I finally bought a copy of “The Bennington Tribune” Newspaper Extractions (Reel 1, 1903-11) abstracted by Rozell Sangster Thomas and published by the Bryan County Genealogy Library and Archives, Inc. Abstracting is a tough job. I’ve watched Rozell painstakingly reading through microfilm and typing on her laptop, so I’m especially thankful for this book. (She is currently working on abstracting one of the Caddo papers. I haven’t asked her which one.)
The Bennington Tribune makes interesting reading for several reasons. First of all, this is a “small world”. Even now, Caddo residents have friends and family members in Bennington. Second, Bennington has been through many of the same tragedies (fire, flood, illness) and economic ups and downs as Caddo. And third, the Bennington paper printed news of many of the surrounding communities, including Caddo, Banty, Caney, Hugo, Atoka, Cade, Bokchito, Old Church, Jackson, White Grass, Wade, Albany, Chishoktak, and Smith-Lee.
One of my favorite quotes is from July 28, 1911: “Caddo will soon erect another new school building. We like the Caddo style of doing things. They are town builders.” What a wonderful compliment! I hope we live up to that in 2006.
Here are some other news bits. (If you are wondering why I bother with some of these, it’s because genealogists LIVE for this stuff. Sometimes the tiniest piece of information about someone is all you need to get you to the next stage of your research.)
July 27, 1905: “Mrs. Varney, of Caddo, is spending a few days with home folks.”
February 15, 1906: “Solomon Homer, of Caddo, was in Bennington Friday.”
February 22, 1906: “Mrs. W.T. Smith, of Caddo, visited J.C. Smith and family this week.”
October 18, 1906: “Miss Vada Hughes and Miss Pace, of Caddo, have been visiting here for several days and returned home yesterday.”
October 25, 1906: “Mrs. Jones has gone to Caddo to spend a few days with R.E. Ziegler and wife who returned home Saturday.”
November 8, 1906: “Rev. C.C. Carson preached at Caddo Sunday. Bro. Carson tells us he has accepted the pastorate at the Caddo Presbyterian Church and will move to that city at an early date. Bennington will regret to lose Bro. Carson.”
January 3, 1907: “Sam E. Swinney, of Caddo, is a candidate for the office of Bryan County Clerk.”
March 21, 1907: “Charles E. McPherren, of Caddo, was shaking hands at the station Monday.”
July 25, 1907: “Marriage license issued to Carl Folsom and Nannie Robinson, Caddo.”
August 29, 1907: “Hon. Sam Swinney, Caddo’s prominent drug clerk and the Democratic nominee for clerk of Bryan County, has located in Durant. Sam has charge of the prescription department at the Corner Drug Store- Durant Democrat.”
May 28, 1908: “Great Floods of Oklahoma- One of the most disastrous floods for many years, during the past week has caused damages in Texas and Oklahoma to the extent of millions of dollars, many persons are dead and thousands are homeless. Train service throughout Oklahoma and Texas has been completely tied up for several days. All railroad bridges across Red River have been put out of business…and in Oklahoma nearly every railroad bridge is either lost or damaged to such an extent that trains cannot run and nearly all towns have been shut off from all communication practically with the outside world since Sunday. No mail arriving from any direction and telegraph and telephone wire being generally down…”
October 15, 1908: “Miss Frances M. Lyles, Caddo- Secy/Treas. (Teachers’ Institute)
November 12, 1908: “At the home of Miss Lena Glass last Saturday evening a society social was given in honor of Miss Hall of Caddo. Those present were: Misses Rivers, Westbrook, Early, Bishop, and Miss Hall of Caddo. Mesdames S.K. Parson and Ira Shumake, Messrs. Shumake, Turner, Tarter, Deck, and A.A. McLander of Shawnee. Musical selections were rendered by Misses Westbrook and Early.”
“George Moffate, of near Caddo, had his barn burned down last Tuesday night. He also lost six team of horses. W.H. Harrison was circulating a petition to help Mr. Moffate and he said he thanked the people of Bennington for being so liberal.”
I hope you enjoyed these bits of news from our neighbors at Bennington. More later...
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