The speaker at this week’s Friends of the Eufaula Memorial Library might never have been born—and Eufaula’s history might have unfolded very differently— if her granduncle hadn’t suffered an appendicitis attack in April 1912.
The Friends’ speaker at 1 p.m. Friday, February 20, is Kay Foley Owens, whose topic will be “Eufaula in the Early Days.” Owens is the granddaughter of Eufaula’s first mayor, Cornelius E. Foley. Before the town of Eufaula was formally established, Foley traveled on business back and forth to England. He and his family lived briefly in England in 1911, and they were scheduled to sail back to America on the maiden voyage of the RMS Titanic in April 1912. Then his son Arthur got sick, and they had to cancel the trip for his emergency appendectomy. That unexpected illness kept the family off the Titanic—and preserved the line of Eufaula’s first mayor.
Foley’s other son and Owens’ father, Marshall Foley, was an avid historian who kept extensive notes about Eufaula and the Indian Territory. Using those notes, Owens will share memories of the days before the lake changed not only the terrain but the lifestyles of the area’s residents.
Her presentation in the library’s Follansebee Room is free and open to the public. In keeping with the event’s historical theme, the Friends will offer the $20 Lake Eufaula Reflections for sale at half-price, $10. The book features local memories, biography, poetry, and history, written by dozens of local writers.
The Friends meet regularly at 1 p.m. on the third Friday of every month. Their goal is to encourage appreciation, understanding, and enjoyment of the library’s educational facilities and to enhance the cultural landscape of the community.
Anyone who shares that goal is invited to join the Friends for $5 yearly dues. Members receive email notices of upcoming events. The next speaker will be retired history teacher and travel enthusiast Roger Thompson, who will present a slide show, “How the Bunny Hopped into Easter.”
History is sometimes made from a single unexpected moment.
