114 YEARS AGO McIntosh County Democrat Thursday, November 17, 1910
HIS LIFE SNUFFED OUT
Robert Gentry, a well-known Checotah young man, lies in a silent tomb in the city cemetery and Robert Watson, equally well-known, occupies a cell in the county jail at Eufaula.
When the news was brought to Checotah at an early hour Monday morning that Bob Gentry had been shot to death at Bond Switch and that his slayer was Robert Watson, a resident of that neighborhood, citizens could hardly realize it until the horrible truth was confirmed by those on the scene or from those who had went to Bond to be convinced.
A BAD BLAZE
At about 8 o’clock Saturday night the piercing screech of the fire whistle gave notice that the services of the fire department were in demand and when it was learned that the blaze was at the Independent cotton gin there was unusual activity for if a fire gains headway in a gin prompt action is necessary to hold it in check.
The department promptly responded and speedily had two streams playing on the warehouse wherein was stored in the neighborhood of 150 bales of cotton in the seed. The interior was a seething mass of flames when first discovered and it was fully an hour before they were under control.
••••• 100 YEARS AGO McIntosh County Democrat
Thursday, October 2, 1924
DEATH OF DR. MORRIS Died Reading Newspaper
Neighbor children when they received no response to their knock at the home of Dr. F.B. Morris in the west part of the city, early Monday morning entered the house and found their friend and neighbor lying dead on the floor beside a chair where he had apparently been reading a newspaper the evening before. An open newspaper lay beside him, and his glasses were still on his face unbroken in the fall.
Dr. Morris came to Checotah about three years ago from the Eufaula neighborhood where he had practiced medicine for a number of years.
“The Birth of a Nation”
“The Birth of a Nation,” D.W. Griffith’s epochical film, sensation will be the offering at the Cozy next Tuesday.
The result of Mr. Griffith’s efforts in a new and stupendous art for which no adequate means has yet been found, “The Birth of a Nation” combines spectacle, romance, domestic drama, comedy, tragedy, music and mechanical effects into a harmonious ensemble that captivates the eye and the ear.
In a presentation lasting two hours and 45 minutes it epitomizes the life of a nation.
This is something the old art could never do. Among the distinguished actors in the cast are Henry B. Walthall, Lillian Gish, May Marsh and others.
Eighteen thousand people, 3,000 horses and no less than 5,000 scenes went to the making of the spectacle.
•••••
90 YEARS AGO McIntosh County Democrat Thursday, September 27, 1934
ARMED BANDITS HI-JACK STAND AND OBTAIN $71 Slot Machine Also Taken
The Red Dot lunchroom, all night beer joint located on West Gentry Avenue, was hijacked by two armed bandits of approximately $130 cash about 3:30 o’clock last Sunday morning in one of the most daring robberies staged here in several years.
Indict Hauptmann In Lindbergh Case
Indicted for extortion after Col. Charles A. Lindbergh had appeared Wednesday before the Bronx county New York grand jury and told of a futile $50,000 ransom payment Bruno Richard Hauptmann will be arraigned Thursday on the charge growing out of the kidnap murder of the Lindbergh baby, and, his attorney said, will pled not guilty.
••••• 80 YEARS AGO McIntosh County Democrat
Thursday, April 27, 1944
OFFICERS PROBE STRANGE DEATH OF CITY WOMAN Foul Play Possibility
County officers continued their investigation this week of the mysterious death of Mrs. B. H. Thompson, wealthy widow, whose shotgun blasted body was found in the bathroom of her home.
The body was discovered late last Tuesday evening by Bryant Wessanger and Sam Pack, neighbors of the aged woman. The top of her head had been blown off by the charge from a shotgun which lay nearby.
Officers estimated that the woman had been dead about 24 hours at the time she was found.
996 Students Take Tuberculosis Tests
Nearly 1,000 students of McIntosh county have taken tuberculin tests in the survey conducted during the past week by Mrs. Thelma Goodrich, field nurse for the Oklahoma Tuberculosis Association.
McIntosh county is said to have one of the highest death rates in the state for tuberculosis.
••••• 75 YEARS AGO McIntosh County Democrat
Thursday, September 29, 1949
REPEAL BEATEN IN COUNTY VOTE; EUFAULA IS WET The professional dries of Oklahoma won a lopsided victory in the special election Tuesday to decide whether the state’s 42-year-old bone dry liquor laws should be repealed in conformity with 46 other states of the union.
McIntosh county went dry by a small margin. A total of 1,455 voters were for repeal and 1,722 against.
The city of Checotah led the dry parade in the county with a substantial 170 vote margin for maintaining present liquor laws.
The city of Eufaula wound up in the wet column.
••••• 25 YEARS AGO McIntosh County Democrat
Thursday, October 3, 1974
School Gym Open For Recreation
Recreational activities are now being made available during after-school hours for students in grades 1-12 and for adults of the community.
The activities including basketball, volleyball, ping pong and badminton will be carried on in the old gymnasium under the supervision of two activity directors. Bill Self and Mr. Delmon Wilkie, local teachers who have been hired to supervise the activity program.
Immunization Action Month
As part of a continuing effort to reduce the incidence of childhood diseases and eliminate the threat of widespread epidemics, Gov. David Hall has designated October 1974 as “Immunization Action Month.”
••••• 18 YEARS AGO McIntosh County Democrat
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Checotah and The McIntosh County Democrat turn 134 and 99, respectively It all started with the railroad, 134 years ago, and Checotah is still making tracks.
Last Monday, Feb. 13, 2006, Checotah celebrated its 134th birthday.
After the end of the Civil War and the treaty of 1866, the railroad cut its way into the vast prairie lands of Indian Territory. By 1872, the tracks penetrated deep into the Creek Nation. The railhead at the site of today’s Checotah was named Checote’s Switch in honor of Samuel Checote, the Creek Nation Chief.
••••• 10 YEARS AGO McIntosh County Democrat
Thursday, October 16, 2014
OSU Extension gets new space, new director Pamela Ward doesn’t fit the stereotype of an Oklahoma agriculture agent. But don’t let looks fool you. This little blond headed; blue-eyed beauty is all about lending a hand to the people of McIntosh County. She is full of knowledge about helping someone whose “plants aren’t growing, cows aren’t eating, hay is not growing, or trees are dying.
Ward is the new agriculture educator and 4-H Club agent for McIntosh County Cooperative Extension Service. She greeted guests from 1 to 4 pm. Thursday, Oct. 2, during an open house at the new office on the McIntosh County Fairgrounds in Eufaula.