My book, Caddo, Oklahoma- Persevering on the Prairie is still available from the Bryan County Genealogy Library and Archives. This book is a compilation of research, stories, newspaper articles, and obituaries that will help you understand Caddo’s fascinating past and give you names and dates to help with your family genealogy. The book is fully indexed.
To order your copies send a check or money order for $35 plus $3.50 postage and handling to Bryan County Genealogy Library and Archives, P.O. Box 153, Calera, Oklahoma 74730-0153. (If you order multiple copies just add $1postage to the price of each additional book.)
Persevere: to persist in spite of counterinfluences, opposition, or discouragement.
The early settlers of Caddo faced violence, fierce weather, isolation, and poverty yet managed to create a community that has lasted one hundred and thirty-eight years. Twice Caddo was nearly devastated by fire, but the community rebuilt. And it thrived! Caddo was once home to more than 2,000 people and had visitors from all over the world. You can read about the Corn Carnival, the Moon Mausoleum, the Jefferson Highway, and many more of Caddo’s famous attractions. Order your copy of Persevering on the Prairie today!
My new book, The Fabulous Fifty, Volume I, will be ready very soon. It is a collection of facts and stories about Caddo’s first settlers and includes some of the men who were once referred to as “the fat men’s club’ because many were as rotund as they were prosperous and influential. And it also contains the stories of many of the wives and sweethearts who either worked alongside them or made it possible for them to accomplish so much. I’ve used family histories as well as excerpts from The Caddo Herald to try to give a glimpse into their daily lives. It is my hope that the book will help family historians glean some personal information about their ancestors. Here are a few tidbits from the book:
- Granville McPherson, one of Caddo’s first and most outspoken newspaper editors had four wives and at least ten children. He was once beaten for something he wrote in the paper. His headstone reads “First Grand Master of Indian Territory (Oklahoma)”. His third wife, Lydia Starr Hunter McPherson was one of the most famous newspaper women in Texas.
- Charles E. McPherren was Caddo’s first mayor and one of the youngest in the area. He went on to become a prominent lawyer, state senator, and National Guard commander. He lived long enough to be a speaker at the celebration of Caddo’s Golden Jubilee.
- Frank Thurmond and Lottie Deno, notorious gamblers and outlaws, were connected to two affluent Caddo families and even visited our little town. Mrs. C. A. Hancock gave a party for them in 1903.
- William F. Dodd was one of the principle organizers and developers of the Oklahoma section of the Jefferson Highway, which stretched from Canada to Louisiana. His pharmacy, The Corner Drug, was a landmark in Caddo for many years. He died in his store when he was only fifty-eight.
Charles Abel Bilbo was a major land owner in the county with farms and lots in several communities. His wife Ella McCoy Bilbo was one of the founders of the Civic and Cemetery Club. Two of their young sons died within three months of each other
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