I ran across this story in The History of Bryan County. It was written by Maude’s daughter, Geraldine Hull McKinney. (It’s quite lengthy and includes a lot of information about her children’s families so I’ve condensed it a bit. If you need more information about this family just contact me.)
Maude Virginia Linton Williams was born October 23, 1893 at Russellville, Arkansas, daughter of William Walker Linton and Laura Jane Bishop Linton, who was part Cherokee Indian. Maude was one of twelve children. She came to Oklahoma at an early age with her parents. Her father was a farmer and they settled near Caddo, Oklahoma.
September 1, 1912 she married Lafe L. Hull who was 3/8 Choctaw Indian. They were married at Bokchito, at the home of his mother, Mrs. John Franklin. They moved into the home of his father, Joseph L. Hull, east of Caddo. To this union three children were born: Beatrice Louise Hull, Loda L. Hull, and Vivian Geraldine Hull. Lafe left in 1920 and moved to New Mexico. Maude moved into Caddo where she worked in the telephone office. Later she moved to Durant and worked for Truby Studio. Later she worked for the Evergreen Sanitarium, The Bryan County Hospital, and the Durant Hospital.
June 16, 1928 Maude Hull and John E. Williams were married in the home of Willie P. Weeks, pastor of the Calvary Baptist Church of Durant. John Williams was working for the Durant Police Department at the time and was later elected Chief of Police for the City of Durant. Maude established their home in Durant with four of their five children. Loda went to New Mexico to live with his father.
John Williams was born in Pontotoc County, Miss. March 28, 1881 one of twelve children. The family moved to Bryan county in 1895 and settled in Old Allison. After reaching manhood Mr. Williams was engaged in farming and for a few years operated a garage at Roberta. He was a strong, athletic youngster and excelled in baseball, in which he became one of the finest pitchers in this section. He pitched one year for the Paris, Texas, T-O league club in 1905 and the next year graduated to the Houston, Texas league team where he was the ace pitcher for the Houston team which won second place. He was assured of promotion to one of the major leagues, but retired from professional baseball. John was married to Annie Mabel Howard at Roberta on November 10, 1907. To the union were born nine children. Mrs. Williams passed away at Durant, February 6, 1927. John moved to Durant in 1928 and June 16, of that year he was married to Mrs. Maude Hull.
Mr. Williams was a devout member of the First Baptist Church and was a very active member of the Odd Fellows Lodge. He also was very active in singing circles, and seldom missed a community singing or a singing convention. On the occasion of Mr. Williams’ funeral a crowd overtaxed the church, with many persons standing outside in the pelting rain to pay tribute to the veteran peace officer.
November 7, 1938 Mrs. Maude Hull Williams was unanimously appointed sheriff to serve out her husband’s un-expired term. The appointment was made by Commissioners D. M. Etheridge, L.W. Diffey, and Walter Davis.
On May 9, 1944 Maude was married to T. L. Moon. He died December 1, 1960. Mrs. Moon died Jun 20, 1971. At the time of her death she was the only woman to have served as sheriff in the history of Bryan County.
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