Caddo- My Home Town

Dr. Darbison

My thanks to Shirley Green for this photo. Dr. Darbison wasn't exactly a Caddo resident, but was certainly well-known and busy in the community.

The Caddo Herald, May 30, 1919

Dr. Darbison Found Dead

Kenefick, Okla., May 26- Dr. George Thomas Darbison, a well known and prominent physician and citizen of this city, was found dead in bed this morning, when his wife went to call him for breakfast. Death resulted from apoplexy. The doctor had been out on a call late last night and his wife did not call him at the usual hour this morning, and when she went to his room to see if he was up, she found his body cold in death. It is thought death resulted somewhere about 7 o’clock. His death was a great shock to his wife, for he apparently was in good health, and has not been complaining of feeling bad in the least.

Deceased was sixty years of age, lived in and around Kenefick for the past twenty years. He leaves a wife and a number of children.

Pleasant Hill Homecoming

The Pleasant Hill Cemetery Annual Homecoming is scheduled for Sunday, August 5 at noon. Bring old photos, family histories and a picnic lunch! There is an air-conditioned building on the grounds. For more information contact mooregk@hotmail.com For a map or grave listings check Find A Grave. It's one of my favorite genealogy sites!

Distinguished Service

I found additional information about Corbett Benefield, mentioned in a recent post:

 

Caddo Herald, May 30, 1919

Caddo Boy Killed Gets D. S. Cross

            The War Department has awarded the Distinguished Service Cross to a number of Oklahoma young men. Among them is Corporal Corbett Benefield. He came from Caddo, lived about three miles south of town and had two brothers in the army. Here is the statement:

            “Corporal Corbett Benefield (deceased), Company E. 142^nd infantry, for extraordinary heroism in action near St. Eitenne, France, October 8, 1918. Father, Tom Benefield, Caddo, Okla.

            Wounded in the arm by machine gun bullet while leading his squad through enemy entanglements, Corporal Benefield rallied his men and led them in attack on machine gun, which was enfilading* the line and captured the gun and its entire crew. Continuing on despite his wound, he was killed shortly afterward while leading his squad under a heavy enemy bombardment.”

* enfilade: gunfire directed from a flanking position along the length of an enemy battle line

Lucy Ann Hitchcock Cooper

This was sent to me by Greg Moore. As always, if you have any more information about this person we would both appreciate your help.

          Lucy Ann Hitchcock Cooper was born in Paulding County, Georgia to John M. Hitchcock and Mary (Polly) Roberts Hitchcock on January 20^th, 1846.  She got married to her school teacher, James Neighbors Cooper, on September 13^th, 1860. Her new husband left at the beginning of the War Between the States to serve in the Georgia 7^th Infantry with his father and brother during the following spring and left her at home to look after the family and home matters. According to her grandson, Herman Hunt, she went to Virginia to visit him during the war and had the attached picture taken while she was there for a visit.  Later in the war, Sherman’s army marched through Paulding County and engaged in battles at New Hope Church, Pickett’s Mill, and Dallas. Before leaving the county, the Union army paid the Cooper farm a visit and helped themselves to family’s food and valuables according to family stories.

          She became the mother of seven children that included Robert Lee, Cornelius (Neil), Daugherty, Marcus, Arthur, Allen Foster, Minnie Ola, and Eldridge Walter Cooper. When the family moved to the Pleasant Hill Community around 1891, Robert, Neil, Marcus, and Arthur remained in the community as adults.  Daugherty and Minnie Ola moved out of state and Eldridge and Allen died when they were young.

          After James died suddenly in 1901, she continued to live on the Cooper farm with her son, Arthur.  She applied for an Oklahoma Confederate widow’s pension in 1915 and the original application is on file at the state library in Oklahoma City. Her granddaughter, Alcie Cooper Breedlove, stated that she was the perfect grandmother. She died on June 6th, 1917 and is buried with the Cooper family in the Pleasant Hill Cemetery.