Chronicles of Oklahoma
Volume 20, No. 3
September, 1942
HISTORICAL NEWS AND COMMENTS
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The attention of our readers is called to the following articles: "Western Life and Western Books," by J. Christian Ray, Missouri Historical Review (July, 1942); "The James Boys and Missouri Politics," by William A. Settle, Jr., ibid.; "Missouri — Heir of Southern Tradition and Individuality," by Floyd C. Shoemaker, ibid.; "Lost Channels," by Sue Hetherington, ibid.; "Chronicle of Western Books Published in 1941," by Alfred Powers, Oregon Historical Quarterly (March, 1942); "The Middle Western Farm Novel," by John T. Flanagan, Minnesota History (June, 1942); "The Minnesota War History Committee," by Lewis Beeson, ibid.; "A Bibliography of Western Farm Novels," compiled
by John T. Flanagan, ibid.; "Jacques Clamorgan, Colonial Promoter of the Northern Border of New Spain," by A. P. Nasatir, New Mexico Historical Review (April, 1942); "The Confederate Territory of Arizona, from Official Sources," F. S. Donnell, ibid.; "General Riley's Experiment in Employing Oxen Early in Army Transport Here," by Victor Murdock, The Wichita Evening Eagle (November 27, 1941); "Regional History as a Social Studies Enterprise," by Helen T. Nisbet, The British Columbia Historical Quarterly (April, 1942); "Writing and Research in Southern History," by Fletcher Melvin Green, The Proceedings of the South Carolina Historical Association (1942); "America's First Geographer," by Mabel A. Brown, Old-Time New England (January, 1942).
Our readers will welcome the March and June, 1942, issues of the Tennessee Historical Quarterly which have been issued by the recently revived Tennessee Historical Society and the Tennessee Historical Commission.
Missouri becomes preeminent as a Western Americana center through the recent acquisition of the J. Christian Bay Collection
of Western Americana by the State Historical Society of Missouri. Dr. Bay, librarian of the world-famous John Crerar library
in Chicago, began building up the collection more than forty years ago which today in coverage and completeness is one of
the rarest of its kind in existence. J. Christian Bay came to this country fifty years ago from Denmark. His first American
home was in St. Louis, Missouri, where he found hospitality and was given work immediately under William Trelease in the Missouri
botanical garden. His deep interest in the pioneer spirit of western America dated from early childhood when he thrilled to
the stories his father told of an 18-year adventure in pioneer America. A few years after his arrival here, he began to collect
rare and select items in western American literature. In time his library became a unified collection of historical information
on the great "Middle Border" — that central western area which covers Missouri, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois,
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Michigan, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Tennessee, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas. The life of these middle border states is
in the 2902 rare historical volumes, manuscripts, maps, and other select items which the State Historical Society has recently
acquired from Dr. Bay. Many of the items are extremely rare. Other copies of some will probably never again be available.
The collection is now housed in a separate room especially designed and furnished by the Society in keeping with the rare
collection itself.1
War has brought one of the greatest of bibliographical tools to the Wisconsin Historical Society "for the duration." The catalogue
of the American Imprints Survey with some fifteen million slips lists title pages of books printed in this country before
1876 together with the libraries in which the books are found today. This enormous catalogue belongs to the Library of Congress,
but Washington at present is not regarded as a safe depository for such irreplaceable material. The librarians and bibliographers
of the nation are invited to make use of it, either in person or by correspondence.2
The Committee on Conservation of Cultural Resources was established in March, 1941, by the National Resources Planning Board
with the immediate purpose of collecting and disseminating information and promoting measures for the protection of cultural
resources. At the request of President Roosevelt, it has also undertaken to prepare plans for the protection of material of
cultural, scientific or historic importance. Permanent responsibilities include the planning of long-range programs for the
broadest and wisest use of the nation's cultural facilities. The committee is composed of the Librarian and Chief Assistant
Librarian of Congress, the Archivist of the United States, the Executive Officer of the National Archives, the Director of
the National Gallery of Art, the Associate Director of the United States National Museum, the Commissioner of Public Buildings,
the Supervisor of Historic Sites of the National Park Service, the Director of the American Association of Museums, the Executive
Secretary of the American Library Association, the Director of the American Council of Learned Societies, and Representatives
of the Committee on Passive Protection against Bombing, the American Institute of Architects, the War Department, and the
Office of Civilian Defense.
Since the outbreak of war, the committee has materially expanded its activities. A small executive committee has been set
up under the chairmanship of Collas G. Harris, Executive Officer of the National Archives, and Dan Lacy, formerly Assistant
National Director of the Historical Records Survey, has been made full-time
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Secretary of the committee. State committees on conservation of cultural resources have been established in every state to
co-operate with the national committee in the execution of its program.3
The members of the Oklahoma Committee are as follows: Chairman, James W. Moffitt, Secretary, Oklahoma Historical Society,
Historical Building, Oklahoma City; Secretary, Ralph Hudson, Librarian, Oklahoma State Library, Oklahoma City; Henry G. Bennett,
President, Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College, Stillwater; Mrs. J. R. Dale, Secretary, Oklahoma Library Commission,
Oklahoma City; Elizabeth H. Hunt, Librarian, Tulsa University, Tulsa; Oscar B. Jacobson, Director, Museum of Art, University
of Oklahoma, Norman; Eugene Kingman, Director, Philbrook Art Museum, Tulsa; Edmon Low, Librarian, Oklahoma Agricultural and
Mechanical College, Stillwater; Jesse Lee Rader, Librarian, Oklahoma University Library, Norman; A. Richards, Director, Museum
of Zoology, University of Oklahoma, Norman; Nan Sheets, Director, Oklahoma Art Center, Oklahoma City; T. C. Carter, Professor
of Biology, Northwestern State College, Alva; Gordon M. Harrel, Professor of History, East Central State College, Ada; Father
Gregory Gerrer, Director, Museum and Art Gallery, St. Gregory's College, Shawnee.
According to Sister Anne Marie Scott, C. D. P., Okmulgee, the first novel written about the Run of 1889 was An Oklahoma Romance by Helen Candee, who in her book brings before the reader all the complications resulting from a land contest.4
Honorable Linwood O. Neal, State Banking Commissioner, has presented the Library of the Society a study entitled The History
and Development of State Bank Supervision in Oklahoma.5
Two of the three Knopf fellowships for 1942 go to workers in the field of history: Miss Angie Debo of Marshall, Oklahoma,
is to complete her story of a typical Oklahoma town from its settlement through present times.6
An official history of the University of Oklahoma, commissioned by the University for publication on the institution's fiftieth
anniversary, will be published in September by the University Press. The book was written by Roy Gittinger, Dean of Admissions
of the
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University, who has been connected with the University in various capacities since 1902. He is thoroughly familiar with the
institution's history and with the personalities who have played an important part in its development.7
The names of the officers of the Ladies Auxiliary to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Department of Oklahoma, for 1942-1943,
have been sent in by Mrs. O. Frank Leitner, Okarche, as follows: National Executive Member, Mrs. O. Frank Leitner; President,
Mrs. Glen Wood; Senior Vice-President, Mrs. Dwight Billings; Junior Vice-President, Mrs. Ben Lowe; Secretary, Miss Maybelle
White; Treasurer, Miss Nellie Rockenfield; Conductress, Mrs. John Dittmer; Chaplain, Mrs. Clarence Darby; Guard, Mrs. Evie
Pooler; Patriotic Instructor, Mrs. Lulu Dewine; Historian, Mrs. Anna M. Cullings; Musician, Mrs. Paul Berry; Chief-of-Staff,
Mrs. Grace Ryan.
According to Edward Daniel Hicks, an interested member of the Oklahoma Historical Society, one of the first Americans to give
his life for his country in World War I was Tony Pritchett, of Tahlequah, a Cherokee and great grandson of Sequoyah who discovered
the Cherokee syllabury or alphabet.8
The following members of the Oklahoma Historical Society are actively serving in the armed forces of our country in this time
of crisis: Major General William S. Key, Commanding Officer, 45th Division; Lt. Col. Ross H. Routh, Finance Officer, 45th
Division; Charles R. Taylor, Field Artillery, 45th Division; Col. Charles A. Holden, 70th Field Artillery, Brigade Headquarters;
Lt. Col. Wilbur S. Nye; Capt. Krit Logsdon, United States Army Air Force; Lieut. Harold Tacker, United States Navy. Information
regarding the war record of members of the Society will be welcomed for publication in The Chronicles of Oklahoma. Such data should include the rank, assignment, address and other notations and should be sent in for all of our members
who are in the armed services of the United States.
On July 23, 1942, the Board of Directors of the Oklahoma Historical Society elected three honorary life members: Mrs. Margaret
Wright Kerr, the mother of Robert S. Kerr, the outstanding pioneer mother of a native born Governor nominee; George E. Tinker,
another outstanding pioneer, the father of Oklahoma born Major General Clarence E. Tinker, hero of the Pacific Midway battle;
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Father Gregory Gerrer, O. S. B., noted artist and Curator of the Museum and Art Gallery at St. Gregory's College, Shawnee.9
The following have assisted in building up the membership of the Oklahoma Historical Society in recent months: Robert L. Williams,
Harry Campbell, Thomas A. Edwards, Grant Foreman, H. L. Muldrow, Edward Everett Dale, J. B. Milam, Mrs. John R. Williams,
James W. Moffitt, Mrs. J. M. Danner, Mrs. C. M. Winn, R. L. Lunsford, C. N. Gould, Leonard Savage, Clarence Robinson, Mrs.
Ella Adell Putnam Davis, Mrs. Annie R. Cubage, Mrs. J. F. Messenbaugh, Mrs. Mabel Fuller Hammerly, Joe Looney, R. L. Redwine,
Ben Hatcher, Luther Bohanon, M. E. Hammett, Katherine M. Tidd, James D. Cosgrove, D. R. Pike, Fred Clinton and Mrs. Howard
Searcy.
Mrs. Annie R. Cubage reports the following recent gifts to the museum of the Oklahoma Historical Society: the portrait of
Robert L. Owen, one of Oklahoma's first United States Senators, painted by the well known artist, Boris Gordon; the portrait
of Mrs. Narcissa C. Owen painted by herself and presented by Robert L. Owen; the portrait of Sequoyah painted by Mrs. Narcissa
Owen and also presented by her son. These portraits have been hung in the west gallery. The Owen portrait was presented at
a dinner in Washington, May 9, 1942, with Hon. Paul A. Walker, President of the Oklahoma State Society of Washington City,
presiding. Addresses were made by both Owen and Thomas P. Gore, senatorial colleagues at statehood. The portraits were later
presented to the Oklahoma Historical Society at the meeting of the Board of Directors on July 23, 1942, with Judge R. L. Williams
the President, presiding.10 Other accessions include: Indian ball clubs presented by P. H. Bennett; Spanish American War Collection, including stamps;
the Peter Perkins Pitchlynn Collection, consisting of two early model shot guns, three pistols, one crude pair of brass knuckles
and one pair of scissors belonging to this early day Choctaw leader, presented by Lester Hargrett, Washington City; the Spiro
Collection from the Temple Mound near Spiro, consisting of 334 archaeological specimens of prehistoric Indians and 46 photographs
pertaining to this excavation; a painting of the Temple Mound by Frances Neal; an old model letter press and an old letter
press book presented by Mrs. Jasper Sipes; a Nicaraguan war medal bestowed upon General J. C. Jamison, presented by his daughter,
Anne Jamison Crow, Rogers, Arkansas; a flag painted by E. H. Geyer and used by him in the Cherokee Outlet "Run" in 1893, presented
by Mrs. Bertha G. Beck; a Cherokee hymn book, presented by the Reverend Hobert D. Rag-
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land; a working model of the standard or cable tool rig, the type used in drilling the first oil wells in Oklahoma, presented
by C. H. Roberts; a large photograph of Frank Frantz, last Territorial Governor, presented by Frank Frantz Camp, number 31
and Frank Frantz Auxiliary, number 24, United Spanish War Veterans; a photograph of Wood Kirk, presented by Mrs. Harry D.
Coffman, Hope, Arkansas; a photograph of Alva J. Niles, Brigadier General, Retired, presented by Alva J. Niles; a photograph
of General Charles F. Barrett; a collection of relics and pictures of the ill-fated Fort Smith and Western Railroad Company
which was abandoned several years ago, presented by J. B. Fink; a "glossy" print of a photograph of a group including Robert
L. Owen, Mrs. Dorothea Owen Hamilton, Boris Gordon and Paul A. Walker; a "glossy" print of a photograph of a group including
Elmer Thomas, Ross Rizley, Wilburn Cartwright, Paul A. Walker, Victor Wickersham, Mrs. Paul Thurston Powell, Josh Lee, Jed
Johnson, Will Rogers and Wesley Disney; a "glossy" print of a photograph of a group including Boris B. Gordon, Robert L. Owen
and Mrs. Dorothea Owen Hamilton; a "glossy" print of a photograph of a group including Wesley E. Disney, Wilburn Cartwright,
Victor Wickersham, Paul A. Walker, Mrs. Emmaline Samuel, Elmer Thomas and others; a photostat of a photograph of the Oklahoma
Congressional Delegation including Robert L. Owen, T. P. Gore and Paul A. Walker.
Mrs. Rella Watts Looney reports as follows for the Indian Archives Division of the Society. On May 21, 1942, there was brought
to the Historical Society from Tahlequah, Oklahoma, by truck, a total of 1,891 bound volumes which had belonged to the Library
of the Executive Department of the Cherokee Nation and had been in the custody of the Carnegie Library at Tahlequah since
June 28, 1913. These books were placed in this division under the Act of March 27, 1937 (Public No. 133). It was necessary to assort these books according to States or Federal Departments then to make an inventory of them
for A. M. Landman, Superintendent, Five Civilized Tribes Agency, at Muskogee; the Librarian of the Carnegie Library, Tahlequah,
and J. B. Milam, Chief of the Cherokee Indians and a member of the Board of Directors. It was through Mr. Milam's efforts
and position that we were able to secure these volumes. On June 2, 1942, John B. Meserve of Tulsa, Oklahoma, presented to
the Society all the papers accumulated by him during the years he has been writing the articles about the Indian Chiefs which
have appeared in The Chronicles from time to time, together with the file case in which they were filed.
Mrs. J. F. Messenbaugh states that a number of editors and publishers have visited the Newspaper Department during the past
quarter. Research has also been carried on in the following sub-
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jects: "Cimarron Territory"; "the Last of the Medicine Men"; "Belle Starr"; "An Anthology of the Works of Bishop Francis C.
Kelley"; "Oklahoma Political History"; "the Chickasaw Nation, 1865-1890"; "the History of the Criminal Syndicalism Law in
Oklahoma, 1919-1940"; "the History of the Theater in Oklahoma"; "Lynchings in Oklahoma"; "Spencer Academy"; "Early Chickasha
History." A number of other persons have consulted the newspaper files for mention of their births to use in securing delayed
birth certificates.
Mrs. Edith Mitchell reports the gift to the library of the Proceedings of the Anti-Horse Thief Association for the Indian Territory Division, 1903-1920; the Oklahoma Division, 1907; the East Oklahoma Division, 1922-1930; the Western Oklahoma Division, 1909-1930, presented by W. W. Graves, St. Paul, Kansas. Other accessions include: Oklahoma after Fifty Years, 4 volumes, presented by Charles F. Barrett; Autobiography of the Reverend Eugene Bononcini, presented by W. W. Graves; Committee Reports: Propositions, Oklahoma Constitutional Convention, presented by Fred Tracy;
Transcript of the Brewer-Elliott Oil and Gas Company vs. the United States, presented by Eugene P. Ledbetter; Gerard Schultz, Early History of the Northern Ozarks; sound recording of the inauguration of Governor E. W. Marland, presented by Ohland Morton; typewritten copy of an addition
to the Wills of Westmoreland County, Virginia, by Augusta B. Fothergill, presented by Mrs. Hazel Lloyd; Transcript of Records of the Seminole Nation vs. the United States, United States Supreme Court, Numbers 348, 830, the J. C. Denton Papers, the W. V. McClure Papers, the Porter Neill McCallum Papers, presented by Robert
L. Williams. Other gifts were the following: Oklahoma Bar Association Journal, 1940-1941; Charles J. Kappler, Laws and Treaties, volume V; Oklahoma State Medical Association Journal, 1941; Charles M. McFatridge, The McFatridge Clan from Ireland; William C. Holley, The Plantation, South, 1934-1937; broadcast transcriptions, presented by Paul A. Walker; Oklahoma in Fiction (typescript), by Sister Anne
Marie Scott, C. D. P., presented by the author; The History and Development of State Bank Supervision in Oklahoma (typescript),
by Linwood O. Neal, presented by the author.
The newspaper publishers of Oklahoma, the Southern Historical Association, historical societies and other learned institutions
are rendering valuable services to the Oklahoma Historical Society through their willingness to exchange their publications
with The Chronicles of Oklahoma. These publications are being carefully catalogued and preserved for students. The society wishes to express its thanks to
donors for recent gifts of books, manuscripts, pictures, artifacts, back numbers of The Chronicles of Oklahoma, and other historical material.
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Dr. B. B. Chapman submits the following letter written at Fort Sill in 1906 by William H. Taft, Secretary of War. Taft said.
"Sill is the greatest military reservation we have." Careful research does not reveal that the letter has heretofore been
printed.11
The original letter is typed, corrected in four places by the pen of the author, and signed. Taft's plan was to postpone the
sale of lands in the Big Pasture and in the wood reserve, and save those lands in order that they might be used in carrying
out any provision Congress might make for exchange of lands to eliminate claims to lands proposed to be added to the military
reservation. His plan was abortive, and not many weeks later the Big Pasture and the wood reserve were opened as scheduled.
Theodore Roosevelt at that time was President of the United States.
Fort Sill, Oklahoma, Nov. 12, 1906.
Hon. Thomas Ryan,
First Assistant Secretary of the Interior,
Washington, D. C.
My dear Secretary Ryan:
I am anxious to complete the military reservation of Fort Sill, and include in it the Wichita Forest Reservation, or/and the
additions which were proposed in a letter sent you from the War Department and signed I think by General Bell. Your report
to the President was that under Executive Order the matter could not be accomplished because of restricting provisions of
the law. What I wish to do is to postpone the opening of the Big Pasture and the wood reservation until I can get some additional
legislation which will enable me to carry out the plan, and I write to you to ask you to have somebody in your office prepare
a short act which would give us the needed authority. This is most important, because Sill is the greatest military reservation
we have, and if we let it go now it will take millions of dollars to give us as good a place as Sill would afford. I shall
be in Washington on the 17th, and shall telephone you to see whether any progress has been made. I am sure the President will
cooperate with me, and I doubt if it would be difficult to get the provisions through Congress quickly which would enable
us to
carry out this plan. If you will give your personal attention to this, I shall be greatly obliged.
Very sincerely yours,
(Signed)
Wm. H. Taft
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On page 190 of the June number of The Chronicles of Oklahoma there is a reference to the Marlows, in which Dr. Montgomery is quoted as saying that they were not outlaws.12
The following taken from a report of the Supreme Court of the United States indicates that while they were men of desperate
courage, and may have been rather "sudden and quick in quarrel," they were not outlaws in the true sense of the word. The
quotation is from Logan vs. The United States, 144 U. S. 263, 36 L. ed. 429. The quotation is from page 433 of the Lawyers Edition.
The Court said:
The Government introduced evidence tending to prove the following facts:
Shortly before October term, 1888, of the District Court of the United States for the Northern District of Texas, held at
Graham, the four Marlows named in the indictment, and one Boone Marlow, (the five being brothers), were arrested on warrants
issued by a commissioner of the Circuit Court of the United States on complaints charging them with larceny in the Indian
Territory, within the exclusive jurisdiction of the United States; and at that term they were indicted for that offense, and
enlarged on bail, and went to live on a farm in Young County, about twelve miles from Graham, known as the Denson farm.
Afterwards on December 17, 1888, the Sheriff of the county and his deputy, Collier, went to the farm to arrest Boone Marlow
on a capias from a Court of the State to answer a charge of murder. Without showing their warrant, Collier fired a pistol
at him, and he fired at Collier, and, missing him, killed the sheriff. The killing of the sheriff caused great excitement
in Young County, and much resentment on the part of his friends against the Marlows. Boone Marlow escaped and did not appear
again. The four other Marlows were put in the county jail by the citizens, and surrendered by their bail, and were again committed
to the jail by Edward W. Johnson, a deputy United States marshal, under writs of commitment from the Commissioner directing
him to do so, to answer the indictment for larceny.
On the night of January 17, 1889, a body of men, armed and partly disguised entered the jail, surrounded the steel cage in
which the four Marlows were confined, and attempted to enter it; but being resisted by the Marlows, and one of the mob knocked
down and injured, they finally withdrew without doing any actual violence to the prisoners.
On January 19, 1889, after dark, Johnson, the deputy marshal undertook to remove the Marlows, with Burkhardt and Clift, imprisoned
under like commitments, to the jail of an ad-
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joining county. The six prisoners, shackled together, two and two, (Alfred with Charles, Epp with George, and Burkhardt with
Clift), by irons riveted around one leg of each and connected by a chain, were placed in a hack driven by Martin, who was
county attorney. Johnson, the defendant Wallace, and two other men, all armed, followed in another hack; and the defendant
Wagoner, and another man, also armed, accompanied them in a buggy. When the three vehicles in close order had gone along the
highway about two miles from Graham, they were attacked near a run called Dry Creek, by a large body of men, armed and disguised,
who opened fire upon the prisoners. Martin and the guards were in league with the attacking party. The four Marlows, in spite
of their shackles, immediately dropped out of the hack, and wrested firearms from the guards or from their assailants, with
which they defended themselves, killed two of the mob, wounded others and finally put the rest to flight. Johnson was wounded
and he and all of the guards also fled. Alfred Marlow and Epp Marlow were killed. The other two Marlows were severely wounded,
but succeeded in freeing themselves from their brother's dead bodies, took possession of the hack in which they had come and
together with Burkhardt and Clift made their way to a neighboring village, and thence to the Denson farm.
On the following day Collier, the new sheriff of the county, (One of the defendants in the case who died before the trial),
went to the Denson farm with a large body of men whom he had collected for the purpose of recapturing the two surviving Marlows.
He was met there by the sheriff of a neighboring county, whose aid he had summoned, but who declined on learning the facts
of the case, to interfere in the matter. The Marlows refused to give themselves up to anyone except the United States marshal
or one Morton, his deputy; but Collier with a body of men, kept guard near the house for some days, until the arrival of Morton,
who against some remonstrance on the part of Collier, took the Marlows into his custody and removed them to Dallas. They were
afterwards tried and acquitted on the charges against them."
This excerpt from the cold pages of a law report does indicate that the Marlows were fighters. They may have been lawbreakers
but their conduct in surrendering themselves, first to the local officers and after the attempts to mob them to the United
States marshal indicates that they were not outlaws, and that they were willing to submit themselves for trial when assured
of protection. Their subsequent history is unknown to the writer, but it is believed that someone familiar with their subsequent
history could furnish an interesting story.
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No other case is known where men, in the custody of officers in league with the mobs, imprisoned in one case, and fettered
in the other, were able by their own exertions and courage to twice drive off the mobs attacking them.
It is interesting to know that several members of the mob including some of the officers were indicted in the federal court
for attacking these men while in the custody of the marshal, and the quotation above is from an opinion of the Supreme Court
in a case of one of the mob who had been convicted in the federal court.
In the paragraphs which follow will be found some helpful suggestions:
The purpose of a historical society is to preserve the customs, habits, physical equipment and forgotten lore of years ago.
History is full of the recent discovery of buried cities, beds of ancient fossil animals and ancient culture recently discovered.
Even Minnesota and Hennepin County have had their ghost towns, ancient forts, Mound Builders, Indian battle fields and pioneer
mills, bridges and roads. It has been the aim of The Hennepin County Historical Society to search out and reclaim as much
of the past as is possible.13
One strong reason for county historical societies in Oklahoma is their potential value to research. If research in the history
of Oklahoma is to prove effective there must be many depositories of printed materials on the subject and access to these
made available to those interested. Each locality may have available for loan to local organizations manuscripts or printed
material on the state's history which could not be made available otherwise.
One of the important undertakings of the genealogical department of the Western Reserve Historical Society Library in Cleveland
has been the copying of gravestone inscriptions in cemeteries in the Western Reserve. The information found on gravestones
often reveals genealogical data obtainable nowhere else. Since the recording of vital statistics at court houses during the
pioneer period in the Western Reserve was often neglected, dates found on tombstones are very often the only source for such
information.14
The Committee on Pioneer Cemeteries and Churches of the Indiana Historical Society has 134 committee members covering nearly
every county in the State. The Committee does not have any money of its own and does not ask for any, but the Society in appreciation
of the good work done last year, paid for printing and postage this year. The names on the graves came from 209
cemeteries in twenty-
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three counties. It will require several years to complete this work but the committee is not discouraged. The consciousness
that they are doing something to rescue thousands of pioneers from oblivion adds to the interest in doing the work.15
The Oklahoma Historical Society wishes to encourage its members and others who are interested in preserving sites and tombstones
of many neglected graveyards which are scattered over the state. The Society asks the co-operation of historical students
and other persons in taking care of neglected graveyards and also in listing the names and inscriptions which remain on headstones
in these old cemeteries. A record of a number of these people would be of great historical interest.
The Summit County (Ohio) Historical Bureau is organizing a vertical file of data about Summit County's part in the present
war effort. Newspaper clippings, pamphlets, folders, catalogues, forms and blanks, programs, advertisements, letters, photographs,
posters and similar material which in any way record or reflect the county's part in the present struggle are filed. In years
to come this collection will be a most valuable part of the material available for reference at the Summit County Historical
Bureau. Individuals representing different sections of Akron and Summit County are being contacted to ask their cooperation
in building up this collection. The collection of material about Summit County's part in World War II is filed under these
headings: Community's part in World War II: General Articles; Civilian Defense; Air-Raid Precautions; Black-Outs; Civilian
Defense — Women's Part; Red Cross; War Stamps and Bonds Sale; Defense Housing — Housing Shortage — Fair Rent — Rent Ceilings;
Akron's Part in Aviation Progress; Men in Service; Draftees, lists of; Akron Executives Called to Washington; U S O, Work
of; Victory Book Campaign; War Chest; Morale; Economic Disruption; Aliens; Tire Rationing; Sugar Rationing; Salvage Campaigns;
Goodyear Tire Repair Training for Army Men; Defense Training Classes; Public Schools; Peace Plans. These files will be subdivided
as the material accumulates.16
Following the first World War, Ohio created a commission to provide for the collection, care and preservation of records and
other historical material relating to Ohio in the war. A similar situation is now being faced and steps are being taken, on
the suggestion of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society, to provide the necessary organization for the preservation
of the records of the present war that pertain to Ohio. All this information and data will become more valuable as time passes.
This offers an
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excellent opportunity for local and county historical societies to be of service to their immediate localities and to the
State and the Nation. They can initiate a program for the preservation of local material in their own libraries or the local
public libraries and decide what material is of sufficient interest to be preserved in the library of the State Historical
Society. One important service for the local group is the compilation and preservation of scrap-books containing newspaper
material dealing with local matters. Posters, cartoons, publicity material and many other items will be collected and preserved.
All these will have value for historical purposes.17
Professor Gordon M. Harrel, East Central State College, Ada, President of the Pontotoc County Historical Society and an interested
member of the Oklahoma Historical Society, writes under date of July 20, 1942:
We have a committee appointed in our county historical society which is working on a project to collect and make a complete
record of all persons in the armed forces from Pontotoc County. We think it will be a worthwhile project.
L. E. Wilt, President of the Bradford County, Pennsylvania Historical Society, writes as follows:
Our Society is endeavoring to comply with the suggestions of the various State Historical Societies about keeping current
local history. We have scrap books of all local newspaper clippings in regard to selective service, Red Cross, War Bonds,
and all the other civilian activities.
We have been for some time engaged in making a card index of all Bradford County Soldiers of all wars from Revolution on down.
Cards to contain — county in which the veteran lived, date of birth and death, date of enlistment and discharge, military
record, items of interest, and place of burial. Now we are making up cards for men now in the Armed Forces, and then keeping
them up-to-date as to training in the various camps, promotions, etc. This index is very useful to the various civic organizations.18
Under date of August 9, 1942, Miss Mabelle A. White, 1718 South Rockford Avenue, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Secretary of the Ladies
Auxiliary to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Department of Oklahoma, writes that Mrs. O. Frank Leitner, Okarche, Past Department
President of the Ladies Auxiliary to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Department of Oklahoma, has been appointed Permanent Chairman
of the State Committee of the Auxiliary to compile a history of every Oklahoma boy who is lost on foreign soil or hostile
waters during World War II. All auxiliaries in the State are requested to
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aid in gathering material from their localities. This data will be arranged alphabetically and mounted as soon as it can be
assembled so that it can be presented to the Oklahoma Historical Society, at Oklahoma City, after the close of the present
war.
Specifically, the objective of research in American agricultural history is the careful delineation of the historical background
of each and every community, subregion, and region in rural United States. Just as the soil scientists have provided data
basic to a comprehensive soil map of the entire country, so the agricultural historians must develop a many dimensional social
and economic historical map of rural America. To achieve something approximating a map of this kind, they must collect sources
of historical information, analyze the pertinent data embodied therein, and present their findings in written form for use
in relation to current problems. If the historians provide these analyses of the economic and social factors which have operated
in any given community or region to produce the present situation, the economists and other scientists who are charged with
drafting and executing plans for more rational utilization of the natural and human resources of the area can proceed with
more comprehension and therefore with more likelihood of success. Finally, but not least in importance, the agricultural historians
must give cognizance to the over-all patterns of culture and action into which their subjects fall. The Land Policy Review for January 1940 includes a short article with the intriguing title "78 Farmers Make a Map." The initial paragraph is as
follows: "Seventy-eight farmers of Parks County, Indiana, have been drawing a map of their county. They started with memories
of what it used to be. They took stock of their problems, resources, and opportunities. They 'wanted to find out where they
are before they attempt to determine where they are going.' And they are winding up with a new experience in democratic processes
and with conclusions that startle even themselves: That problems of tax delinquency, relief, erosion, declining fertility,
and faulty management are linked with their finding that of 280,000 acres in this above-average Indiana county only 112,000
acres should remain in cropland use." Here is the kind of agricultural history that is demonstrably utilitarian, and it is
a definite challenge to research workers in the field. In addition to aiding a democratic process, there is another reason
for emphasizing such efforts. Those who have worked on the more comprehensive phases of agricultural history have long since
realized that good agricultural history is unobtainable without good local history. Certainly it is a valuable and useful
experience to write individually or collectively the history of one's own community. Good local histories can be prepared
by school children.19
Page 309
Our readers will be interested in the following letter dated August 21, 1942, from Lewis A. Robertson, Woodward, to Judge
R. L. Williams, Durant, President of the Oklahoma Historical Society:
Mrs. Robertson has asked that I answer yours of the 7th of July. Governor William Cary Renfrow was president of the First
National Bank of Norman when Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, appointed him Governor of Oklahoma Territory.
He served from May 1893 to May 1897. Prior to this time he was a delegate to the first Territorial Convention of Oklahoma
Territory, 1889, and suggested the name of Cleveland County and Norman as county seat, which was adopted. He was born at Smithville,
North Carolina, March 15, 1845, served in the Confederate states infantry 50th North Carolina Volunteers, Co. "C," Orderly
Sergeant: See North Carolina roster of soldiers. He moved to Arkansas in 1865 thence to Oklahoma in 1889; married October
17, 1875, at Judson, Arkansas, to Virginia Belle York, who was born in Milton, Pikes County, Illinois, on May 17, 1857, died
Santa Anna, Texas, October 24, 1914, buried Russellville, Arkansas. Governor William Cary Renfrow died in Bentonville, Arkansas,
and was buried in Russellville, Arkansas. Died January 30, 1922.
Children of Governor and Mrs. William Carey Renfrow:
Claudia Renfrow born in Russellville, Arkansas, July 15, 1876, died November 30, 1876, buried Russellville.
William Thomas Renfrow born February 12, 1878, died January 12, 1879, buried Russellville.
Nellie May Renfrow born July 17, 1882, married Lewis A. Robertson at Eureka Springs, Arkansas, July 24, 1905, resides at Woodward,
Oklahoma.
Charley Renfrow born July 2, 1887, died July 3, 1887, buried Russellville.
Governor William Cary Renfrow's father, Perry Van Renfrow, was born in Wilson County, North Carolina, October 15, 1809, died
January 15, 1895, buried Russellville, Arkansas.
Governor William Cary Renfrow's mother, Lucinda Hawkins Renfrow (nee Atkinson), was born in Johnson County, North Carolina,
July 11, 1811, died in Jackson County, Arkansas, April 19, 1870. Body moved to Russellville, Arkansas, in 1940.
Governor Renfrow was a member of the Presbyterian Church, an Odd Fellow and also a Mason.20
Page 310
Oklahomans should be aware of the splendid heritage which they enjoy. During the present crisis all should show their appreciation
of this heritage by contributing of their time, money and services to the winning of the present world war. Many are offering
their lives in the armed forces of our country although all cannot do so. One of the timely activities which can be carried
on by those who remain at home is the collection of records of World War II and of those engaged therein. Oklahomans both
as organizations and as individuals should collect pictures, clippings, maps, war music, service records of those in the armed
forces and other data which should be of great value when world war histories are written. All should realize that this is
a part of their patriotic duty which, properly carried out, will assist in building up the public morale in this time of crisis.
The various organizations in the State should act as agencies in sponsoring this important work. Scrapbooks, letter files,
folders and filing cases should be utilized for preserving historical items. Members of clubs, lodges, churches, patriotic
societies and county historical societies should keep records of their activities in war work. Where facilities are not available
for taking care of items collected they may be given with due credit to the State Historical Society, Historical Building,
Oklahoma City.
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