The Eufaula Indian Journal
Stories from the past
147 YEARS AGO
Thursday, April 12, 1877
A Modern Dick Turpin
The U.S. stage was stopped 18 miles west of Waco on Wednesday morning by a solitary man who ordered he five passengers to get out and hand over their money and valuables to him, which they did, and then he compelled the driver to cut the mail bags and give him four registered packages, which he supposed contained about $200. He secured $130 from the passengers. The bold knight of the road made good his escape but has since been captured. – Denison News
Women’s suffrage
Female suffrage appears to be gaining ground in Massachusetts, for the State Senate have just passed a bill allowing women to vote and hold office if elected. The misfortune of the woman’s rights movement is found in the fact that it has to undergo so much quiet but determined opposition from the women themselves. While one class of ladies would be glad enough to see the sex at large entitled to the ballot, another one, quite as influential, is certain that the women already have all the rights they want.
••••• 120 YEARS AGO
Friday, August 28, 1903
Mellette Dots
There was a beef killed in Mellette the other day and now we have three Baptist preachers, Revs. Gilmore of Maude, Blaylock of Spokogee and Buckner of Eufaula. It seems that they do not intend to let the beef spoil – or the sinners.
Notice
Property owners are hereby warned once more to clear their premises of weeds or suffer the penalty.
General Dunlap, city marshal
Katy Passengers Shot
While coming through Gibson Station last night, No. 3 was fired on by some unknown party and two passengers, whose names could not be learned, were painfully injured. The shots were fired though the car windows while the train was going at a rapid speed.
The shotgun, loaded with number 8, shot had been used.
••••• 100 YEARS AGO
Thursday, May 1, 1924
SIX TO BE HANGED; THREATS IGNORED New Orleans, April 30 – The board of pardons today denied a plea for clemency for six Italians sentenced to be hanged May 9 at Amite for the murder of Dallas Calmes.
Archie Rennyson, superintendent of the Orleans parish prison, today received a letter offering him $50,000 and Colonel Guy Moloney, superintendent of the New Orleans police department $25,000 if they would permit the escape from jail of five of the six Italians.
Morhart Welcomed to Tulsa
The following news item that appeared in in the West Tulsa News regarding our former townsman and splendid citizen, W. G. Morhart, should be of interest to the citizens of Eufaula: “A transaction of unusual interest was consummated this week when W.H. Alexander sold The Alexander Drug at Seventeenth and Quannah streets to W. G. Morhart of Eufaula, a pioneer druggist. Morhart has been in the drug business in Eufaula since 1895, or for a period of 29 years. He has been associated all that time with the best interests of Eufaula and played a big part in Eufaula’s history.
••••• 80 YEARS AGO
Thursday, April 120, 1944
CAPTAIN COOPER, HANNA BOY, GETS MERIT CITATION Capt. Earl Coper, son of Mr. and Mrs. W. N. Cooper of Hanna, is with the 180th Infantry. He has been presented a citation for legion of merit for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services from July 9 to August 17, 1943.
LT. CHARLES BARNES AWARD SILVER STAR Lt. Chares R. Barnes, son of Mrs. Marie Barnes of Eufaula, was recently awarded the Silver Star for gallantry in action somewhere in Italy. Lt. Barnes, who is with the 141st infantry regiment, leader of the first platoon of company H, was ordered to cross on foot a bridge and press forward with the balance of the company to take the high ground approximately 1,000 yards from the river, and there organize for defense of the sector.
••••• 75 YEARS AGO
Thursday, March 24, 1949
Hoover Commission Recommends End of Indian Wardship Oklahoma’s 110,000 Indians should be freed of federal wardship, their medical and education care would be assumed by the state and the Indians eventually would assume a share of the white man’s burden of taxes under a plan proposed Monday by the Hoover commission.
Transfer of the bureau of Indian affairs from the interior department to a new department of public welfare, which congress would create, was recommended as the first step in carrying out the program.
County Teachers To Choose Textbooks
The McIntosh County textbook committee will meet Monday afternoon in the office of Paul Toon, county superintendent, to choose textbooks for elementary and high schools to be furnished by the State.
Selections for elementary grades will include science, spelling, geography, civics and home make books.
A wide range of subjects is included in the texts to be chosen for high schools.
••••• 65 YEARS AGO
Thursday, February 12, 1959
AREA GIRL ENLISTS IN NAVY
Miss Thelma Toye Dabbs, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Town Dabbs of Eufaula, was enlisted in the WAVES on Monday Feb. 9 for a three-year enlistment.
Prior to her enlistment Miss Dabbs had graduated from Eufaula High School with the class of 1957. While enrolled in school she was active in many of the school functions such as the basketball team and other girls’ activities.
Teachers To Meet Nigh To Speak
Paul Toon, county superintendent of schools, announced this week that due to the County Teacher’s Meeting, to be held at the Eufaula High school, Friday, Feb. 13, will be declared a holiday for all students of McIntosh county.
Lt Gov. George Nigh will address the teachers at the first general assembly, 9:35 a.m. to 10:35 a.m.
••••• 18 YEARS AGO
Thursday, February 9, 2006
Falling to pieces
In the back of the McIntosh County Jail, 32 prisoners are laying on the floor.
Side by side, sleeping or lounging or staring at the ceiling, they lay on thin mats that cover the concrete floor like wall-to-wall carpeting. They lay shoulder to shoulder, split as evenly a possible between the only two cells in the jail.
There’s no room, really, for this many prisoners. The capacity was set at 28 back in the 1920s when the jail was built, and that number was, by all accounts, an expectation of the busiest and drunkest of rowdy Eufaula weekends. Most days now, though, the number of inmates never drops below 30, which means the jail is above maximum capacity at all times. On weekends, that number can jump dramatically.
Local Navy Reservist Awarded Bronze Star
If one word could be used to describe Capt. Dennis R. Staggs, Navy Reservist who, it would be “humble.”
Staggs, a resident of Brush Hill, was awarded the Bronze Star at ceremonies held during a December drill weekend at the Naval Operational Support Center in Broken Arrow.
The Bronze Star is awarded for heroic or meritorious achievement of service in connection with operations against an opposing armed force.
Mobilized with the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force out of Camp Pendleton, Calif, Stagg served as Force Surgeon, Assistant Chief of Staff, during his deployment with Operational Iraqi Freedom in Iraq, Sept. 2004 to Jan. 2005.
Staggs, an Oklahoma City native, lives with his wife, Lori, at Brush Hill, where they’ve lived since 1986.
••••• 10 YEARS AGO
Thursday, February 20, 2014
Propane prices cool down as weather warms up The cold weather is gone, at least temporarily, and much to the relief of propane gas customers in McIntosh County some of the highest prices they have paid for their heating fuel in years is beginning to decline.
“This is my 29th year in the business and this is the worst I have seen it,” said Don Berryhill, manager of Hopkins Propane in Eufaula.
Chamber to hear about upcoming school bond vote
For 27 cents a day, folks living in the Eufaula School District can greatly improve the educational experience of the students who live here.
That’s the average increase in property taxes the schoolboard has said it will cost to pay for the $13,480,000 building bond issue to be decided by a vote on April 1.
