon Race. By the end of his ballooning career, he had made about 600 flights.

After arriving in Muskogee, Captain Honeywell recruited Jack Horne to travel in the race as his aide. Horne was the district manager for a national insurance company.

While flying near Bartlesville, they were fired upon by "Indians." One of the bullets hit the bag, causing a steady leak that finally forced the balloon down near Dubuque, Iowa.

The "White" balloon also had two passengers. Both the pilot and aide came from Saint Louis, Missouri, for the race. Their luck held throughout the race. They traveled 410 miles, landing near Chariton, Iowa.

The "St. Louis Million Population" balloon rose into the air last. Captain John Berry was the oldest at seventy-six years of age. A manufacturer, he agreed to take another Muskogean.

Miss Irene Adams was set to depart when Capt. Berry abandoned his plans to take her at the last moment. She was a single Illinoisan who worked selling curios at the Muskogee Indian Trading Company.

Berry's balloon was the last one to report in at the end of the race. This was the result of landing in a rural area of Harrison County, Missouri. It took him longer to get to a telegraph office in order to notify the race officials back in Muskogee where he came down and when he landed.

The fair board awarded the first prize money to Capt. Honeywell for his masterful piloting of a damaged balloon. In the end, however, the real winner was the town of Muskogee because of the excellent national news coverage the race received.

Charles A. Moon, Orphaned Lawyer

noreply@blogger.com (Wally Waits) — Thu, 01 May 2008 00:39:00 +0000

The photograph above shows the facing of the sidewalk step at 819 West Martin L. King Blvd. Charles A. Moon purchased the house about 1919 and later paved the sidewalk. He was proud of his home and this last vestige reminds us of this man's life in Muskogee.

Born in Cartersville, Georgia about 1883, Charles A. Moon was the son of Charles A. and Hattie (Goodwin) Moon. His parents, who married in late 1880, died when he was still an infant. A multitude of kin thereafter took turns in raising him. His upbringing left him with a strong sense of fairness and justice.

Fortunately, his mother's younger sister took him as a "pupil" because she wanted to become a schoolteacher. Her efforts to "teach" Charles resulting in him attending the University of Georgia Law School.

He arrived in Muskogee in 1906 after graduating with his law degree, but began working as an errand boy for Benjamin Martin's law firm. Before long, however, he was practicing law. Eventually, he served as City Attorney under four different mayors.

Always a leader, Charles was active in unraveling the mayoral form of government when Muskogee's city council ceased functioning harmoniously. He was among those who advocated the manager form of government. A city election in 1919 changed Muskogee's government to its present form.

Charles Moon won his first election to the Oklahoma House of Representatives in 1926. Then he won re-election in 1928. During this term, legislators tried to impeach the governor. After a failed attempt in 1928, Oklahoma state legislators impeached Governor Henry Simpson Johnston the next year. Moon acted as the leading prosecutor among the legislators who supported Gov. Johnston's impeachment.

Same year, Moon became involved in impeaching Gov. Huey P. Long of Louisiana. Moon advised those seeking to oust Gov. Long because of his experience in impeaching Gov. Johnston. However, he withdrew his efforts before Gov. Long beat back his opponents.

Representative Moon ran against Muskogee's State Senator W. M. Gulager. Moon won the election in November of 1930. After replacing W. M. Gulager as State Senator, Moon immediately wanted to replace many of Gulager's appointees. Following his instincts for fairness, Moon said one of Gulager's appointees spent the previous eight months of the year in Texas instead of on the job in Oklahoma.

Senator Moon served a second tern as state senator. During this term he helped to end the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution that abolished the consumption of alcohol. At one point, those seeking to reintroduce legislation allowing alcoholic sales in the state came up short of the votes. Those in favor flew Moon from Muskogee to Oklahoma City to vote in the Senate. This vote led to the reintroduction of legal consumption of liquor.

Charles Moon spent the remainder of his life in Muskogee. Home life and his law practice took up much of his time. Nonetheless, he found time to perform civic work, too. For example, he served as attorney of the Oklahoma Free State Fair for many years. He finally retired from this work in 1952. He was nearly seventy years old.

When you are driving across the intersection of Ninth Street and Martin L. King Blvd, look for "Chas. A. Moon" on sidewalk step. When you spot the name, tip your hat to a man who believed in fairness and justice in Muskogee.

Free Beginning Genealogy Workshop Coming May 3

noreply@blogger.com (Wally Waits) — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 02:01:00 +0000

The Muskogee County Genealogical Society and the Muskogee Public Library is presenting a Free Beginners Genealogy Workshop on Saturday, May 3. Registration begins at 9:00. Registration is not necessary unless ordering a box lunch.

There will be five sessions during the day. Each session lasts forty-five minutes. The first session begins at 9:30.

Jere Harris starts with "Basic Genealogy 101." This session tell you what a person needs to know to get started.

Stacy Blundell and Alissa Hill teach the researcher about "Organizing Your Family History." This tag-team humorously tackles the task of keeping track of your family details.

Sue Tolbert covers "The Why and How-To of Citing Your Sources." Sources are important for evaluating the accuracy of the information uncovered during research. Sue teaches the proper steps for following a standardized approach.

Lunch begins at 12:15. Workshop attendees may "brown bag" by bringing their own meal. If they prefer, attendees may reserve a box lunch by registering early and paying $5.50. Pre-payment is required by May 1 for a box lunch. Sandwich choices are Ham/Cheese or Smoked Turkey.

Nancy Calhoun kicks off the afternoon sessions at 1:30. Her topic will be "Research Aids in the Local History & Genealogy Department of the Muskogee Public Library. She will also cover how to find the material in the collection.

I will be teaching the last session beginning at 2:15. The topic will be "Websites Worth Using (Free)." The emphasis of my talk will be on using the internet to find free information about your family or ancestor.

All during the day, researchers may access the resources in the Muskogee Public Library. During the afternoon, society members will be available to provide one-on-one assistance in overcoming research roadblocks.

The workshop is free and open to anyone wishing to begin researching their past family history. If you are lucky, you may even take home a door prize.

Mark your calendar for the next workshop coming October 4.

Trolley Tour of Historic Downtown

noreply@blogger.com (Wally Waits) — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 02:09:00 +0000

Become a "historical tourist" this coming Saturday. Muskogee's "Trolley Tour of Historic Downtown" will visit many local points of interest. This annual event by the Three Rivers Museum lasts about an hour and a half.

Historic re-enactors will enliven this year's stops. They will illustrate some of the flavor of early day residents and scoundrels who once walked down the streets or once rode the old (pre-1939) Muskogee Electric Traction Company trolley cars. The cast of re-enactors include actors from the Muskogee Little Theater.

Barbara Downs really enjoyed her tour last year. When asked for a comment, her excitement amplified her memories. She exclaimed that it was so much fun and so informative that she was going on the tour again this year. This time a friend is going with her to share the experience.

There are many historical sites that we drive past each day. While some of the old structures are now gone, not all are. The tour will demonstrate that Muskogee is a historic town.

There are two tours scheduled this year. Seating for both tours have sold out. All that remain are spaces for standing in the aisles. Standing spaces are available for both tours.

While saving gasoline, join with your neighbors to see Muskogee as you never have seen your town before. Compare the photographs of the historical structures with today's buildings. See how some buildings have changed while others are either unchanged or are gone forever.

Each ticket costs slightly more than a movie pass at $10. The profusely illustrated booklet describing the historical sights alone is worth the price of a ticket. Reservations can be made by calling the museum at 686-6624. Departure times are 10:00 am and 1:00 pm at the Three Rivers Museum parking lot, 220 Elgin Street, three blocks south of Muskogee's City Hall.

Muskogee's Bicycle Craze

noreply@blogger.com (Wally Waits) — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 02:26:00 +0000

The bicycle craze struck Muskogee residents during the spring and summer months of 1896. The interest in bicycles swept into other Oklahoma towns like Vinita several months after it began in Muskogee.

The eastern states saw this euphoria earlier, beginning in 1887. For example, the Wright brothers purchased their first bicycles in the spring of 1892. This was a decade before their interest in flight took them to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

Bicycles of the 1890's operated somewhat differently than modern two-wheelers. This is because a chain directly connected the pedals and rear wheel. When one turned, so did the other.
The faster one sped along the faster the pedals turned. Coasting ever faster down a hill challenged the cyclist to pedal faster. This is why Muskogee inventor, George Beebe, came out with an improved propulsion where an "up and down" motion powered the rear wheel. The March 22, 2007, blog will tell you more about his invention.

On the last day of April 1896, a bicycling crowd headed east to Fort Gibson. The pretty weather encouraged to group of men to over-do it physically. Moreover, the road proved to be a challenge.

Some rode out and back. Many more walked back or caught a train ride. In the early days, there were no gears or multiple sprockets to make pedaling up hill easier. Riding to Fort Gibson required conditioning that few of these April cyclists possessed.

Hardware stores advertised the sale of different brands of bicycles. Maddin Hardware ads touted bicycling as excellent exercise for the businessman. The store sold the Columbia "wheel." A Columbia "High Wheel" had a large drive (front) wheel and a 15-inch back wheel. Columbia also manufactured modern style bicycles during this period. The Turner Hardware Company sold the Fowler brand of machines. They were sturdier and simpler bicycles.

A man named Shultz rode into Muskogee about this same time on a Columbia "Wheel." He was traveling from Los Angeles to Hartford, Connecticut. Schultz was emulating Thomas Stevens' 1884 transcontinental ride.

In the middle of June 1896, there was talk of having a bicycle race, or perhaps two, at the Muskogee fair in the fall. It was to be an attention-getting event open to all territorial cyclists. Unfortunately, the plans for the fair fell through that year.

However, bicycling entered the public's vocabulary in full measure. Never failing to miss a chance to connect with buyers, stores used the cycling imagery to promote product sales to the younger adult market. Advertisements for both men's and women's merchandise capitalized on the bicycle interest.

Even the Muskogee Literary and Society Club was not immune to the fad. Often the members performed readings of poetry or sang songs. Bicycling entered the picture when the newspaper reported the effort of one non-rider reading the Mosaics magazine as going "spinning up the road of good journals."

Ultimately, the price of a bicycle dropped because of mass production. As a result, bicycles became common around town. The heady days when few owned two-wheelers were fleeting glory days. In Muskogee, those days were in 1896.

Miss Alice Robertson, Photographer

noreply@blogger.com (Wally Waits) — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 01:25:00 +0000

Many are aware that Alice Mary Robertson, a missionary's daughter, served as Oklahoma's first Congresswoman in Washington. During most of her life, people affectionately called her "Miss Alice."

However, did you know she owned a photography studio for many years? She became a "photographer" after seeing the benefits of using photographs to illustrate her points during speeches. While at the Lake Mohonk Conference in October 1892, she sought improvement in Native American lives at the annual of "Friends of the Indian" meeting. She asked that funds be raised nationally for the education of Indian daughters. Among the girls she mentioned as an example of a need was the orphan of Captain Samuel Sixkiller. To make her point she displayed a number of photographs of Indian girls.

After returning to Muskogee from the New York conference in the spring of 1893, she found that Jacob F. Standiford, the subject of last week's blog, wanted to sell his photographic studio. Being mechanically inclined as well as a good photographer, he had become an agent for gasoline-powered electric generating plants.

His house in Muskogee that accommodated his photography studio had been for sale for months when Alice Robertson returned from back east. Standiford thus readily accepted Miss Alice's offer. After taking possession, she spent time and effort modernizing the old portrait rooms. She also hired a man named Tolbot to assist her, no doubt a former assistant of Standiford's. An advertisement described him as "one of the very best artists in the west."

His employment, however, raises questions of exactly what Miss Alice's role was. Chester Cowan, Still Photo Archivist for the Oklahoma Historical Society, says that she worked in other areas of the business, but not behind the camera.

A year later, Miss Alice undertakes another major renovation. The resulting cost forced her to take her employee as a partner. Thereafter, the business became known as "Robertson & Co." Miss Alice again returned to Lake Mohonk conferences in 1899 and 1900. Each time she took more photos to illustrate Native American life. She persisted in bringing their problems and progress to the public's attention.

Photographs attributed to the firm include an undated photograph with the notation, "Miss Robertson's scholars at the Muskogee School at Mus-ko-gee Indian Territory." The local newspaper mentioned that the firm had a negative of the Buck Gang shortly after the outlaws were hung in Fort Smith, Arkansas.

Arthur Palmer was another of Miss Alice's partners. Palmer continued to use card stock for cabinet photographs that was impressed with the Robertson name. In order to improve her financial circumstances, Miss Robertson became the supervisor of the Creek Indian schools in 1900.

Her photography enterprise was almost over. The business struggled for another few years before finally going out of business. Standiford's start ended under Miss Alice's management.

J. F. Standiford, Photographer

noreply@blogger.com (Wally Waits) — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 00:33:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Wally Waits) — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 01:11:00 +0000

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"

noreply@blogger.com (Wally Waits) — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 00:45:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Wally Waits) — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 02:15:00 +0000

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.

Golfing Comes To Muskogee

noreply@blogger.com (Wally Waits) — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 01:04:00 +0000

In the summer of 1902, residents in Muskogee started talking about establishing a country club. This led to the organization of a club near Fort Gibson named the Town and Country Club. Tams Bixby, a newspaper publisher, served as the first president. J. Fentress Wisdom was the club secretary. Within five years, however, use of a site on the east side of the Arkansas River drew opposition.

During the first month of 1907, organizers formed the Muskogee Golf Association. Their purpose was to establish a club closer to Muskogee. In addition, it was the new club's intention to absorb the Town and Country Club in Fort Gibson.

The golf club, limited to 100 members, paid $160 an acre to purchase a hundred acre tract from a Mr. Garland. This land northeast of town had been a cotton farm. The new location was near Hyde Park and was accessible by trolley. It was located three miles outside of the Muskogee city limits. While being more convenient, it was still far enough away from the noise and dust of town life.

The new location already contained a large house that could serve as a temporary clubhouse. Having a connection to the city water line was a bonus. The organizers planned to spend $25,000 more for new buildings and landscaping.

Just after Independence Day, the club sold the property at Fort Gibson to Frank J. Boudinot. This property included the barrack building and other structures used by officers stationed at the post decades earlier. With funds in hand, planning began.

The club brought in a specialist from St. Louis to help with the landscaping. George E. Kessler had previously been in charge of city parks for both St. Louis and Kansas City. He also landscaped the 1,200-acre property used for the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition. Kessler, a German, was a pioneering American landscape architect.

Kessler envisioned a fountain, immense flowerbeds, shady walks and vine-covered pergolas. He also thought a vegetable garden should accompany the wide stretch of lawns. He drew plans for tennis courts, too.

Construction of the new clubhouse began almost immediately. The new building cost $6-7,000. About the same time, the club built a golf course. Underbrush, weeds and old cotton plants made way for the first nine holes. This was the second nine-hole golf course built in Oklahoma.

J. F. Darby, president in 1908, promoted the expansion of membership. By the end of April that year, there were a hundred and thirty-five members, a third more than the old limit allowed.

On May 23, 1908, the club hosted its first handicap golf tournament. The grass barely covered the golf course. A dance followed the game that evening. The club's first golf pro arrived two weeks later.

William Nichols arrived in June, having learned the game in his native country of Scotland. Besides giving golfing lessons, he would win the first Oklahoma Open Golf Tournament in 1910. He followed this with another win the next year. He also won in 1914 and 1920. Muskogee's golf pro was truly Oklahoma's master golfer. Many local residents learned to play golf from his tutoring.

Dog Tagging in Muskogee

noreply@blogger.com (Wally Waits) — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 00:59:00 +0000

City founders felt there was a problem with an over population of wild animals at the time Muskogee became incorporated in 1898. They enacted the city's first ordinance to regain control with the passage of Ordinance No. 15.

This ordinance, for the first time, required the tagging of dogs. Tagging cost the owner a dollar a year. Yet, if one of the town's police officers picked up a pet, the fine was five dollars. Just like today's tags, a hundred years ago tags contained the year and a number. The ordinance specified that the tag be made of tin or copper. Furthermore, it specified that the tag be affixed to a leather collar. Sounds familiar, doesn't it?

If an officer found a dog without a tag, the officer was empowered to "arrest" and impound the animal. This happens today, but the public does not think of the animal as being arrested.

The ordinance of July 5, 1898, exempted a trained dog from the ordinance's requirement of being tagged. This ordinance allowed untagged dogs if they remained beside their masters. Such an untagged animal was safe from arrest on Muskogee's streets. A later ordinance removed this exception.

Dog lovers formed the Muskogee Kennel Club before 1906. Showing dogs earned the owner bragging rights. Just before the end of the year, Edward L. Halsell represented the club in a contest in Arkansas. His dog, named "Kentucky Lead," won first place. A banner, fox horn and $50 silver cup were the prizes he brought home. Knowledgeable sportsmen men considered Kentucky Lead to be the fastest red fox dog in America.

Slightly over a year later, dogs were again over running Muskogee. Finally, an alderman called for the city's police department to have four men use their revolvers on any untagged dog in the city limits. As barbaric as this solution seems today, it was the common answer to the problem of over population in that day.

In rural areas of the county, farmers periodically conducted hunts to reduce the number of wild dogs. These hunts were an effort to reduce losses from wild dogs attacking their livestock. Bert Pitts of McClain Township reported in 1909 that wild dogs were more like wolves or coyotes, but in fact descended from "two female tramp dogs" that grew to a pack of eight animals. Bert's specific complaint was that the dogs were killing four or five hogs a night. "The farmers there were up in arms," Bert reported.

By the end of 1909, Muskogee County reported more registered dogs than any other county in the state according to one report. This reflected upon the efforts put into animal registration. The number of dogs that year, by the way, was 5,156.

At the same time, the Muskogee Kennel Club reorganized. The following dog lovers urged others to join them. The organizers included Mrs. J. Hutchings White, Galen Nichols, J. L. Allen, W. R. Eaton, J. J. Brotherton and Ed Bothwell.

Today, the staff of the city's Animal Control Unit work hard in reuniting owners with lost pets. When an animal is "arrested," it is guaranteed safe housing at the city's animal shelter.

Andrew W. Robb and Family

noreply@blogger.com (Wally Waits) — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 02:21:00 +0000

The Robb family helped establish the town of Muskogee. Andrew W. Robb was the patriarch. A Pennsylvanian by birth, Andrew was living in Kansas when the Civil War began. By the war's end, he worked as a first lieutenant in Company F, Third Indian Home Guard.

Before his discharge, A. W. went to Bates County, Missouri, and married Martha Requa. He brought his wife after the war's end to Fort Gibson, where he served as a quartermaster. His war credentials enabled him to begin working as a government freighter. In this capacity, he hauled the first supplies to Fort Sill.

After three years, he moved to Baxter Springs, Kansas, where he opened a grocery business. Within two years, he was ready to move again.

The establishment of a post office in Muskogee by the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad prompted the growing Robb family to relocate. By 1871, two daughters and a son (Mary, John and Katherine) brought greater responsibilities to A. W. He looked to the creation of a town as providing a better future.

Arriving in Muskogee, the Robb's constructed the community's first house. At that time, there were railroad boxcars being used as a hotel.

A. W. built his home on a lot that later became the northeast corner of North Third and Broadway. This lot would ultimately sell for $70,000 for the construction of the Flynn-Ames building in 1909.

Andrew and his wife, Martha, welcomed the birth of their fourth child in this home. Jessie's birth on December 13, 1872, marked the first birth of a white child in Muskogee. Alice Robertson was Jessie's godmother. Later, fruit trees and roses decorated the property.

Robb opened a mercantile business in another frame building closer to the railroad tracks. Operating under the name of Atkinson and Co., Robb sold a little bit of everything needed by the community. For several years, it was the only hardware business in town.

Robb helped to establish the First Presbyterian Church. Organized April 18, 1875, it was the first church built in Muskogee. Mr. and Mrs. Robb joined by profession of faith immediately. A. W. later taught Sunday School classes and served as a Ruling Elder. He remained active in church affairs throughout his life.

Mr. Robb sold his share of his partnership in 1875 and went to work with James Patterson. The following year, he purchased a partnership in the firm that became Patterson and Robb. For over a decade their business provided first class merchandise to the buying public.

Then the partners suffered a total loss valued at $40,000 in a fire in 1887. A two-story brick building replaced their former burnt wooden structure. The new building became noteworthy for two reasons. First, the partners divided their merchandise into categories, thereby becoming Muskogee's first department store.

About the same time, the partners also hired a woman to work in their store. She was a novelty for a while because no other business in town had a woman working in such a public occupation.

There will be more about the Robb family in a future column.

Muskogee's First Telephones

noreply@blogger.com (Wally Waits) — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 03:14:00 +0000

"I'll phone you." One hundred and ten years ago this summer Muskogee residents began hearing another person tell them that they would use the latest technology in communication.

Mr. A. Z. English was an insurance agent. He represented more than a half dozen insurance companies in Indian Territory. In his business of dealing with home offices in the eastern United States, he saw firsthand how important telephone service was.

During the spring of 1898, he decided to bring the concept to Muskogee. Those joining in the investment included Captain F. B. Severs (Mr. English's father-in-law), S. M. Rutherford, C. W. Turner and Dr. Jesse Blakemore. The largest paper in town saw the effort as the "advance guard of civilization and progress." Most teenagers today would agree.

In fairly short order, English ordered the initial supplies and equipment. By May, his workers were planting telephone poles across town. The first single-wire switchboard English ordered could handle only forty lines.

Twenty businesses subscribed for telephone service quickly. Workers began stringing the single strand of copper wire as soon as poles began appearing.

Not all businesses were interested in having telephone service, however. When Mr. English asked the president of the First National Bank, the president could not see any advantage in having a telephone. This is interesting because the telephone company switchboard was installed on the second floor of the First National Bank building. More slowly, residents subscribed to the remaining lines.

The Muskogee National Telephone Company began operating on Monday, June 4, 1898. The first telephone operator hired to make line connections by plugging in a connecting cable sometimes went hours without a call coming in. If the operator planned to be away from work, as she was one Sunday afternoon in mid-July, the telephone subscribers saw the announcement in the newspaper.

Yet, there was a lot to talk about during the summer of 1898. The Curtis Act passed Congress. When it was signed into law, it insured the breakup of tribal control in Indian Territory. Also on the national front, the United States went to war with Spain with many local boys serving in the Rough Riders.

Residents also discussed significant local events during these months. Muskogee became an incorporated town earlier in the year. An election during the spring ushered in the town's first mayor and city council. Just as the telephone company began operation, residents and businesses found themselves having to live under the town's first city ordinances.

Throughout the fall and winter, residents explored the advantages and disadvantages of having local telephone service. They found out, for instance, that the telephone serviceman was a part-time employee.

Unfortunately, fire destroyed the telephone company slightly more than seven months after service began. The great fire the following February that wiped out Muskogee's downtown district engulfed the First National Bank building, too.

Mr. English suffered a total lost of about $40,000. Part of his lost included about $12,000 he invested in purchasing the switchboard, telephones, wire and poles.