114 YEAR YEARS AGO McIntosh County Democrat Thursday,
December 28, 1911

NEAR CONFLAGRATION

At the midnight hour Tuesday an alarm of fire called the department to the frame buildings just south of the Checotah Mercantile Co. and for nearly an hour the boys fought manfully subdue a blaze which had it inception in the rear room of the Home bakery. The fire was well underway when first discovered and when the department arrived was beyond control so far as the two frame buildings were concerned and the boys bent every energy to prevent the flames spreading to the adjoining brick building and possibly others. The water pressure was at it best and at 1 o’clock the blaze was under control and by 2 the boys wended their way homeward to take rest and nap.

LIFE SENTENCE

Imprisonment in the state penitentiary at McAlester for the rest of his natural life was the punishment fixed by a district court jury Friday afternoon upon William M. Irwin, former prominent real estate dealer of Muskogee. Irwin is guilty of foul conspiracy whereby to obtain lands worth a quarter of a million dollars owned by Herbert and Stella Sells, two little negro children. He caused others to dynamite the home in which they slept at Taft on the 23rd day of this March, murdering them both.

Attention Daughters of the Confederacy
The local chapters of the Daughters of the Confederacy will meet at the home of Mr. Chas R. Freeman Tuesday afternoon, Jan. 2, and every member is urgently requested to be present as the annual election of officers will be held and other matters of importance considered.

100 YEARS AGO McIntosh County Democrat
Thursday, October 22, 1925

KILLED AT DANCE
“Bad Booze” claimed another life in McIntosh county last Friday night, when Garfield Youngblood of Crickett, Ark., was instantly killed at the home of Steve Guinn, 7 miles west of Checotah. According to the testimony submitted at the Coroner’s inquest held Saturday morning in the city, Youngblood was one of the musicians furnishing the music for the dance. During the early part of the evening an altercation arose between Mr. Guinn and Youngblood with the result that Guinn had four teeth knocked out by his adversary. Following the fight, Youngblood prepared to leave the dance and had entered his car in front of the house when two shots were fired, one bullet passing completely through his head. The evidence further showed that both men had been drinking heavily, and that up to the evening of the killing the two men had never met before. Youngblood only recently came to this county from Crickett, Ark., and was engaged in picking cotton west of the city.

95 YEARS AGO McIntosh County Democrat
Thursday, June 26, 1930

Gore to Speak
Thomas Pryor Gore, democratic candidate for the United States senate, will speak in Checotah at 2:30 o’clock next Tuesday afternoon. Gore is facing a strong field of candidates in his efforts to return to the senate. The leader in the race is Ardmore resident Lee Cruce, former governor, although C. J. Wrightsman, the Tulsa aristocrat, is expected to be a strong second.

90 YEARS AGO McIntosh County Democrat
Thursday, September 27, 1934

ARMED BANDITS HI-JACK STAND AND OBTAIN $71
Slot machine also taken containing about $60 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. Roughly dressed men, believed by officers to be local toughs, held up Delmas Buttram, night employee and escorted him behind the stand where he was forced to lie on the ground on his face.

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 Ricard Hauptmann will be arranged Thursday on the charge growing out of the kidnap murder of the Lindbergh baby. His attorney said he will pled not guilty.

81 YEARS AGO McIntosh County Democrat
Thursday, May 17, 1945

Checotah Gets Wide Publicity Over Radio Station KVOO
Checotah received favorable radio publicity throughout the southwest last Sunday morning when a group of local citizens appeared as the guests of Ken Miller on the program “Main Street Speaks.”

BOARD ALTERS DRAFT STATUS OF 136 YOUTHS
Reclassification of 136 McIntosh count draftees and men subject to call was announced this week by members of the selective service board.

Council to Halt Burning of Trash
Burning of trash in the streets and alleys of Checotah will not be permitted in the future, it was decided this week by the mayor and council. City ordinances strictly forbid the starting of fires upon public property.

75 YEARS AGO McIntosh County Democrat
February, March 16, 1950

SEEK OUSTER OF INSTRUCTOR IN MORALS ROW
County Attorney Jimmie Whitley demanded this week that veteran school teacher be suspended pending is trial on charges of molesting girl students. Whitely said he will ask the state bord of education to remove W. E. Dicky as a teacher at Cathey school, it the Eufaula board of education files to suspend him.

50 YEARS AGO McIntosh County Democrat
Thursday, June 19, 1975

Thousands Invade Streets for Old Settlers Day
Thousands walked the streets here last Saturday to take part in the celebration of Old Settlers Day.

Indian Clinic Opens in Eufaula
The Principal Chief of the Creek Nation, Claude Cox, announces the opening of the new Eufaula Indian Clinic. The new clinic opened on Monday, June 16, and is located at the old Eufaula Dorm.

19 YEARS AGO McIntosh County Democrat
Thursday, March 8, 2007

Water Forum Slated
City leaders will schedule a meeting in coming seeks to discuss possible changes in the relationship between the City of Checotah and the surrounding communities who use its water. Hammontree, Hayes Vying for Checotah Mayors Position. Checotah Mayor Jay Hayes has announced he’ll seek a fourth term as Mayor.“The reason that I’m running again is because we have a few of what I consider to be the most important projects that we’ve have ever had in this town,” he said. Most notably, he said: the water issue. “The whole landscape of water is changing,” he said. “It’s in a state of flux right now. We’ve got the stricter environmental compliance standards, and the other issue is simply availability. “You’re going to see a global shift in policy when it comes to water in the United States.”

10 YEARS AGO McIntosh County Democrat
Thursday, November 5, 2015

New visitor’s center impacts Rentiesville
Otis Graves has been watching the big trucks stacked with wood, cement trucks and cranes go by his house in Rentiesville as the sits out on the front porch. The parking lot to nowhere on the hill down the road from his house now has a building with a roofline that reaches above the trees in the distance. This little community is about to see big changes as the Honey Springs Battlefield Visitor Center and LeRoy H. Fischer Research Library takes shape.