Oakie's NW Corner...
 Carmen's
Centennial (100 years) Celebration... I read in the Cherokee
Messenger & Republican where the Carmen (Oklahoma)
community will be having their Centennial Celebration, Saturday,
April 20 (2002).
The events will be free, but there will be food, arts, crafts and
souvenirs on sale that day. If you have a period costume, the community
of Carmen invite the residents and guests to wear their period clothing
for the costume contest that will be held at 2:30p.m., Saturday,
April 20, 2002.
The Main Program (11 a.m. to 8 p.m.)... will include everything
from cowboy poets, to fiddlers, to a presidential portrayer, to
gospel music to bands and musical school groups from Alva, Cherokee,
Timberlake and Aline-Cleo. Stick around at 8 p.m. for a street dance
which will bring the Centennial to the finale with the Impostors
providing the music.
Other highlights of the Day... a Centennial Parade will
begin at 10 o'clock a.m. -- An antique and classic tractor pull
will be at 1 o'clock p.m. -- Register for door prizes will begin
at 9 a.m. -- the Ralph Cain Newspaper Museum will open at 9 a.m.
-- The Carmen Depot Museum and Car Show will open from 11 a.m. to
5 p.m. -- An Art Show and Quilt Show will run from 1 to 3 p.m. --
A Centennial Postmark will be available from 1 to 3 p.m. -- Find
out what a "GO-Whoa" is at 3 p.m. What is a "Go-Whoa"?
Does Anyone Remember When... The business men of Alva (Oklahoma)
of February, 1909 thru March 26, 1910 organized a "Rest
Room" where travelers, women and children could rest after
shopping in Alva before heading back home or on their way to elsewhere?
The Matron of the Rest Room until October, 1909 was Mrs.
Thompson. After she left in October, 1909 came the new Matron, Mrs.
Conner. Some Guests of the Rest Room referred to it as --
"A comfortable place in which to rest and eat lunch."
Some 'Rest Room' Guestbook Comments... These are just a
few of the Rest Room Guestbook that I picked at random --
- Aug. 2, 1909 -- "While
walking up and down the street as a stranger in your town, I spyed
the 'The Rest Room.' Entered and how refreshing I found
it." -- Mrs. J. D. Carter, Waynoka
- Dec, 1909 -- "It is more of a question
than one would think. To express ones idea's of the Rest Room.
We westerners and Ranch people are so accustom to spending money
for anything we receive away from home. It over whelms us and
we can not think of anything nice enough to say of such enterprize.
Long May it last." -- Margarita Roberts, Fairvalley, Oklahoma
- a visitor of Rest Room.
- Dec. 1, 1909 -- Mrs. W.G. Baer, Enid,
Oklahoma, "The Rest Room is filling a long felt want. In
every city we find places for men to drop in where it is warm
and comfortable but it is hard to find a place where a women can
rest and not feel in the way. Alva can well feel proud of such
a refuge for women who when tired can rest and at no expense but
on the otherhand, feel a hearty welcome. Long may it Live."
If anyone has any information concerning this early pioneer hospitality-type
hotel, don't be shy... E-mail
Linda and help enlighten us to the location of this 1909-1910
Rest Room.
Speaking of Enlightening... I would like to thank everyone
who enlightened, educated this middle-aged writer concerning the
red point OPA (Office of Price Administration) and the millage
tax. Thanks, also, to those who shared some of their memories of
the theatres in downtown Alva. You can read their responses in the
Mailbag Corner. Thanks!
I am out of here this weekend for the town of Carmen, Oklahoma
this Saturday and their Centennial (100 years) Celebration
to see if I can find out what a "Go-Whoa" is! Just hope
the thunderstorms, tornado watches this time of year don't rain
on Carmen's parade of activities. See you next weekend!
~~ Linda "OaKie" ~~
NW Mystery Corner...
Last week I left you with Justice Miller in jail on a charge of
murder of Mabel Oakes. There was the news article in the Wichita
Beacon newspaper written around Nov. 16, 1910 -- Justice
of the Peace Miller Dares Not Leave Jail on Bail and Remains.
The article goes on to say... "N.L. Miller, justice of the
peace, in jail here charged with the murder of Mabel Oakes .....
refused bail today, saying he feared the people of the town would
attack him if he appeared on the streets. Miller's bail was fixed
at $5,000." -- Wichita Beacon, Nov., 1910.
It was also about this time that a New
Law Firm (Chase & Stevens) opened it's law office
in the southwest rooms over the Woods County Union Bank.
What makes this new law firm so interesting at this time... Stevens
was formerly with the law firm of Mauntel & Stevens. C. H. Mauntel
was one of the attorneys hired by the defense (N. L. Miller)
in the strangulation death of Mabel Oakes (9 Nov. 1910).
Besides a New Law Firm Coming to Town... A
New Justice is appointed to fill the vacancy occurring with
the resignation of Justice N. L. Miller. Paul Grove, Jr. was appointed
the New Justice to replace N. L. Miller. The newspapers wrote --
"No better appointment than this could have been made. Mr.
Grove is one of the strong young men of this community. The position
of justice of the peace in this state is an important one, and especially
so in a town of this size. The new justice will have his office
in the Kletke building." One of my readers informed, reminded
me, "The Justice of the Peace were around until sometime in
the 1960's and they could not hear felony cases - only traffic and
simple misdemeanors."
Chapter III-The Preliminary... If a defendant waives preliminary
examination, can the prosecution (counsel for the state)
introduce and perpetuate new testimony? What were the rules of the
Court back in the 1900s? What was this Law Enforcement League
back in the early 1900s? Was it the beginning organization of the
FOP (Fraternal Order of Police)? What was this serious illness
that plagued County Judge Cameron that caused the preliminary to
be postponed a couple of times?
Will there be a need for a Change of Venue? Check out Chapter
III - The Preliminary as attorneys square-off, draw-lines and
set their strategies for prosecution and defense of Alva's
First Homicide - 9 Nov. 1910 (Old Opera House Murder).
|
Click Here
for the History of Moundridge School District #114, Woods County,
Oklahoma. Click the Photo for more photos of the School students
from 1935-1939. Thanks to Marty
(Knabe) Myers for sharing the information with us.
Editor's Note...
I received an interesting
e-mail proposition to speak about How, Why & History
about my websites -- "The Okie
Legacy" & "ParisTimes
Pioneers." This happened a few weeks ago and I find myself
taking on something NEW for this NW Okie -- Of course, I accepted
the offer.
For those you who do (or do not)
know me... you will know that this shy, sweet, middle-aged lady
is one of those that gets extremely nervous if asked to get up
in front of a group of people. It is NOT an eveyday thing that
I seek out.
BUT... Sometimes there comes a time
in your life that new paths open up and need to be explored. The
ParisTimes Pioneers
& The OkieLegacy
have opened up many paths, avenues for me in the past three (going
on four - maybe five) years. Some I resisted -- some I found
intriguing. I guess it is just another growing process for this
NW Okie (Oakie).
As I keep telling myself, "You
are NEVER to OLD to learning something new!"
Anyway, here is
the e-mail proposal that I received a few weeks ago.....
"Linda
- I wanted to thank you for including me in The
Okie Legacy emails. I find them very interesting, informative
- Heck, I'll certainly say entertaining! Which brings to my point
in bugging you today.
"The
Southwest Society on Aging
is having a one-day forum in Tulsa this summer called Trees,
Ties & Tombstones. The focus of what we are covering is
Preserving Our Heritage. The event is scheduled for Friday,
June 7 (2002) @ University Village in Tulsa. If it works out,
I'll get you plenty more info and Mike will be posting stuff on
our website. Preserving
Our Heritage - SWSAging.org
"Anyway....my
question: The Okie Legacy ties
in so nicely with the purpose of the event I was wondering if
you'd be willing to come up to Tulsa and visit with the attendees
for about a half hour? We could set it up so you could do a demo,
talk about how you set it up, why you set it up, history, etc."
-- Lance, SWSAging.org
The Southwest
Society on Aging (SWSA)
And
Its partners are proud to announce
2002 Oklahoma State Forum #1
being held at
Hillcrest University Village
8555 S. Lewis Avenue
Tulsa, OK
Friday, June 7, 2002
This enjoyable, informative forum
will focus on a variety of topics associated with
Preserving
Your Heritage
Genealogy,
Memory boxes, and
Storytelling.
Go Register
at SWSA's website!
Menu:
Linda K McGill Wagner
c/o WWW Publishing Co
PO Box 619, Bayfield, CO 81122
Thanks! You can also view The OkieLegacy online. Copyrighted © 2008 by WWWPubCo & OkieLegacy.
All Rights Reserved.
|
Mailbag & Links Corner....
Rest Room Guestbook
(Alva, OK)... The first 25 pages of 100 pages of the Alva Rest
Room Guestbook dated, February-1909 thru March-1910 can be found
by clicking on the PDF file -- 1909-10AlvaGuests1.pdf.
If you do, (or do not) have Acrobat Reader -- You will
need to update to version 5.0 to view this PDF file. Follow the link
below to download the free version 5.0.5 of Adobe
Acrobat Reader. Also... When I was scanning the pages, page 23
did not quite come through correctly. I haven't figured out how to
delete that page without starting all over again. I will stick page
23 in the next 25 pages of the "Rest Room Guestbook." Check
out the family names listed in this little northwest guestbook and
see who all passed through Alva and the Rest Room back in the 1909-1910
era.
Mills & Tokens... "Linda,
you're right, different states called them different things. Here
in Missouri they were were knows as Mills. Green ones and red ones.
If I remember right...The green were 5 and the reds were one. 10 of
each made one penny. When I was a teenage and working at Kresges 5&10...
we would always have to charge mills. As in $1.05 and 3 mills. They
were plastic, here, with no hole in the middle. I'll have to see if
I have one somewhere. It's kinda like eagle stamps and green stamps,
etc. Once they go out of style no one keeps them (except me).
I'm not sure about the red token. I have some old red "war"
tokens. during WWII you were issued gas stamps and tokens that you
could by sugar and meat with. I believe I still have some stamp books
and maybe an old token or two. That may be what the red one was. I'm
not sure if different states issued different kinds of tokens. Maybe
my mom would know." -- BJ
OPA
- Office of Price Administration... "Office of
Price Administration (OPA), U.S. federal agency in World War II, established
to prevent wartime inflation. The OPA issued (Apr., 1942) a general
maximum-price regulation that made prices charged in Mar., 1942, the
ceiling prices for most commodities. Ceilings were also imposed on
residential rents. These regulations were gradually modified and extended
by OPA administrators-notably Leon Henderson (1941-42), Prentiss H.
Brown (1943), and Chester B. Bowles (1943-46)-until almost 90% of
the retail food prices were frozen. Prices continued to rise, however,
and new drives to secure compliance resulted; ultimately the OPA succeeded
in keeping consumer prices relatively stable during the remaining
war years. Besides controlling prices, the OPA was also empowered
to ration scarce consumer goods in wartime. Tires, automobiles, sugar,
gasoline, fuel oil, coffee, meats, and processed foods were ultimately
rationed. At the end of the war rationing was abandoned, and price
controls were gradually abolished. The agency was finally disbanded
in 1947."
Millage Tokens... "The millage token was
a coin of exchange, just like a penny. I remember paying in and receiving
in change, millage tokens when buying groceries at Magnuson's Groceteria
in the fifties. The total of our grocery bill would be stated in terms
of dollars, cents, and tenths of cents. I can't remember when we switched
to the sales tax, rounding up or down to the nearest penny."
 Red
Point OPA... "The OPA red-point tokens to which you allude
were issued by the Office of Price Administration, the U.S. agency
created to limit profiteering and to control supplies needed by military
and civilians during World War II. Meats required a certain number
of red tokens; dairy and certain other foodstuffs required blue ones.
Some things, such as sugar and gasoline, required separate coupon
books. Many of these were dated to prevent hoarding. The military
needs were primary; civilian needs were secondary. Cars had black
"A" stickers on their windshields if they were used just
for pleasure driving (they were allotted the fewest gasoline coupons);
green "B" stickers for commuters; red "C" stickers
for people who used their cars in their work. Other stickers were
used for farmers. Military vehicles did not require stickers, of course.
I hope this is helpful. At least it proves you are young!" --
Joel
Red & Blue Tokens... "Mom did have
some red and blue tokens long ago. I think during the WW II and they
were issued maybe instead of using metal coins. Metal was needed by
the military,?? My dad also sold car bodies just for metal that was
needed and sent the metal off by train.. Mom had told us, as we wanted
to play with them, but she wouldn't let us. That the tokens were used
when buying bread and meat. I don't remember which ws for which.
Just recd my moms aunt by marriage orbituary,
Rose (Steckly) HURT. She married to Rudolph HURT and they had
three children. I was looking for as mom's cousin, their first child
born in Howard County. Just learned she married James KREMLACEK, after
he died she remarried to (Unknown) MOREHEAD. Carmel died in 1979 in
Cortez, Colorado. If anyone knows of the MOREHEAD family or who she
married that would be appreciated." --
Contact Marilyn Huddleston
Looking for Russels of Johnson County (Okla.)...
"Looking for information on Maggie, or Margaret (wife ) and Ike
RUSSELL. They lived in Mannsville (Johnston County ) Okla.
This was around 1848 to 1927. Ike RUSSELL was a Mayor of Mannsville
or a small town around their, they had one child named Ruby E. RUSSELL
born 7-8-1903 (my mother). Ike had a sister-Lucy HILL (married
name) husband was Billy HILL, they lived in Miles City, Montana.
Lucy Hill died around 1940. Ike also had a brother name George RUSSELL.
I have no information on him. I do think he also live in Mannsville
until his death. Ike was born around 1848 in Nashville, Tenn. and
died around 1918 in Mannsville,Okla. I think Maggie was born in Tenn.
around 1848 and died in Mannsville,Okla. around 1925. Ruby Russells
grandmother- my great-grandmother lived in the Indian Territory called
Big Blue, Okla. Any information would be greatly appreciated.
Thank You so much for all your help." -- Contact
Ruby |
Remember When...
In the old days -- the "golden, red wheat" of the Heartland
was cut by a six-horse-drawn header. The header cut the golden wheat
which was elevated into the header barges. The wheat then was pitched
to the man who was stacking the grain, later to be threshed by Steam
powered engines. They also used wheat binders that cut wheat and tied
it into bundles. The children of the farmers (with some supervision)
placed it into schocks to be threshed later.
Blind
Tigers Prohibition Card, 1916... "When demolition
of the former Municipal Auditorium began on October 27, 1971 (to
make way for construction of the present Savannah Civic Center),
its copper "time capsule" box was removed from the cornerstone
which had been laid on December 14, 1916, and opened. Among its contents
were several items related to a then raging local controversy about
the enforcement of recent "dry laws," including this "Blind
Tigers" anti-recall card, opposing efforts to organize and accomplish
the recall of elected officials who supported rigid enforcement of
Prohibition laws. Another item contained in the cornerstone box identified
the Savannah Law Enforcement League as "1,000 Male Citizens of
Savannah" with their purpose being "To Vitalize and Crystallize
the Sentiment for Law Enforcement in Savannah and the State of Georgia."
Rhoades & Ridgway...
"This is wonderful, I was born in Alva, (Jamie Rhoades)
adopted by Eric and Flora Ridgway. My father Eric is 89 and we are
working on stories for him and trying to get things down. One of the
things that brought me to your site was the POW
info. He has some great stories about that time period. He delivered
ice out to the camp. He was also a graduate of NWU. According to the
Chicago Tribune during that time he had one of the finest voices one
could hear. I also looked at the Castle
on the Hill, he told me a story about that also, he had to run
back up to the tower as he had left his books there, he got them but
they were alittle burnt. I would like to get your newletter, I still
have alot of relatives that live there, and in the area." --
Jamie Ridgway Edelman
(in Mo.)
Law
enforcement League - Denver... "In
1902 Dr. Bates by personal canvass assisted in organizing the Law
Enforcement League, whose members were pledged to vote for the gubernatorial
candidate who should subscribe to the strict enforcement of the saloon,
wineroom and gambling laws or stand impeachment proceedings if he
failed to do so."
The
Words of War... "Northwestern University
library is home to a remarkable collection of World War II posters
that were used to win the hearts and minds of U.S. citizens."
Memories of Alva (Okla.)... "First memory,
don’t have a clue as to whether it was the Opera House, but some
of my most early memories include a skating rink. About the middle
of the 600 block of Flynn, was the Alva Review Courier building.
In the early to mid-40’s, the upstairs of the Courier building
was a skating rink which was owned by Gene Reiman. Later the upstairs
was converted to the Elks Club."
"Next memories deal with the building
that was the Pix Theatre. If memory serves me correctly,
I believe that is where the USO was located when the Prisoner
of War Camp was located south of town. Frank Deaton and Jim
Kelley, whose wives were sisters of Mary Haley, converted the building
to the Pix Theatre. I think this may be the building you
remember as having 'two ticket booths' as the Rialto (where we
played 'YAHOO'), Ritz (where I saw 'Streetcar Named Desire'
and 'The Thing') and Ranger Theatre (Saturday afternoon
'Cowboy Double Features') each had one ticket booth which were
actually inside. Frank and Jim built the first Drive-in Theatre
out where the Keltner Trailer Park is now located."
"The item concerning Blacks being allowed
in town after sundown. Again, if memory serves me correctly, when
the Jones’s were replacing the Rialto Theatre, the company
doing the building had some black employees. I don’t know where
they stayed at night, but they were only in Alva during the day.
Sometime around the late '40’s, the idea of allowing Black
families to live in Alva came up. Don’t know who had the idea,
but it was presented that they would be allowed to live in the area,
I think, west of 6th Street, and north of Santa Fe."
"Now for millage tax token memories... They
were issued by states to cover taxes on purchases when the tax rate
was less than a full percent. Now we just round the tax to the nearest
cent. Washington state says, 'Tax on purchases of 10 cents or less.'
Colorado, Missisippi and Missouri make references to '…correct
change for sales tax payments.' New Mexico, 'Emergency School Tax
For Purchases of 25 Cents.' Oklahoma, 'For Old Age Assistance,'
'For Old Age Pensions,' 'Consumers Tax.' Alabama and Louisiana,
'Luxury Tax.'”
"The only other thing I would like to share
today is info concerning activities here in Southern New Mexico
on the 14th Annual Memorial March in remembrance of the 60th
Anniversary of the Bataan Death March. This is the WWII event,
coming four months after Pearl Harbor which precipitated General
Douglas MacArthur’s famous 'I shall return!' statement. Activities
include the dedication of the Bataan National Monument, and
the 14th Annual Memorial March at White Sands Missile Range. While
the actual Bataan march was more than 65 miles, the White Sands
march is a bit over 26 miles and this year has over 3000 participants
from all over the world. A Google
search of either Bataan Death March or Battling Bastards
of Bataan will supply a great deal of information. I have been
fortunate to make the acquaintance of two of the survivors and the
son of one who did not survive. It is a part of the history of WWII,
which is often overlooked." -- Contact
Marvin
American
Family Immigration History Center...
For original ship manifest and picture of ship, and
lots of other good stuff." |
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