It’s hard to believe, but thisweekmarkstheone-year anniversary of this Marshall County history article. It’s been a wonderful year for me, and I hope for you, too, as you have been along for the ride.
This journey began with a post on the Marshall County History and Memories Facebook page by a local resident dated July 18, 2023. In that post, the gentleman mentioned that his daughter had moved back to Marshall County, and they were teaming up to produce a YouTube channel that would focus primarily on the area. His desire was “to teach people about the history of the (Marshall County) area” and its beauty.
Shalene White, the Editor of the Madill Record, responded to the post and asked if he would be interested in writing a few “history pieces” for the paper. He was interested but told Ms. White he was not yet ready to take on the project but might in the future. More on that in a moment.
My foray into the history of Marshall County began in 2012 when I started researching my family history. Duringthatresearch,Ibegan compiling a large amount of information about the county, the various towns and early-day residents. At first, I had no intention of reporting my findings as I was only researching because it was interesting, and I enjoyed the hunt. However, as time passed, I began feeling the urge to share my findings with others.
Then, in November 2017, I wrote a series of articles about the history of Kingston for a Facebook group named Forgotten Oklahoma, a page dedicated to “preserving Oklahoma history.” In the summer of 2018, I discovered the Marshall County History and Memories Facebook page, and at first, I posted a few photos I had collected. However, in August 2018, I posted my first major piece, titled “The Tale of Two Towns,” about the history of King’s Town, Helen and Kingston. That initial article originally had two parts, but as people began asking questions, it morphed into a few dozen separate installments.
Duetothereceptionofthat series, the Marshall County Genealogical & Historical Society invited me to speak at one of their quarterly meetings. I presented the “Tale of Two Towns” piece. The crowd was large, and the reception was amazing. This encouraged me to continue researching and writing on the Marshall County History and Memories Facebook page. Over the next five years, I posted dozens of articles, large and small and was invited back to other historical society meetings to speak on other history topics.
Fast-forward to July 18, 2023, when Shalene White responded to that Facebook post.Whenthegentlemandeclined Shalene’s offer to write forthepaper,Irespondedand told her, “If you are looking for someone to write history pieces for the paper…I have written a bunch. I love to write. I have also presented numerous times at the Marshall County Historical Society. I have numerous articles here, also.” Over the next several days, Shalene and I spoke multiple times, and from those discussions, this article was born.
After a year, I can truly say that this experience has been a blessing. I have enjoyed furthering my research into the county’s history and its people. But more importantly, I have enjoyed meeting people I would not have met. I have enjoyed hearing their stories, and their responses to myarticleshavehumbledme.
My first article, “A Tale of TwoTowns,PartI,”appeared on August 3, 2023. Since then,myarticlehasappeared on page two every week.
The first story to receive a large response was published on August 10, 2023. It was the story of the “Dinky” Train that served Marshall County from 1910 to 1953. The story received many responses from people who fondly remembered the “Dinky.” The article clearly spurred numerous beloved memories of long-time Marshall Countians. I remember hearing myownparentsrecounttheir joyous memories of riding the “Dinky” from Kingston to Madill or Durant. Those were memories that meant a lot to them. Some of the responses I received from readers include the following comments: “I remember riding the dinky multiple times. My Aunt & cousins would ride from Madill to Kingston, where my Mother & I would get on & we would go to Durant.”
“I definitely remember the Dinky and feel sure with school or family I rode on the Dinky. I loved it and the Train Depot.”
“I remember those days! The Dinky would drop the mail off at Simpson post office for the folks living in the Simpson,DurwoodandTyler community. Daddy would pick it at the post office in Simpson and deliver to the the Simpson route.”
“My husband road the dinky to school from Simpson to madill every day…” “I rode the dinky from Kingston to Durant and back in 1950 by myself. I was 6 years old and no one cared about a little boy riding alone. If I remember correctly the fare was 15 cents.”
“Lived in Oakland, loved seeing the dinky pick up mail…” “(My husband) used to ride the Dinky from Madill to Durant to see his Grandmother… back in the 40’s.”
“….He told me all about them riding the dinky to Madill and what a treat it was…” “…I heard my mom & dad talk about them my whole life…” “My wife’s Dad speaks fondly of riding the Dinky with his Mom. He does not remember what the train looked like but he remembers the inside. He said there was places to carry the supplies people had purchased. He also remembered how slow it moved along the tracks but also said it was faster than their hitches of horses or mules.” And my favorite was this simple response: “MEMORIES!” It was wonderful to know that my work helped people rememberthe“goodolddays” of Marshall County.
Another article that received a large response was “A Sad Day in Marshall County: The Day Jake was Laid to Rest.” It appeared in the August 24, 2023, issue. It was the story of my great uncle, Sheriff Tom Christian, and a funeral on the square when “Jake” was laid to rest after being held in the county jail for a few years. It was a story from January 1, 1925, when Sheriff Christian had his deputies take tubs, five-gallon containers, jugs and jars containing over 500 gallons of moonshine and corn wine from the Sheriff’s vault. Those tubs, jugs and jars were then taken outside, and in front of a crowd of over 300 citizens, the whiskey and wine were poured out on the pavementofthesquareonthe south side of the Courthouse.
The Madill record reported that “around the liquid cemetery gathered some 300, some with thirsty throats, some with lack of thirst, some Jake fans, some corn liquor addicts, some would-be wine lovers; and as the stream wended its way to lose itself on pavement, the collected expression was that “it’s an awful shame to waste it.”
From the responses I received, it seems readers got a good laugh out of the story—another unintended blessing from the article. Being able to put a smile on readers’ faces brought me great joy.
Articles like “The German InvasionofMarshallCounty” (8-31-23) and “Aylesworth State Prison Farm” (11-3023) received interest because theywerelittle-knownevents from the county’s early days. While a few remember the World War II German POW camp at Powell, no one currently living remembers the prison farm. I received many questions about those events and locations, and I learned from readers that some foundations of the buildings from each location still exist today.
The biggest response I received was from the fifteen-part series on Pettijohn Springs, which ran from January 11 to April 18, 2024. Many readers fondly remember daysspentswimmingand playing at the park, the most popular in Southern Oklahoma and a major attraction for Marshall County. It was fun to hear from numerous readers who shared their memories of the park.
Some articles were extra special to me because they involved stories about my family, like the one from September 14, 2023, about the day Bonnie and Clyde came to Madill. While I have written a few stories involving my family, I avoided making them personal or identifying the characters as family because I never want to be accused of trumpeting my family. But some stories are worth sharing.
That story was special to me because my Uncle Harold Jones was the one robbed by the notorious outlaws on the night of June 8, 1933. As I wrote that article, I remembered when I was a young child asking Uncle Harold to tell me the story. While working on the story, I could hear his voice and that of my dear, sweet Aunt Annette, who always helped him tell the story even though she wasn’t there. I’ll bet he told me that story a few dozen times. I never tired of hearing the tale of Bonnie and Clyde. Oh, what I would give to hear him tell the story again.
Or the story of the Warhawk of Marshall County. That story involved my grandfather, George Henry and his purchase of a WWII P-40 Warhawk fighter airplane for the Kingston school. I will never forget hearing my momanddadtellingthestory of the day the plane arrived in Kingston, straight from service in the war. It was August 29, 1945. I can still hear my dad’s happy voice telling me about the excitement of that day and how the whole town turned out to see the marvelous flying machine. Therewasaparade that included the high school marching band as the plane was paraded up Main Street to the schoolyard, where it was displayed. Writing that article also brought back memories of my uncles Tom and Walter Bruce Henry, recounting their memories of that day. Both would later become Naval aviators. One must wonder if that experience in 1945 influenced their career choices later in life. My Uncle Walter Bruce would then work as an engineer for General Dynamics, working on the design and development of the Air Force F-16 fighter jet program. Sometimes,littleeventscome back to have a big impact later in life.
Then there was the June 13, 2024, story of the “Shootout in Woodville.” That story hit close to home for me because it was the day my great-grandfather, Perry Walter Henry, was almost killed in a shootout. Granddad Perry Walter was the Woodville Town Marshall, and on that day, he was called to the home of Lorenzo and Ella Nowlin due to a domestic disturbance. Upon his arrival, Lorenzo Nowlin came out of his room shooting at Granddad. Because of Nowlin’s action, my great-grandfather returned fire, killing Nowlin. It was an event that haunted my great-grandfather for the remainder of his life. I remember hearing stories frommychildhoodabouthow muchthateventaffectedhim. Writing that story brought back sad memories for me because of the damage it caused my family. But it was a story that was important for me to tell.
Then the last story I shared involving my family was the story last week called “Two Lucky Men” about my great-grandfather, Bruce May, and the day he was nearly killed in a bank robbery. I had never heard that story before, but I found a newspaper article about the event while researching another story. I was dumbfounded that I had never heard the story before. To sayIwasshockedwouldbean understatement. I remember calling my sweet cousin, Mary Lou Jones Beard, to see if she knew of the event. She was familiar with the story but did not know all the facts. It was a revelation for me.
I will likely share other stories involving my family in future articles, but I will continue to try to avoid the appearance of tooting my family’s horn.
Then, there was the email from a gentleman who was not a resident of Marshall County. His email meant a lot to me. He was passing through Madill over the Fourth of July weekend, and he picked up a copy of the Madill Record from a local convenience store. It was that edition of the paper that had my story, “More than just a song,” about the history of The Star-Spangled Banner. After he returned home, he wrote an email to the newspaper saying, “I picked up The Madill Record while in the area for the 4th of July weekend. The column written by Gary Henry made me proud to be an American. It was a wonderful reminder of the sacrifices that people have made for our flag and country. God Bless America.”
That email made my day. But the stories that have moved me the most were ones where family members of the subjects of my stories contacted me, some in tears, thanking me for giving them answers to questions they had long pondered.
The first was my Thanksgiving story, which appeared in the November 23, 2023 edition of the paper. That story was about thanksgiving as a state of mind and heart, not the holiday. It involved the uplifting life of Lucy Ivy Payne and how, even through tragedy and heartbreak, she never gave up and lived a life of thanksgiving and service. It, too, was a story I stumbled upon while researching another historical event. It wasn’t until I had the story written that I realized that Lucy’s granddaughter was my dear friend and Kingston native, Tommie Nell Payne Flegal. I still remember my phone call to Tommie Nell where I told her my Thanksgiving article was about her grandmother Lucy. We probably talked for an hour about Lucy and her impact on Tommie Nell’s life. In fact, I then incorporated a few things into the article that Tommie Nell related to me. She was thrilled that her grandmother’s story was being told. It was a story of love, commitment and a giving heart. A story of joy and thanksgiving. Knowing thatthearticlemadeTommie Nell happy made me happy.
Then, there was my “Letters to Santa” article in the December 21st issue of the paper. It was an article that contained letters to Santa Claus from the children of Marshall County between 1915 and the early 1930s. It was fun to research that articleandreadthechildhood letters to Santa from people I have known my whole life—people known to many of you. During my research, I even found childhood letters to Santa from my mom and dad and my aunts and uncles. It was both sad and uplifting to read the letters expressing the wants and needs of the children of the earlydaysofthecounty. That article brought me so much joy and happiness, and from the responses of readers, my feelings were shared by many.
My story about the Juzan Cemetery was published on June 20th. In that story, I reported on the background of Alex Juzan’s family and the family cemetery on the shores of Lake Texoma. The cemetery was founded in the early 1880s, and the last grave was added in 1887. Yet even after 137 years, the cemeteryremainsuntouched by vandals or thieves.
Just days after the story appeared, I received an email from the cemetery owner, a Juzan family member. In that email, she told me, “My husband…who passed away in 2018, was the great-greatgrandson of Thomas Juzan. We lived in Marshall County, south of Kingston on family property prior to his death. (He, and) Other family and community members have visited the cemetery over the years, weeding, mowing, etc. However, we did not have any details about the family who was buried there, so your article has given us a wonderful piece of family history.” We exchanged emails, and in the coming days, I will provideherwithmorehistory and information about her Juzan relatives. I’m excited to be able to provide a family with more history about their ancestors.
However, the response I receivedfromHolmesWillis’s grandson made me realize that my articles were making a difference in the lives of my readers. On June 6, 2024, my article titled “Willis, an Innocent Man” was published. In that article, I recounted the story of Marshall County native Holmes Willis, the fifth and last child of Raleigh Britton “Brit” Willis, the founder of Willis, Oklahoma.
Holmes Willis was a man who served about twelve years as a highly decorated police officer in California. AfterhereturnedtoMarshall County, he was attacked by a knife-wielding neighbor who had a violent criminal history, which included stabbing a man years before. In an act of self-defense, Holmes hit the man one time in the head with his cane. The man was injured and sadly died a few days later.
Holmes was charged with first-degree murder. His first trial ended in a hung jury. At his second trial, he was sadly convicted of manslaughter andsentencedtofouryearsin prison. Heartbrokenanddevastated by the conviction and facing the prospect of being a police officer sentenced to prison, Holmes took his own life rather than risk being killed in prison.
Before publishing that article, I contacted Holmes’s grandson,HolmesWillis,and asked permission to share his grandfather’s story. Mr. Willis consented to the story, and it was published. After printing the story, Mr. Willis contactedme,andhethanked me for answering questions that had plagued his family for decades. He was grateful that my analysis of the story proved that his grandfather was wrongfully convicted and was an honorable man and a highly decorated law enforcement officer. He had also been burdened for decades with the stigma of his grandfather’s alleged guilt and suicide. He even told me that many years ago, he went to the courthouse to try and find records of the trial to find out what really happened. He told me that myarticleputhisquestionsto rest and that the story lifted the weight of those burdens, and he was relieved that the truth was finally told, even if it took 83 years.
I say all that to say that oneyearago,Ineverexpected this article to last a year, let alone be so well received. I also never expected the article to answer long-asked questions about people and events that have burdened families for decades. Your responses have honored me and my work, and for that, I am thankful.
Likesomanyendeavorsin life, I started this project to educate, entertain, uplift and impact you, but in the end, you have impacted, educated and uplifted me. You have blessed me beyond measure. I have learned more from you than you could possibly have learnedfromme,andforthat, I will be forever grateful. Learning that this article has had even a small impact on others is humbling.
After a year, I am more energized and eager to continue working hard for you than when we started one year ago. I have a lot more stories to tell, and there are so many more that I have yet to discover.
Next week, we will begin a multipart series on the long struggletobuildtheMarshall County Courthouse. It is a fascinating history of the rivalry between Madill and Kingston that still exists today. Also, I have a series planned that tells the story of early-day outlaws that ruled this area of Indian Territory and the events that led to the deaths of almost a dozen early pioneers of Marshall County. I have also planned morestoriesaboutpeopleand places that shaped today’s Marshall County. I hope you will continue to join me as we explore these exciting stories. And I hope that you are educated, entertained, and uplifted by these efforts. It is an honor and a pleasure to write these stories for you.
With all that said, if there are any subjects you would like to learn more about or if you have any comments about the stories I have written or will write in the future, do not hesitate to contact me at news@madillrecord.net or mchistory24@gmail.com. I look forward to hearing from you. If you want to explore the history of Marshall County on your own, I encourage you to visit the Marshall County Historical Museum located at 400 W Overton St., Madill, Oklahoma 73446. Marcia, Doris or Brent would be happy to help you explore.
As I said last week, I am a very lucky man.
Thank you, and God Bless you and Marshall County.
Gary Henry