Oklahoma Genealogy

One of Muskogee’s most important institutions is the Oklahoma Free State Fair, organized in 1916 and chartered by the state February 26, 1917. During the years gone by, Muskogee had held various fairs with more or less success, but all of them had been dependent upon admission fees to meet their expenses, and the gate receipts were not always sufficient to insure the payment of premiums offered, the stockholders being called upon to make up the deficits. When it was proposed to organize a Free State Fair with “the gates wide open” to all visitors, many of the directors of …

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Another indication of the growth of Muskogee and of Masonry therein is the fact that two new Masonic lodges have been created, now making three in all. Oriental Lodge No. 430 was chartered February 15, 1912, and now has nearly five hundred members. It is very prosperous and is growing rapidly. Trinity Lodge, the baby lodge, was granted a dispensation December 14, 1921, and was granted a charter at the last meeting of the Grand Lodge held at Guthrie in March, 1922. This lodge gives promise of a rapid and healthy Masonic growth. Muskogee Chapter No. 14, Order Of The …

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Boynton The Town of Boynton, now a thriving little city of 1400 inhabitants, is located in the western part of Muskogee County on the St. Louis & San Francisco Railroad, half way between Muskogee and Okmulgee. Twenty years ago it was but a part of a broad prairie pasture, but as soon as the proposed railroad was surveyed, in 1902, the town site promoters quickly selected its site as a suitable location for a promising town. Actual building began in the spring of 1903. Messrs. H. L. Wineland, W. S. Whaley, Junia Williams, W. E. Claire and Dr. J. A. …

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No city in the Southwest excels Muskogee in natural advantages, healthful. surroundings, transportation facilities, educational advantages, civic righteousness, religious sentiment and its splendid citizenship. It is located on a gently rolling plain, with natural drainage toward the Arkansas River, three miles eastward; it has an abundance of oil, natural gas, coal, wood, gravel, sand and building stone within easy reach; it has four lines of railroads extending out in eight different directions; it has a system of public schools not excelled by any city in the Southwest; it has numerous civic organizations, all vying with one another and working harmoniously …

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The Muskogee County Court is one of the largest, if not the largest court of its class, in the United States. Some time ago the Muskogee Daily Phoenix published the following account of the scope of its work: “Measured by the volume of business transacted, Muskogee County Court is the biggest court in the world. Administering upon the estates of approximately twenty-five thousand wards, it takes second place to the New York Probate Court in purely probate business. “The scope of authority of the county courts in Oklahoma is wider than in any other state. Because of this, the Muskogee …

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From the date of its incorporation in 1898 down to the year 1910, Muskogee’s municipal affairs were carried on under the old aldermanic style, with two councilmen chosen from each ward and a mayor elected at large. Party politics controlled the elections and politicians controlled or dictated the selection of city employees, party allegiance rather than efficiency, being, too often the test of eligibility. As the years advanced, the rapid growth of the city called for extensive public improvements and the expenditure of rapidly increasing amounts of public funds, which created a sentiment among the taxpayers in favor of taking …

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Street RailwayDuring the latter part of the year 1904, Captain Ira L. Reeves and attorney N. A. Gibson petitioned the City Council for a Street car franchise. Captain Reeves promoted the company. The street cars were ready for passengers by March 15, 1905, and on the morning of that day the first run was made to the Frisco depot and return. The first car was filled with prominent ladies and gentlemen, with Mayor S. M. Rutherford as motorman and C. N. Haskell as conductor. Mr. Haskell demonstrated his ability as a money getter by collecting $59.35 from the passengers on …

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From 1872 to 1898 Muskogee had grown to be a thriving town of 3,500 inhabitants, with substantial homes, good store buildings and other public improvements, yet no person had title to the lot which he occupied and had improved. Such documents as warranty deeds and abstracts of title were unknown throughout the Indian Territory. The title to all of the real estate was vested in the Indian Tribes, each Indian having, by common consent, taken possession of a certain tract of land which he called his own, although he had no vested title nor deed of conveyance. When a white …

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The City of Muskogee has reason to be proud of her Masonic history. Muskogee Lodge No. 28 now referred to as the “Old Lodge” was chartered November 7, 1888. The first officers were: P. J. Byrne, worshipful master James A. Scott, senior warden W. N. Martin, junior warden A. W. Robb, treasurer Frank S. Darby, secretary Frederick B. Severs, senior deacon Clarence W. Turner, junior deacon H. H. Edmondson, tiler. John W. Markham of Webbers Falls Lodge No. 14 was the first moving spirit for the organization of a new lodge at Muskogee, but it devolved upon James A. Scott, …

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Muskogee first received recognition when in 1805 US President Thomas Jefferson addressed the United States Congress seconding the recommendation of Meriwether Lewis that a trading post be established near the modern day city. French fur traders had already existed in the area for some time before the American acquisition of the Louisiana Purchase. The French were believed to have established a temporary village near Muskogee in 1806, but the first permanent settlement was established in 1817 on the south bank of the Verdigris River, north of Muskogee. When President Andrew Jackson passed the Indian Removal Act of 1830, the Five …

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In 1903, as the work of grading the new Midland Valley Railroad had reached a point about half way between Tulsa and Muskogee, it was observed that on the prairie, just ahead of the , construction camp, was a beautiful site for a town. All of the land belonged to the Creek Indians and something had to be done in order that legal title to town lots might be guaranteed to purchasers. Mr. T. J. Way, one of the pioneers of that section of the country selected an eighty-acre tract belonging to Amos Rolland, a full-blood Creek, and petitioned the …

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Prior to 1898, Muskogee had no municipal government of any kind. The town had just been incorporated and it now became necessary to elect some officials to transact the town’s business. Here is an exact copy of the First Muskogee Election Notice to the Voters of the Incorporated Town of Muskogee Take Notice: That the undersigned agents of the incorporated town of Muskogee, I. T. have appointed theFirst Day of June, 1898, for the election of officers, said election to take place in the building recently occupied by Misses Hannan & Cobb as a millinery store and now moved on …

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