New Page 1

Return Ruddell's

Return Summers

Cape Girardeau Missouri
(Ruddell's, Summers)

Andrew & Elizabeth Ruddell (1st Husband)
Married here: 23 Aug 1799

Born on the Mississippi River over 200 years ago, Cape Girardeau has evolved from a tiny French trading post to a frontier settlement governed by a Spanish commandant to a thriving, culturally-rich community of some 40,000 residents on the world's only inland cape.

It was about 1733 that an adventuresome French soldier, Jean B. Girardot, established a trading post in a remote region populated by more than 20 Indian tribes. Girardot chose a rock promontory overlooking the Mississippi River as the site for his trading post. Trappers and river travelers soon discovered this welcome bit of civilization carved out of the vast forest that one day would become Missouri. They called the place "Cape Girardot."

Girardot, a frontiersman and trader at heart, eventually moved on. The man credited with founding Cape Girardeau, Louis Lorimier, came to the area in 1793, commissioned by the Spanish Governor General to establish a military post from which to trade and interact with the Indians. From his "Red House" on the site of Old St. Vincent's Church, Lorimier also served as the city's first goodwill ambassador, welcoming Lewis and Clark on their way to St. Louis for their journey into the unknown west, Davey Crockett as he passed through the area seeking recruits for frontier service and settlers making their way across the Mississippi River.

Under Lorimier's intelligent government and continuing promotion, the settlement thrived. Although Lorimier, or some of his companions, name the post "Lorimont," the name "Cape Girardot" (later modified to "Girardeau") already had gained popular acceptance among the region's small population.

Ensign Girardot's trading post had long since disappeared, but the mark he left on the region was indelible.

When the greatest discount sale in history, the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, brought the district into American possession at the cost of 2 cents an acre, Lorimier donated four acres for the establishment of a seat of justice. In 1806 the city was plotted and in 1808 was incorporated into a town. Lorimier died in 1812; he is buried in historic Old Lorimier Cemetery.

With the arrival of the steamboat in 1835, Cape Girardeau became a river boom town , the busiest port between St. Louis and Memphis. Until the Civil War, the riverfront bustled with activity as a commercial center and as an inviting port of debarkation for steamboat passengers.

During the war, Cape Girardeau was occupied by Union forces who built four forts to protect the city and river. A minor skirmish was fought just west of town in 1863, but fortunately Cape Girardeau was spared the devastation that claimed so many other cities.

The post-war years brought more growth - the establishment of public education in 1867, the introduction of rail service, advances in agriculture and industry.

Rich in the heritage of the river region and its people, the story of Cape Girardeau continues to add exciting new chapters.

Return Ruddell

Andrew Summers

Thomas Wagnon Sr.

New Madrid Missouri
(Ruddell's, Summers, maybe Wagnon's)

Section 1:1786-1798 Page-1

New Madrid District.- The settlement of this district was begun in the winter of 1786-1787, by Francois and Joseph Lesieur, brothers, in the employ of Cerre, a fur trader and merchant of St. Louis. They had been sent down the Mississippi in a canoe the year previous, to select a suitable place for a trading post, and now they came to build a house and to begin trade with the Indians. They were very successful. The Delawares brought in immense quantities of furs and skins, which they readily disposed of for powder and shot and such trifles as delight the heart of the savage. But so rich a mine could not be long concealed from Vincennes and other posts. The place soon became one of the best trading points in the country West of the Mississippi, and the name of "L'anse a la graisse" was bestowed upon it. But while these simple French traders were trafficking with the Indians, and growing rich, the eyes of a man with a greater ambition were fixed upon the country. Col. George Morgan, a native of New Jersey, who had been an officier in the American Army, while passing down the Mississippi to New Orleans, conceived the idea of building a great commercial city in the Spanish territory opposite or below the mouth of the Ohio. He at once began negotiations with the Spanish government for a large grant of land, and by extravagant promises succeeded in obtaining it. He published a prospectus of the city which he proposed to lay out, and early in 1789, with a party of some fifty or sixty emigrants, descended the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to a point about a mile below the present town of New Madrid. His ambitious designs, however, were soon brought to an end. Gen. James Wilkinson was at this time intriguing with the Spanish governor, Miro, at New Orleans, for the purpose of inciting a rebellion of the people west of the Alleghanies against the United States Government, with the intention of attaching them to the Spanish Government. He was very jealous of a rival, and such he conceived Col. Morgan to be. He conducted his negotiations through Gov. Miro, and in a letter to that officer states that in connection with others he has applied for a grant in the Yazoo country in order "to destory the place of a certain Col. Morgan." He then goes on as follows: "This Col. Morgan resides for the present with his family in the vacinity of Princeton, in New Jersey, but twenty or twenty-five years ago he used to trade with the Indians at Kaskaskia, in co-partnership with Boynton & Wharton. He is a man of education, and possesses an intelligent mind, but he is a deep and thorough speculator. He has already become twice a bankrupt, and according to the information I have lately received he is now in extremely necessitous circumstances. He was sent by a New Jersey company to New York in order to negotiate with Congress the purchase of a vast tract of land, comprising Cahokia and Kaskaskia. But whilst this affair was pending he found it to his interest to deal with Don Diego Gordoqui, and he discovered that it was more advantageous for him to shift his negotiations from the United States to Spain. The result was that he obtained, forsooth, the most extraordinary concession, which extends along the Mississippi from the mouth of the St. Francois River to Point Cinque Homme, in the West, containing from 12,000,000 to 15,000,000 of acres. I have not seen Morgan, nor am I acquainted with the particulars of his contract, but I have set a spy after him since his coming to these parts, and his going down the river to take possession of his new province, and through that spy I have collected the following information: That the intention of Morgan is to build a city on the west bank of the Mississippi, as near the mouth of the Ohio as the nature of ground may permit; that he intends selling his lands by small or large lots for a shilling an acre; that Don Diego Gordoqui pays all the costs of that establishment, and has undertaken to make that new town a free port to intercept all of the productions of this company on the most advantageous terms he may be able to secure from our people. Morgan departed from here on the beginning of this month to take possession of his territory, to survey it and to fix the site of the town, which will be called New Madrid. He took with him two surveyors and from forty to fifty persons beside."

Section 1:1786-1798 Page-2

This letter produced upon Gov. Miro the effect desired by Wilkinson. On the 20th of May 1789, Miro wrote the Spain concerning the impolicy of the conditions of the concession to Morgan, and the extent of it. He denominated it an Imperium in Imperio and protested against it. He also wrote to Morgan, stating how he had been deceived in regard to the conditions and extent of the concession, and declared that it was entirely inadmissable. He also infinitely regretted that Morgan had, without authority, laid out a town, and spoken of it as "our city." He further informed him that a fort would be constructed there, and a detachment of soldiers placed in it, to receive favorably all his emigrants. Morgan replied the next day, tendering an apology for his course, but his loss of influence with the Government cost him his prestige among the colonists, who began to murmur against his authority. Finally they sent an agent, one John Ward, to present a complaint to Gov. Miro. Morgan, thus stripped of his concession and influence, soon after returned to the United States. Several of the colonists also returned to their former homes.

Of the emigrants who came out with Col. Morgan, the greater number were from Maryland and Pennsylvania. The names of but few could be ascertained. There were David Gray, Alexander Sampson, Joseph Story, Richard Jones Waters, John Hemphill, Elisha Winsor, Andrew Wilson, Samuel Dorsey, Benjamin Harrison, Jacob Meyers, Benjamin Meyers, William Chambers, Elisha Jackson, Ephraim Conner, John Hart, James Dunn, Lawrence Harrison, William Harrison, John Gregg, Nicholas Gerry, James Gerry, John Morris, John Becket, John Summers, Louis and Joseph Vandenbenden, Joseph McCourtney, John Pickett and David Shelby.

Of the earliest French settlers the Lesieurs, Francois and Joseph, were not only the first, but also among the most influential, and their descendants are now numbered by the hundreds. They were sons of Charles Lesieur, who came from South France early in the last century and located at Three Rivers, Canada. About 1785 they came to St. Louis and found employment with Gabriel Cerre, a fur trader, who sent them out to establish a trading post, as before related. Joseph had married before leaving Canada, and became the father of two sons, both of whom died young. He himself died in April, 1796. Francois married Cecile Guilbeaut on May 13, 1791; she was a native of Vincennes, and a daughter of Charles Gailbeaut and Cecile Thiriat. In 1794 they removed to Little Prairie, where they resided until the earthquakes of 1811-1812, when they returned to what is now New Madrid County, and located at the old Point Pleasant, about a mile above the present village of that name. There Francois Lesieur died in 1826, after having been three times married. By his first marriage he had seven children, viz: Francois, Jr., who married a Miss Le Grand and reared a large family: Collestique, who became the wife of Noah Gambol; Margurite, who married Hypolite Thiriat (now Teror); Godfrey, who, in 1818, married Mary E. Loignon, and reared a family of eleven children; Matilda, who became Mrs. W.B. Nicholas; Christine, who married George G Alford, and an infant. His second wife was a Miss Bono, who bore him one son, Napoleon. In 1820 he married the widow of Charles Loignon, of Little Prairie. Raphael Lesieur, a nephew of Francois and Joseph Lesieur, came to New Madrid in 1798, and lived to be seventy-two years old. He married Frances Guilbeault, and had a large family.

The majority of the French settlers were entirely uneducated, could neither read nor write, and possessed but little property. Among this class were Joseph Hunot, and his sons Gabriel and Joseph, and Joseph and Etienne St. Marie, all from Vincennes. By far the larger number of the French pioneers were orginally from Canada, but had resided at some of the neighboring posts-Vincennes, Kaskaskia and Ste. Genevieve. A few, however, were natives of France, and these were usually the best educated. To this number belonged Pierre Antoine Laforge, who came to New Madrid in 1794. He was a member of an aristocratic family, and had been educated for the priesthood, but having fallen in love with his cousin, Margaret Gabrielle Colombe Champagne, had married her. He lived in Paris until driven out by the Revolution, when, taking his wife and family, with the exception of the youngest child, he sought refuge in America.

He located at Gallipolis, Ohio, where his family remained for several years. In 1794 he came to New Madrid, where he was appointed interpreter and public writer, and was held in high esteem by the authories of Upper Louisianna. He was recommended to Capt. Stoddard by De Lassus, in 1803, as "a very zealous officer, performing the duties of adjutant of militia. He is also a justice of the peace and notary public. He performs these various offices with correctness and precision. I can do no less than reccomend him as a man very active, earnest and useful for the public service; but he does not write English."

Section 1:1786-1798 Page-3

He was appointed commandant of the post by Stoddard, and served until the organization of courts. He subsequently held office of judge of the court of common pleas. When the earthquake of December, 1811, occurred he was sick of a fever, and died from exposure, having been removed from the house to a tent. He was the father of eleven children, only three of whom married. They were Adele, Gabrielle and Peter A. The last named was a farmer, and married Harriet, daughter of Charles Loignon. He, also, had a family of eleven, of whom eight married. They were Margaret C,. who first married Justice Morgan, and, after his death, John W. Butler; Alfred, who married Laura, daughter of Dr. Robert D. Dawson; Eliza, who became the wife of William S. Mosely; Alphonse, who married Fanny Hatcher; Agatha, who married Thomas Dawson; Prudence, who married Benjamin Stewart; Virginia, now the widow of William O'Bannon, and Mary, the widow of Dr. Drake McDowell.

Robert McKay (or McCoy) came to New Madrid as early as 1791, and for a long time was in command of a Spanish galley. After the change in the government he remained in the town, and continued to reside there until his death in 1840.

Among these American colonists, Richard Jones Waters was the most prominent and influential. He was a native of Maryland, and was the son of William Waters and Rachel Jones. He received a medical education, but seems to have never practiced his profession. He was engaged in a mercantile business at Louisville, Ky., when Morgan set out for Upper Louisianna, and he joined the expedition at that place. He was then twenty-nine years of age, and unmarried. He resumed business at New Madrid, and began to accumulate property rapidly. He carried a large stock of such goods as were in demand at that time, and purchased the greater portion of the produce shipped from New Madrid. He also owned the first water-mill in the district, which was situated on Bayou St. John. In addition to all this, he dealt very extensively in land and land grants, and was in involved in endless litigation. By reference to the archives of the post, it is found that he was a party to more than one-half of the civil suits before the commandant. But he was a successful business man, and at the time of his death, in 1807, his personal property alone was valued at over $65,000, a very large amount for that day.

On the 31st of May, 1800, he was married to Francoise Julie Godfrey, widow of Louis Vandenbenden, and a native of Normandy. They had no children, but prior to their marriage he had adopted two sons of Mrs. Jacob Meyers, of whom he was the reputed father. He was the captain of a militia company, and served at different times as commandant of the post ad interim. Col. De Lassus wrote of him to Capt. Stoddard: "He is a zealous officer of extensive knowledge, but of a somewhat extravagant dispostion and very quarrelsome." His sons were John and Richard Jones Waters. The former was an adventurous spirit, and left the country as a youth. The latter remained with his adopted mother, and at her death fell heir to all the property. He was an intelligent gentleman of the "old school" type, and from him have descended many of the best people of Southeast Missouri.

Dr. Samuel Dorsey was also a native of Maryland. Upon his establishment of the military post at New Madrid, he received the appointment of surgeon, at a salary of $30 per month, and continued that position until the transfer of the country to the United States. On January 17th, 1795, he married Marie J Boneau, a native of Vincennes, who died 1799. Subsequently he married a daughter of Jeremiah Thompson, of Cape Girardeau District, whither he removed to in 1804. After the earthquake of 1811-1812, he went to Claiborne County, Miss.

Joseph Story was a native of Massachusetts, and a son of William Story. He was a surveyor, and it is believed was brought to the country by Morgan to assist in laying off his city. In 1794 he married, at New Madrid, Catherine, a daughter of Jacob Seek, and a native of Pennsylvania.

Andrew Wilson was a native of Scotland, and had been a minister in the Presbyterian Church. He was the father of George Wilson, the first sheriff of the district.

John Summers was also a Scotchman, and was the father of Andrew and Alexander Summers, both of whom located in the Cape Girardeau District about 1797. Andrew married Elizabeth, the daughter of George Ruddell, of Little Prairie.

The Vandenbendens, Joseph and Louis, were from Pennsylvania. The latter was a merchant and a man of considerable wealth. He died about 1797 or 1798, and his widow married Richard J. Waters. Joseph was a large land owner, and survived his brother many years.

Section 1:1786-1798 Page-4

Return to George Ruddell

Return to Thomas Wagnon Sr.

Independence County Arkansas
(Wagnon's, Ruddull's)

The county of Independence was organized in accordance with the provisions of an act of the legislature of Arkansas Territory, approved October, 20, 1820. As then organized it embraced much territory which has since, from time to time, been out off and included in other counties as they were formed. Originally it composed a part of Lawrence County.

The town of Batesville having been established prior to the organization of the county, and being centrally located, as well as enjoying the advantages of a navigable river, was chosen as the seat of justice, and as such still continues. The first court-house, a brick structure, was erected in 1821, close to the bank of White River, and above the mouth of the bayou, on the public square, as shown by the town plat. The present court-house, which stands on block 15, at the corner of Broad and Main Streets, was erected in 1857 by Messrs. J. H. Peel and J. E. Wamac, at a cost of $10,000. It is a plain two-story brick building, with six rooms on the first floor, and court-room, jury and witness-rooms on the second. It has a wooden tower containing a town clock. The Paul Jail Company, of St. Louis, Mo., is now repairing the two-story stone residence of the jailer, and completing a new jail attached, for the contract price of $7,500. It stands on the opposite side of the same block on which the court-house is located, the jail proper having seven cells for prisoners.

The county has a poor farm and asylum for the use of the paupers. It is six miles northeast of Batesville, and has good buildings, and about fifty acres under cultivation. The county furnishes food and clothing for the indigent, the superintendent caring for them for the use of the farm.

The legal bar of Independence County is composed of the following named attorneys: H. S. Coleman, J. C. Yancey, Robert Neill, W. A. Bevens, J. J. Barnwell, Ex.-Gov. Elisha Baxter, Samuel Peete, W. B. Padgett, Charles Bourne, J. C. Bone and W. B. Ruddell.

Independence County has been comparatively free from the perpetration of the grosser crimes. Since the Civil War there has been only one execution for the crime of murder committed here the hanging of Jesse Kemp for the murder of Marion Hulsey. He was tried on a change of venue and executed in Sharp County. Another person suffered capital punishment in the county for a murder committed elsewhere.

French traders and trappers ascended White River long before the permanent settlement of the country traversed by it began. A party of these people encamped and hunted bear in the region now known as Oil Trough Bottom, in Independence County. Here they slew many bear, from which they rendered the oil, filled their barrels and had a surplus left. This letter was put into wooden troughs and left in the camp, the intention probably being to return for it. However, no one called, and the oil spoiled in the troughs. Hence the name Oil Trough Bottom. These traders and hunters left many marks of their travels at various places up and down the river, which were plainly visible to the pioneer settlers. Not a few of the streams and other natural objects were named by the French and Spaniards.

The permanent settlement of this territory is believed to have commenced about the year 1810, or perhaps a little earlier. John Reed located at the site of Batesville in 1812. Samuel Miller, of Tennessee, came in 1813, and subsequently settled on the creek that bears his name in this county. Col. Robert Bean ran the first keel-boat up White. River and established himself at the mouth of Polk Bayou (Batesville) in 1814. James Micham settled near the same place in the same year. In 1817, James Trimble and his family, including Jackson S. Trimble, who now lives at Sulphur Rock, and who was then a small child, came from Kentucky and chose a location five miles southwest of Batesville. [p.624] Col. Hartwell Boswell, John H. Ringgold, John Redmond and Henry Engles all came from the same State to Batesville some time prior to 1820.

Independence County, located in the northeastern part of the State, is bounded north by Izard, Sharp and Lawrence Counties, east by Jackson, south by Jackson and White, and west by Cleburne and Stone. It has an area of 700 square miles, a considerable portion of which remains unimproved.

Its boundary lines are as follows: Beginning on the line dividing Townships 14 and 15 north, where Black River lastly crosses it in its downward course; thence west on the township line to the range line between Ranges 4 and 5 west; thence north to the corner between Sections 13 and 24, Township 15 north, Range 5 west; thence west on section lines to the southwest corner of Section 18, Township 15 north, Range 7 west; thence south 45º west seven and a half miles to White River; thence down White River to the mouth of Wolf Bayou; thence up Wolf Bayon to the line dividing Townships 12 and 13; thence east to the northeast corner of Township 12 north, Range 8 west; thence south on the range line to the line dividing Townships 10 and 11 north; thence east on the township line to the line dividing Ranges 3 and 4 west; thence north on the range line to White River; thence down White River to the mouth of Black River; thence up Black River to the place of beginning.

The population of Independence County at the end of each census decade since its organization has been as follows: 1830, 2,031; 1840, 3,669; [p.627] 1850, 7,767; 1860, 14.307; 1870, 14,566; 1880, 18,086. The colored population in 1860 was 1,337; in 1870, 908, and in 1880, 1,382.

Independence County is undoubtedly in the center of a community rich in everything that tends to contribute to the happiness and welfare of man. Liberally supplied by nature with unsurpassed advantages of soil, climate and location, it needs no argument to convince the most skeptical of its desirability as a place of residence. Time will demonstrate the wonderful resources here awaiting development.

Return to George Ruddell

Nacogdoches Co Republic of Texas
(George Ruddell)

INTRODUCTION

Nacogdoches is the "Oldest Town in Texas." Yet, what really distinguishes a town is not age. It is the importance of the people who lived there, the history that was made there, and the continuation of vitality there. Nacogdoches is a distinguished town. In the words of Karle Wilson Baker, local poetess and the First Lady of Texas Letters:

"Nacogdoches has a soul, a spirit, an atmosphere. She is no raw product of today or yesterday. There are ghosts on her streets ....Gentle Franciscan fathers and curious, credulous redmen; lordly Mexican alcaldes and courtly French adventurers.... stubborn, spirited, courageous American Empressarios; ...men like Rusk, ...Crockett, ...Houston ...Travis."

Of the things most travelers associate with Texas -- oil, cattle, wheeler-dealers, independent nation status --they all started in Nacogdoches. No one can write a history of Texas without Nacogdoches. Today, Nacogdoches is truly one of the best kept tourist secrets in the state.

PRE-HISTORIC NACOGDOCHES

Paleolithic settlement of Nacogdoches began about 10,000 B. C. with early ceramic evidence starting about 2,000 B.C. The area of the downtown, between the LaNana and the Banita Creeks, became a Caddoan site somewhere around 700 B.C. Around 1250 to 1450 A.D., a distinct development associated with Caddoan architectural traditions produced a large nuclear village with attendant structural mounds and mortuary mounds supported by maize agriculture and far flung trade in exotic goods. A civic ceremonial center developed in the plaza area now known as Washington Square in a triangle between three large mounds. This was the Indian center the Spanish discovered. The Nacogdoches Indians were friendly and their word for friend was "tejas." Legend has it that the Indian town was founded when a Caddo chief on the Sabine River sent one of his twin sons three days to the west and the other three days to the east. The settlements they established were Nacogdoches and Natchitoches, Spanish and French spellings of the same Indian tribe.

COLONIAL NACOGDOCHES

While Cabeza de Vaca explored the interior of Texas in 1528, maps do not show the Spanish in Nacogdoches before 1542 when DeSoto arrived. The first descriptions of the town date from the Frenchman LaSalle's stay in 1685. DeLeon, in 1690, made the first attempt at colonization and education, but Nacogdoches was little more than a pawn in the French and Spanish imperial rivalries at this time. When the French explorer St. Denis mapped out El Camino Real across the state from the Rio Grande to Nacogdoches in 1713 and 1716, the Spanish decided to establish permanent settlements in the area with a series of missions. Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe de los Nacogdoches was one of these, as was Mission Conception later relocated when San Antonio was established. In 1779, Don Antonio Gil Y'Barbo built the Old Stone House, laid out the modern streets, and wrote the first law code. Nacogdoches remained an important Spanish and Mexican colonial outpost, the capital of East Texas, until the Texas Revolution. A total of 26 Texas counties have been carved out of the Nacogdoches province, from Sabine to Dallas.

REPUBLICAN NACOGDOCHES

THE BATTLE OF NACOGDOCHES. Nacogdoches was the cradle of Texas liberty. In 1832, the citizens of Nacogdoches fired one of the opening guns of the Texas Revolution. The citizens, both Mexican and Anglos, attacked the Mexican garrison under the command of Col. Jose Piedras. The latter held the fortified town center. The garrison was able to defend themselves until Adolphus Sterne showed the newly arrived Redlanders from San Augustine how to out-flank the Mexicans by circling the natural fortress by going through the Washington Square area. The Battle cleared East Texas of Mexican troops and made the independence movement much less dangerous.

THE BIVOUAC AND BANQUET FOR THE NEW ORLEANS GREYS. In November of 1835, the citizens of Nacogdoches, led by Adolphus Sterne, helped outfit a volunteer force, the New Orleans Greys, to fight in the Texas War for Independence. One company of Greys, traveled overland to San Antonio by way of Nacogdoches in November of 1835. The 50-100 men camped for a few days at this site near Sterne's home. They were honored with a "Feast of Liberty" in the orchard in front of the house. At the banquet, bear, beef, mutton, turkeys, raccoon, and other specialties were served. With glasses of Rhine wine from Sterne's cellar, toasts were make and speeches delivered.The Greys had walked into Nacogdoches; they left on horses with arms provided by the citizens. They reached San Antonio before the seige of Bexar, December 5-9, 1835. Most of the volunteers died in later battles of the Revolution, many at the Alamo.

The city saw three independent republics before the Lone Star Republic. The city flies NINE FLAGS: Spanish, French, Mexican, The Magee-Gutierrez Republic, The Long Republic, The Fredonia Republic, The Lone Star, The Confederate, and The United States.

MODERN NACOGDOCHES

The first producing oil well in the state was drilled here in 1861. However, it was not oil but the coming of the railroad that transformed the republican city into an important commercial center. The railroad, and modern highways like 59 and 259, changed the flow of commerce from east/west to north/south. In the 19th century, the local economy was based on cotton, tobacco, timber, education, and general merchandising. Only the last three came into the second half of the 20th century. New industries include poultry, feeds and fertilizers, tools, equipment, banking, recreation, and medical services. The most important asset to the local economy is Stephen F. Austin State University, with 12,000 students and an annual budget of over 24 million dollars. The rapid growth of the city took place in the 1960s with the enlargement of the University.

Return to Thomas Wagnon Sr.

Return to Marshal P Wagnon

Lovely County Arkansas
(Wagnon's)

Lovely County, Arkansas Territory
"Lovely County" existed for one year, from Oct 13, 1827 to Oct 17, 1828.

LOVELY COUNTY, ARKANSAS

Lovely County was created on October 13, 1827, from Crawford County and the Lovely Purchase.

The Northwest portion of Arkansas was an important area of growth from 1827 when the territorial legislature created the county, which was much larger than Lovely's purchase. Lovely County included more of present day Oklahoma than present day Arkansas.

The Oklahoma portion was lost to Arkansas in 1828 with the Cherokee Treaty of that year. Most of the remainder became Washington County on October 27, 1828, and the county officials were directed to "take over the affairs and moneys of Lovely County."

LOVELY'S PURCHASE

Conflict between the Cherokees and the Osages to the west led Cherokee agent William Lovely to negotiate an agreement with the Osages by which they sold back to the United States a large tract of land between the 1808 boundary and the Verdigris River in what is now Oklahoma.

Lovely's Purchase, as the tract was known, came into existence in 1818. It was designed to be a buffer zone where the Cherokees could hunt without getting into fights with the Osages, but instead it became a source of contention between the Cherokee s and the citizens of Arkansas Territory. President James Monroe had told the Cherokees that they would always have an outlet to the west, and they believed Lovely's Purchase was their land, although in fact it belonged to the United States.

Many white settlers felt the 1817 Treaty had turned loose "a ferocious band of blood-thirsty marauding savages...on a defenseless people." Apparently the Arkansas Legislature felt the same - in 1823, they asked the United States for more military protection from both the Osages and Cherokees. The whites wanted to be able to settle on the land in Lovely's Purchase as it contained some of the finest land in the territory.

In a published report, Thomas Eskridge, a Superior Court judge and a Hempstead County planter, said that Arkansas "enjoyed all the advantages of climate, soil, and navigation" - the climate "mild and delightful." He described Lovely's Purchase as two-and-a-half million acres of "rolling, beautiful country, abounding in fine springs."

The issue was finally settled in 1828 when the Cherokees were removed west of a line "running from the southwestern corner of Missouri to the Arkansas River near Fort Smith, which became the northern portion of Arkansas's western boundary."

The following information is from
"The Benton County Pioneer"
published by the Benton County Historical Society, Vol 12, No 1, Jan. 1967.

The Benton County Pioneer
Almost mythical because its legal papers were not available either in files
or in museums, this changed in late 1966, when Mr. "Dutch" Morrows living
on Ward Bluffs above the Illinois River near Watts, Adair Co., Oklahoma
discovered many brown and yellowed papers scattered about near a dump.
He took them to Mr. Jack Gregory, principal of Watts school, who recognized
their historical value. 

Dr. Caldeen Gunter of Siloam Springs made a careful appraisal of the fragile
papers, and contacted Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa. They were definitely interested
not only in making copies but in making the copies available for interested
historical societies,  museums and publications.

There were no printed forms for the County, so all material is handwritten.
Documents and signatures of many prominent persons of that era are listed,
some of the persons are: S P (Sam?) HOUSTON, Wm WOODRUFF, Robert
CRITTENDEN, C F M NOLAND, A P CHOUTEAU, B L D BONNEVILLE and others.
Historically the inventory of papers is important in that Lovely County existed
for one year only, and was carved out of Lovely's purchase, bounded on the
west by the Verdigris river ands south just east of Fayetteville.
Its termination was the Cherokee Treaty and subsequent, present day,
Oklahoma-Arkansas boundary. 

Whites living in the cherokee lands were ordered east of the boundary and
were given squatters rights to  320 acres in Arkansas territory. John
NICKS accepted many of the listings, at his Nicksville trading post.
Lovely County was bordered on the east by the Fiery Prarie or Brown line
to the Verdigris in the west, encompassing most of present day Benton, Washington
and parts of Crawford county, Arkansas; Deleware, Adair, Sequoyah, Cherokee,
and Mayes counties in present day Oklahoma.

The papers were given the name" Nicks and Gibson Papers of Lovely County".
The following is a list of names found in the papers and compiled by the
Benton County Historical Society. Dates of documents are shown where known.

Nicks-Gibson Papers, Lovely County, Cantonment Gibson,
Arkansas Territory, 1824 and later.

1827 Residents List:
Thomas Wagnon Listed as Resident 1827

1828 Lovely Census from Land Patents BLM:
Patentee Name  State Co. Issue  Date  Land Off.    Doc.Nr. Accession/Serial Nr
Wagnon, Thos    AR Washington 2/5/1846 Fayetteville  7      AR2670__.016

Return Osborn Family

Industry McDonough Illinois
(Osborn's)

Established:		January 25, 1826 Laws, 1826, p. 76)
		County organization was completed on June 14, 1830.

Origin of the name of the county:
	Named for Thomas McDonough, a Commodore of the United States Navy, who commanded the fleet on Lake Champlain in a successful engagement with the British fleet, near Plattsburg in 1814.

EARLY SETTLERS

For a few years preceding the advent of actual, permanent settlers, in nearly all counties, cabins, temporary in character, have been raised by a class of people, the forerunners of civilization, that are not to be regarded as settlers at all. They are, generally, hunters and trappers, who do not break the sod or till the ground, but live, almost exclusively, by the chase, and are but little removed from the red man, the original occupant of the land. That McDonough county had its usual allotment of this class of people, there is abundant proof in the traditions that are rife in many of the families of the old settlers, that when they came here, on such and such a Section, there was an old cabin that had been erected six, eight or ten years before. Who they were, where they came from, or where they went to is, at this late day, impossible to conjecture. Their names, even, are buried under the ashes of oblivion, and history has no lens powerful enough to discern them.

The first actual settler, that is, one who made any improvements and tilled the land, of whom there is any account, is Richard Dunn, who settled in what is now Hire township, in 1825, and cultivated about four acres of land. He had a cabin, and for about three weeks, in the spring of 1826, entertained the family of William Job, while the latter was building a log cabin for himself and his family. Mr. Dunn left this locality within a year or two afterwards and passed out of the knowledge of the few settlers that knew him. His cabin was situated upon section 9, and on the arrival of Hugh Wilson, the latter took up his quarters in it, the owner having vacated it previously.

In regard to who was the next to make a settlement within the limits of McDonough county, there is great difficulty to determine with the accuracy obligatory upon history, but the weight of testimony, which has been carefully sifted, seems to give the honor to William Job. That old pioneer, in the fall of 1825, leaving his family in Morgan county, came to this county, and lived in the vicinity of the present site of Blandinsville that fall, and picked out the land upon which he wanted to make a settlement. In the early winter he returned to where his family were and there remained until the following spring. Hardly had the snow gone off, than he and his family, in company with his brothers-in-law, William Southward and Ephraim Perkins, with their families came back to the land of promise and settled. Mr. Job took up a claim on the southeast quarter of Section 33, where he erected a cabin, the others locating south of him. A full account of his settlement is given in the history of Blandinsville township, to which the reader is most respectfully referred.

Riggs Pennington made a settlement on the northeast quarter of section 24, in what is now Industry township, in the spring of 1826. He located in the timber, totally ignoring the rich prairie that lay so near his door, as did nearly all the pioneers of that day. Mr. Pennington lived here for a few years when he removed to Knox county, Illinois. In 1837, he emigrated to Texas, where he died.

William Carter in the summer of the same year located upon the northeast quarter of the southeast quarter of section 26, in what is now Industry township. The settlement that sprung up around him was known for many years afterwards by the name of Carter's settlement. Here, on this section, the settlers erected, in the year 1827, a block house, or log fort, near the residence of William Carter, on section 26. This was a two-story affair, the upper story projecting about four feet over the lower one on all sides. It was built in this way because it would afford more ample protection against being set on fire by the Indians. Where the upper story projected holes were made, through which an Indian could be gently tapped on the head should he come for incendiary purposes. The building was eighteen by twenty feet, with numerous port holes for the guns of the inmates. Luckily they had no occasion to use the building for the purpose for which it was erected. The soldiers that passed through this country in 1831-2 to the seat of the Black Hawk war made considerable sport of this building, and of the idea of erecting one two hundred miles from the Indian country. But it should be remembered that the Indians were all around them every spring and fall, and like those of the present day, were a treacherous people. Carter, after some years, removed to Missouri.

Stephen Osborne, in 1826, also made a settlement in the neighborhood of Mr. Carter, where he remained but a short time when he went to Knox county, and passed out of the knowledge of those left here.

IWilliam Osborne is believed to have been the first to make a settlement in what is now knows as Scotland township, he camping out all the summer of 1828, on the banks of the water-course since known as Camp creek, from this circumstance. This Osborne was not what may be truly termed a settler, but rather in the light of a temporary inhabitant.

This brings the settlement up to January 1, 1833. After that the country began filling up more rapidly, until in 1835, over 400 votes were cast in the county, showing it then had a population of nearly 2,000. The names given above are simply an index of what will be finished in the histories of the respective townships, where will be found the accounts of the settlement of these and many other parties, in full detail, which are not given here, to avoid needless repetition, which space and judgment forbid.

History of McDonough County, Illinois, 1885, Centinental Historical Co., Springfield, Illinois,
Transcribed by Karl A. Petersen for McDonough County ILGenWeb

Industry Township

This township embraces all of congressional township 4 north, range 2 west, and is one of the earliest settled in the county. It is bounded on the north by Scotland, on the east by Eldorado, on the south by Schuyler county, and on the west by Bethel. It is one of the timbered townships, though not so much so as some of its neighbors, especially those on the west.
In the south part of the township, and probably underlying every square foot of soil in all parts, may be found coal in great abundance, the veins averaging 33 inches. Ebenezer Jones, James A. Vawter, William Dupees and others are working good veins of an excellent quality. About two-fifths of the township was originally timber land, but a portion of this has been brought under cultivation. Grindstone creek (formerly called Turkey creek) is the principal stream passing through the township, it coming in on section 1 and passing out at section 19. Camp creek passes through a portion of sections 5 and 6. Thus, the township is well watered. All things taken into consideration, the division of the township into timber and prairie land, the abundance of coal, stone for building purposes, etc., Industry township may well be said to be favored. Grindstone and Camp creeks and their tributaries afford abundant supplies of water for irrigation, drainage and stock purposes. This township has as yet no railroad passing through it, but the town of Industry affords a good trading point, and a market for their grain is within easy access.
Many interesting events in the early history of the county cluster around the records of the happenings in this township, and reference thereto will be found in more than one chapter of this work.

Return to Osborn Family

Benton County Arkansas
(Osborn's)

Benton County, founded September 30, 1836, formed from Washington County, is located in the northwest corner of Arkansas, is located on the Ozark plateau and adjoins Oklahoma to the west and Missouri to the north. The county seat is Bentonville. Named in honor of U.S Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri, who was instrumental in helping the Arkansas Territory achieve statehood in 1836.

THE county of Benton lies in the extreme northwestern corner of the State of Arkansas, and is bounded north by McDonald and Barry Counties in the State of Missouri, east by Carroll and Madison Counties in Arkansas, south by Washington County in the same State, and west by the Indian Territory. The meridian of longitude 94 west from Greenwich, England, or 17 west from Washington, passes through the eastern part of the county near the village of Garfield, and the parallel of latitude 36º and 20' north, passes east and west through the county near its center. The boundary lines of the county are described as follows, to-wit: "Commencing on the State line between Missouri and Arkansas at the northeast corner of fractional Section 8, Township 21 north, Range 27 west; thence south to the southeast corner of Section 8, Township 18 north, Range 27 west; thence west eight miles to the southwest corner of Section 7, Township 18 north,

Range 28 west; thence south two miles to the southeast corner of Section 24, Township 18 north, Range 29 west; thence west eighteen miles to the northeast corner of Section 25, Township 18 north, Range 32 west; thence south five miles to the southeast corner of Section 13, Township 17 north, Range 32 west; thence west three miles to the northeast corner of Section 21, in the same township and rang; thence south three miles to the southeast corner of Section 33; thence west nine miles (more or less) to the southwest corner of the county at the corner, to Townships 16 and 17, and Ranges 33 and 34; thence north on the eastern boundary line of the Indian Territory, [p.14] on a bearing of about 10º west, twenty-nine miles, more or less, to the northwest corner of the State; thence east on the State line to the place of beginning."

The site of Benton County is the plateau of the Ozark Mountains, the greatest unbroken portion of which in this State lies west of White River, in the counties of Benton and Washington. The elevation of the county above sea level averages from 1,400 to 1,600 feet, and the summit of Poor Mountain, in the northeastern part, is probably the highest point. With the exception of a strip of land about two miles wide, extending from Rogers to the southern boundary, the whole surface of the county lying east of the St. Louis & San Francisco Railroad is so broken and uneven that it is mostly unfit for cultivation, except in the valleys of the streams. In the north central portion of the county, extending several miles on both sides of Sugar Creek, is also a large tract of broken and hilly land. There is an elevated, broken and uneven ridge, or water shed, extending north and south through the county, mostly in Range 32 west, along the line of which much of the land is too rough for cultivation. With these exceptions, together with the steep hills or bluffs bordering on the streams, the balance of the county, and by far the greater portion thereof, consists of elevated plateaus of gently undulating or rolling prairie and timbered lands, all of hich are susceptible of a high state of cultivation. These latter lands are classed as the table lands of the State, and are in fact the beginning of the prairie region which covers the southern part of the Indian Territory.

"The ascent from the level of White River, on the east, to the table lands, is 375 feet; the ascent from the level of Elk River, a tributary of the Grand River fork of the Arkansas, is 406 feet; and the ascent from the Illinois fork of the Arkansas is 394 feet. The area of the county is 900 square miles, or 576,000 acres. The proportion of unmodified prairie is, approximately, 86,000 acres; oak barrens or modified prairie, 175,000 acres; wooded mountain or ridge territory, 200,000 acres; and river and creek valley lands, 86,000 acres."

Return Marshal P

Return Thomas F

Return Marshal J

Cherokee Nation
(Wagnon, Osborn's, Woodall's, Sixkiller's & others)

A Time line of important Events in Cherokee History

Adair & Craig County and Western Arkansas were
once part of a larger Cherokee Nation West

1540 - The Spanish explorer, Hernando De Soto and his party are
the first whites seen by the Cherokees.

1629 - The first traders from the English settlements began trading among the Cherokees.

1721 - The Cherokee Treaty with the Governor of the Carolinas is thought
to be the first consession of land.

1785 - Treaty of Hopewell is the first treaty between the U.S.
and the Cherokees.

1791 - Treaty of Holston signed. Includes a call for the U.S. to advance
civilization of the Cherokees by giving them farm tools and
technical advice.

1802 - Jefferson signs Goergia Compact.

1817 - Treaty makes exchange for land in Arkansas. Old settlers begin
voluntary migration and establish a government there. In 1828,
they are forced to move into Indian territory.

1821 - Sequoyah's Cherokee Syllabary completed, quickly leads
to almost total literacy among the Cherokees.

1822 - Cherokee's Supreme Court established.

1824 - First written law of Western Cherokees.

1825 - New Echota, GA authorized as Cherokee capital.

1827 - Modern Cherokee Nation begins with Cherokee Constitution
established by a convention; John Ross elected chief.

1828 - Cherokee Phoenix published in English and Cherokee;
Andrew Jackson elected President. Gold discovered in Georgia.

1828-1830 - Georgia Legislature abolishes tribal government and
expands authority over Cherokee country.

1832 - US Supreme Court decision Worcester vs Georgia establishes
                tribal sovereignty, protects Cherokees from Georgia laws.
                Jackson won't enforce decision and Georgia holds lottery
                for Cherokee lands.

1835 - Treaty Party signs Treaty of New Echota, giving up title to
all Cherokee lands in southeast in exchange for land in Indian
Territory (now Oklahoma.).

1838-1839 - Trails of Tears. US Government's forced removal of
17,000 Cherokees, in defiance of Supreme Court decision.
More than 4,000 die from exposure and disease along the way.

1839 - Assassination of Treaty Party leaders, Major Ridge, John Ridge,
                and Elias Boudinot for breaking pact not to sign Treaty of New
                Echota. Factionalism continues until 1846. New constitution ratified
                at convention uniting Cherokees arriving from the east with those
                in the west.

1844 - Cherokee Supreme Court building opens; Cherokee Advocate
becomes the first newspaper in Indian territory.

1851 - Cherokee male and female seminaries open. Female seminary is
the first secondary school for girls west of the Mississippi.

1859 - Original Keetoowah Society organized to maintain traditions
and fight slavery.

1860 - Tension mounts between Union Cherokees and Confederate
Cherokees. Civil War begins.

1861 - Treaty signed at Park Hill between Cherokee Nation and the
Confederate government. Cherokee Nation torn by border
warfare throughout the Civil War.

1865 -1866 - Cherokee must negotiate peace with the US Government.
               New treaty limits tribal land rights, eliminates possibility of
               Cherokee State and is prelude to Dawes Commission.
               John Ross dies.

1887 - General Allotment Act passed; requires individual ownership
of lands once held in common by Indian tribes.

1889 - Unassigned lands in Indian Territory opened by white settlers
known as "boomers."

1890 - Oklahoma Territory organized out of western half of
Indian Territory.

1893 - Cherokee Outlet opened for white settlers.Dawes
Commission arrives.

1898 - Curtis Act passed abolishing tribal courts.

1903 - W.C. Rogers becomes last elected chief for 69 years.

1905 - Land allotment begins after official roll taken of Cherokees.

1907 - Oklahoma statehood combines Indian and Oklahoma Territories
and dissolves tribal government.

1917 - William C. Rogers, the last Cherokee Chief, dies.

1934 - Indian Reorganization Act established a landbase for tribes and
legal structure for self government.

1948 - Chief J.B.Milam calls Cherokee Convention; beginning of model
tribal government of the Cherokee Nation.

1949 - W.W. Bill Keeler appointed chief by President Harry Truman.

1957 - First Cherokee National Holiday.

1961 - Cherokees awarded 15 million dollars by the US Claims
Commission for Cherokee Outlet Lands.

1963 - Cherokee National Historical Society founded. CNHS opens
Ancient Village, 1967; Trail of Tears Drama, 1969, and museum,
1975.

1967 - Cherokee Foundation formed to purchase land on which the
tribal complex now sits.

1970 - U.S. Supreme Court ruling confirms Cherokee Nation ownership
of bed and banks of 96 mile segment of Arkansas Riverbed.

1971 - W.W.Keeler becomes first elected principal chief since statehood.

1975 - Ross O. Swimmer elected to first of three terms as principal chief.
First Cherokee Tribal Council elected Congress passes Indian
Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act.

1976 - Cherokee voters ratify new Constitution outlining tribal
government.

1979 - Tribal offices moved into modern new complex South of
Tahlequah.

1984 - First joint council meeting in 146 years between Eastern Band of
Cherokees and Cherokee Nation held at Red Clay, TN. Council
meetings now held bi-annually.

1987 - Wilma Mankiller makes history and draws international attention to
tribe as first woman elected chief; Cherokee voters pass
constitution amendment to elect council by districts in 1991.

1988 - Cherokee Nation joins Eastern Band in Cherokee, NC to
commemorate beginning of The Trail of Tears.

1989 - The Cherokee Nation observes 150th anniversary of arrival in
Indian Territory. "A New Beginning".

1990 - Chief Mankiller signs the historic self-governance agreement,
                making the Cherokee Nation one of six tribes to participate in the
                self-determination project. The project, which ran for three years
                beginning Oct.1 1990, authorized the tribe to assume tribal
                responsiblity for BIA funds which were formerly being spent on
                the tribe's behalf at the agency, area and central office levels.

1991 - In the July tribal election the first council to be elected by districts
since statehood and Wilma Mankiller won second elected term as
principal chief with a landslide 82% of the votes cast.

1995 - Joe Byrd and Garland Eagle elected principal chief and deputy
chief which marks the first time in nearly 200 years that full blood
bilingual leaders occupy the top positions of the Cherokee Nation.

The Cherokee Nation

The Cherokees called themselves the Ani-Yun' wiya meaning leading or principal people. The original Cherokees lived early times in Georgia, Alabama, North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky and West Virginia.

The Cherokee seal was designed to embrace the early government structure, and the eternal endurance of the Cherokee Indians. It was adopted by Act of the Cherokee National Council, and approved in 1871. The seven-pointed star symbolizes: (1). the seven age old clans of the Cherokee: (2). the seven characters of Sequoyah’s syllabary, meaning "Cherokee Nation." (The Cherokee characters are phonetically pronounced "Tsa-la-gi-hi A-yi-li") .. The wreath of oak leaves symbolizes the sacred fire which, from time immemorial, the Cherokees kept burning in their land. Oak was the wood traditionally burned, different species of oak having ever been indigenous to Cherokee country, both in North Carolina and Georgia as well as in the Indian Territory to which the Cherokees removed in the early 1800's...The margin wording proclaims the authority of the seal in both the English and the Cherokee languages, and records the date (1839) of the adoption of the Constitution of the Cherokee Nation West...This seal was imprinted on all documents until the dissolution of the Cherokee Nation at Oklahoma Statehood.

Return Marshal P

Return Thomas F

Return Marshal J

Going Snake District
(Cherokee Nation West IT OK)

Going Snake was a Cherokee Indian, often referred to as Chief which was not correct, he was a leader in his community. He was born 1785 in the Cherokee Nation East. He was a speaker within his Council. In 1814 he fought with Andrew Jackson in the battle of Horseshoe Bend, the 400 Cherokee's were credited with saving the life of this future American President, who when elected in 1828, turned against the Cherokee Nations of the East, instigating their removal to Oklahoma, in 1838 & 1839, a removal responsible for untold thousands of lives lost along the Trial of Tears, a situation that came about after the discovery of gold in Georgia, in 1828.

Going Snake District formed in 1840, the location described below:

Commencing on Caney Creek at Fawn's Camp on the right, and following the path leading to Thos. F. Taylor's until the same forks on the mountain; thence along the right hand old path (leaving said Taylor's to the left) to Dick Sanders' on the barren Fork; thence along the road to James M'Daniel's on Big Illinois; thence along the road or path leading to the Grand Saline, to Spring Creek; thence up said Creek to the crossing of the Washington County wagon road, at Gore's old cabin, following said road to Flint Creek, then up said creek to the State line; thence south along said line to the Flint District, and along the same to the place of beginning.

First Precinct at Hair Conrad's: Hair CONRAD and Samuel GOREMAN, superintendents.
Second Precinct at Rising Fawn's (in Piney Woods) : George STARR, Jon HARNAGE, superintendents.

Surrounding Districts

Flint District:
Commencing at the point where the Rogue's Path crosses the Salisaw Creek; thence along the line of Illinois District to the Illinois river; thence up said river to the mouth of Caney Creek and up said creek to Buffinton's spring branch, and up said branch to the Wagon Road at Buffinton's; thence along the main old road to the crossing of the south branch of the Barren Fork of Illinois; thence up said Creek to the Sate line, and along said line to the line of Skin Bayou District; thence west along said District line to the place of beginning.

First Precinct at George Chambers' Campground: George CHAMBERS and Andrew ROSS superintendents.
Second Precinct at Broken Canoe's; Ezekiel STARR and George STILL superintendents.

Tahlequah District:
Commencing at Fawn's Camp on Caney Creek, and following the line of Going Snake District to Spring Creek; thence down and along the line of Illinois District to the Illinois River; thence up said river to Caney Creek, and up the same to the place of beginning.

First Precinct at Tahlequah: Stephen FOREMAN and David CARTER, superintendents.
Second Precinct at William Campbell's: Thomas WILSON and Thigh WALKER, superintendents.

Delaware District:
Commencing at the point on Spring Creek where Going Snake and Tahlequah Districts corner; thence to the nearest source of Little Saline Creek, and down the same to its junction with Big Saline Creek; thence on a direct line to Grand River at the mouth of Spavinaw Creek; thence up said river to the termination of the Cherokee territory, and including all the country east of the above described line to the State line and north of Going Snake District.

First Precinct at J. Buffinton's: Richard TAYLOR and William WILSON, superintendents.
Second Precinct at Johnson Fields': James D. WOFFORD and Hiram LANDRUM, superintendents.

Return Thomas F Wagnon

Return Marshal J Wagnon

Adair County Oklahoma
Cherokee Nation
(Wagnon's, Osborn's)

Created in 1907 from Cherokee Lands. Named for a prominent Cherokee family of which perhaps the most noted member was Col. William Penn Adair, who represented the Cherokee Nation at Washington from 1866 until his death in 1881.

Adair County, Oklahoma

Clerk of Courts has marriage, divorce, probate and civil court records from 1907;
County Assessor has land records.

Adair County Court House
PO Box 169
Stillwell, OK 74960-0169
918-696-7198

TownsAddielee
Ballard
Baptist (historical)
Baron
Bell
Bidding Springs (historical)
Blanch
Blanck (historical)
Bunch
Chance
Chewey
Christie
England
Fairfield
Going Snake
Greasy
Green
Lyons
Maryetta
Peavine
Piney
Proctor
Rocky Mountain
Salem
Sanders
Spade Mountain
Stilwell
Stony Point
Strawberry Spring
Titanic
Watts
Wauhillau
Westville
Whitmire
Zion

Post Offices
Addielee (historical)
Ballard Post Office (historical)
Baptist Post Office (historical)
Baron Post Office (historical)
Bunch Post Office (historical)
Chance Post Office (historical)
Chewey Post Office (historical)
Christie Post Office (historical)
Church Post Office (historical)
Echota Post Office (historical)
Flint Post Office (historical)
Going Snake Post Office (historical)
Goingsnake Post Office (historical)
Gordon Post Office (historical)
Greasy Post Office (historical)
Hutcheson Post Office (historical)
Lyons Post Office (historical)
Mays Post Office (historical)
Oak Grove Post Office (historical)
Paden Post Office (historical)
Piney Post Office (historical)
Proctor Post Office
Reba Post Office (historical)
Sallisaw Post Office (historical)
Stilwell Post Office
Titanic Post Office (historical)
Tomy Town Post Office (historical)
Ward Post Office (historical)
Watts Post Office
Wauhillau Post Office (historical)
Westville Post Office

Schools

Baron School
Bell School
Big Round Mountain
Cave Springs School
Bunch
Chalk Bluff School (historical)
Chandler School (historical)
Cherokee School
Bunch
Christie School (historical)
Clearfork School
Cookson Hills School
Dahlonegah School
Greasy
East Peavine School
Elm Grove School
Ewings Chapel School (historical)
Fort Still School (historical)
Greasy School
Greasy
Green School (historical)
Green Valley School
Hern School (historical)
Holland School (historical)
Honey Hill School (historical)
Horn School (historical)
Indian Capital Area Vocational College
Kentucky School (historical)
Lowery School (historical)
Maryetta School
Stilwell
West Morris School (historical)
Mulberry School (historical)
North Greasy School (historical)
Oak Grove School (historical)
Oak Ridge School
Big Round Mountain
Peavine Elementary School
Pilgrims Rest School (historical)
Piney School (historical)
Pleasant Hill School (historical)
Proctor School (historical)
Rabbit Trap School (historical)
Rock Branch School (historical)
Rock Springs School (historical)
Rocky Mountain Elementary School
Rocky Mountain School (historical)
Salem School (historical)
Sanders School (historical)
Scott School (historical)
Skelly Elementary School
South Greasy School (historical)
Starr School (historical)
Stilwell Elementary School
Stilwell High School
Stilwell Middle School
Wagnon School (historical)
Wanhillan School (historical)
Ward School (historical)
Washington School (historical)
Watts High School
Watts School (historical)
West Peavine School
Christie
Westville Elementary School
Westville Junior High School
Westville NW
Westville Senior High School
Whitmire School (historical)
Wrights Chapel School (historical)
Zion Elementary School
Zion School (historical)

Churches
Assembly of God Church
Stilwell West Ballard Church
Watts Beaver Church
Greasy Bethel Church
Stilwell East Bidding Creek Baptist Church
Calvary Church
Stilwell East Calvary Southern Baptist Church
Stilwell West Cherokee Hills Church
Stilwell West Cherry Tree Church
Greasy Christie Church
Christie Chuculate Church
Greasy Church of Christ
Church of Christ-Four Corners
Clear Fork Church
Chance Echota Church
Stilwell West Elm Grove Church
Stilwell East Ewing Chapel
Stilwell East Fairfield Church
Stilwell East Faith Chapel
Watts Faith Tabernacle
Stilwell East Fellowship Baptist Church
First Baptist Church
Stilwell West First Christian Church
First United Methodist Church
Stilwell West Four Corners Church
Stilwell East Full Gospel Church
Westville Full Gospel Church
Watts Grace Chapel
Stilwell West Guiding Light Church
Greasy Honey Hill Church
Stilwell East Illinois River Church
Siloam Springs NW Indian United Methodist Church
Jaybird Church
Chance Joyful Life Church
Stilwell West Kingdom Church
Greasy Log Cabin Church
Bunch Mission Church
Watts Mulberry Tree Church
Stilwell West New Hope Church
Chance New Testament Church
Oak Grove Church
Stilwell East Peavine Church
Christie Pentecostal Holiness Church
Stilwell West Pilgrims Rest Church (historical)
Pleasant View Church
Stilwell East Proctor Church
Proctor Rock Fence Church
Greasy Rock Springs Church
Stilwell East Salem Church
Big Round Mountain Sequoyah Church
Stilwell West The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
United Church
Stilwell East Watts First Baptist Church
Wauhillan Holiness Church
Westville Landmark Church
Westville Wrights Chapel
Westville Zion Church
Stilwell West Zion Church (historical)

Cemeteries

Alberty Cemetery, Westville
Beaver Cemetery, Greasy
Bell Cemetery, Siloam Springs
Blackwood Cemetery, Christie
Chalk Bluff Cemetery, Stilwell
Chuculate Cemetery, Greasy
Chuliawe Cemetery, Greasy
Clear Spring Cemetery, Stilwell
Crittende Cemetery, Siloam Springs
Crittenden Cemetery, Westville
Doublehead Cemetery, Stilwell
Downing Cemetery, Westville
Downing Cemetery, Westville
Ewing Chapel Cemetery, Stilwell
Foreman Cemetery, Westville
Fourkiller Cemetery, Stilwell
Ketcher Cemetery, Christie
Killer Cemetery, Greasy
Morton Cemetery, Natural Dam
New Hope Cemetery, Stilwell
Oak Grove Cemetery , Stilwell
Phillips Cemetery, Watts
Pilgrims Rest Cemetery, Stilwell
Piney Cemetery, Westville
Reece Cemetery, Christie
Scraper Cemetery, Christie
Sixkiller Cemetery, Watts
Stony Point Cemetery, Tailholt
Tyler Spring Cemetery, Stilwell
Walkingstick Cemetery, Christie
Watts Cemetery, Watts
Westville Cemetery, Watts
Wolf Cemetery , Christie

Return to Marshal J Wagnon

Craig County Oklahoma
Cherokee Nation
(Wagnon's)

Centralia Oklahoma

"The Story of Craig County, Its People and Places"

J. H. Hargrove is said to have been the father of Centralia. In 1898 he first ascended Blue Mound, made a survey, then located the town on prairie land with the only elevations in the region, Blue Mound, Potato Hill, Leforce, and Notch Mounds surrounding the town. Hargrove lived about one half mile northwest of the town site. He was from Missouri and was believed to have named the town after Centralia, Missouri.

Hargrove started a post office at the new town site. Sam Bradfield and his son-in-law, Adam Holden, came from Bluejacket the same year and built a livery barn. Mont McGee came from Edna, Kansas, and started a grocery store, while the Mowry Hardware was started by another Edna man and managed by Bob Allen. A little later Henry Hyman opened a grocery store and Joe Lehman started a grocery, as did Messrs. Shinn and Rogers.

The first house built in town was a block north of the park, and Adam Holden's house was built across the street in 1899. The old Coffeyville, Kansas, to Vinita road was located about two miles northeast of Centralia. That road angled southeast across the flat prairie land. Plans called for a railroad to be built from Vinita to Centralia to Coffeyville, to be called the "Vinita and Western". It was staked out and part of the grade built about nine miles northwest of Vinita as far as Woodley. 1906 and 1907 maps showed the line which was never completed.

The town's height of prosperity was 1907-1915. By the latter year, it had grown in size to 750 people. There were two banks: the Farmers & Merchants headed by Frank Conkright, and the First State Bank which had originally been organized by the T.R. Montgomery family as a national bank. People who were associated with the banks in Centralia other than the above mentioned included Fred Hartley who went to a Grove bank, Bill Reynolds who later was an officer in the Vinita First National Bank, Howard Nix who was president of Vinita Production Credit Association for many years, Caney Spence who later became a Craig County official. By 1930, both Centralia banks had closed.

Over a period of prosperous years, businesses in Centralia included grocery stores operated by Henry Hyman, Joe Lehman, George B. Parks, J.F. McCoy, Everett Christian, and J.F. Clawson. There were Ben Pennington's and Comstock's Groceries across the street south of the park and Mrs. May's grocery west of the park. Livery stables were operated by Sam Bradfield, Adam Holden, J.H. Hargrove, and Frank Nix. Blacksmiths included John Mowry, Mr. Haskett, and Mr. Jackson. Other businesses during the prosperous years included John Rich's General Machine and Wagon Work, C.E. Vanbibber well driller, White's Hardware and Undertaking, Day's Variety Store, Tolliver's Dry Goods, Johnston's Millinery and General Store, and Dry Goods, Noah Harrison's Dry Goods, C.W. Miller's General Store. A newspaper, the Centralia Standard was established in 1902 by T.F. McCain and continued publication for several years. People who stopped overnight or for meals had the facilities of
O.H. Johnson's Hotel, Carpenter's Hotel, and Hyman's Hotel. "Mall Daniel had a boarding house which was a popular eating place in the 1920s".

Early settlers were always concerned about having a good water supply. There was a well in the Centralia town square which continued to be used for many years to water stock in a trough. In 1912, it is told that Les White switched" a well in a street northeast of the center of the town which became known as the "town well". A pump was put on it and later an engine to pump the water. It was used by all of the townspeopel. John Mowry had a motor at his blacksmith shop which ran an electric light plant providing power for home lights and streets. It was owned by the town and operated by Mowry.

The business district was built around a square; the only such one in Craig County. The central park contained a court house and there was a jail house behind it. Mr. Bowsman was the town marshal. The community had a library for the residents. The town sponsored annual fall festivals which included a carnival with a merry-go-round priced at five cents a ride. The fair was held in the town square, and there was a large display of buggies and other vehicles. Luanna Mabery Monroe told that the fair festivities included horse races "in the middle of Centralia's street".

The first school building was a four-room frame structure in the north section of town. Early teachers included Mrs. Grace Anderson and Miss Clara Haggerman. In 1910, a four-room brick building was constructed in the southeast part of town and the early frame school was torn down. Tom W. Smith was Centralia superintendent at the time. He later became Craig County Superintendent of Schools.

The schools in those early days were heated with large coal-burning pot-bellied stoves for which the teacher was
responsible. The youngsters brought half-gallon syrup buckets filled with lunches of ham, homemade light bread or biscuits left from breakfast, some-times baked sweet potatoes and fruit. They either walked to school, sometimes for miles, or some came by horseback or buggy and stabled the horses for the day at the livery barn.

In 1925 after consolidation of several outlying districts, the four-room brick school was remodeled into a ten-room building with a large gymnasium. While the new school was being constructed, classes were held in houses, churches, and in the lodge hall over the First State Bank. It was largely through the efforts of J.W. McCollum, superinten-dent, that consolidation was accomplished. The Centralia schools closed in 1968-69 when the district was annexed by Bluejacket and White Oak. A fire January 11, 1907 destroyed much of the business district, including the two-story hotel run by Mrs. Ollie Carpenter. The volunteer fire department was unsuccessful in saving it. One-third of the business district of Centralia was destroyed by fire on July 22, 1917. The buildings were frame except for the two-story brick bank, and the southwest corner of the business district on the square was demolished by the blaze. The church was the center of community social life. For some years, the congregations shared a building which the Methodists owned. By 1915, the Church of Christ, Missionary Baptist, and Primitive Baptists had their own buildings. There was also a Holiness Congregation. Members of the Primitive Baptist Church included the O.E. Odells, Charlie Christians, and the Chaney families. The Methodist congregation includ-ed the Montgomerys: T.R., T.C. Howard and Jack, the Andy Martins, Jim Armors, Judge F.L. Haymes. The Church of Christ members included the George B. Parks, James 0. Nix, and, Legg families.

Mrs. Lizzie (Gleason) Oskison recalled that two of the first automobiles in Craig County were owned in 1910 by Centralia men: Richard Oskison, her brother-in-law, and T.C. Montgomery. "They about scared the horses to death coming down the road. The cars didn't have doors." There was a Camp Fire Girls organization in the town in the 1920s, with Miss Mary Bragg, teacher, as the leader. Girls included Margarite and Ruby Lee Parks, Jewell Carlock, Bernice and Opal Webb, and Leona Chaney.

The fires in downtown Centralia, the 1929 depression and the resulting closing of the banks in the town, the abandonment of the promised railroad spur from Vinita to Coffey-ville which was planed to go to Centralia, and the re-routing of the Ozark Trail all contributed to the demise of Centralia.

There were 43 residents there in the 1980 census and only Newman's Store is still operating.

About Craig County

Craig County was created at statehood and named for Granville Craig, a prominent Cherokee, this area was part of the Cherokee Nation. The area was only sparsely settled until after the Civil War when a few scattered Cherokees made their homes in the region.

Vinita the county seat, was once called both Downingville and The Junction and was established in 1871 at the junction of the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad (Katy) and the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad, (later the Frisco), the first rail lines to enter Oklahoma. In 1881 the two railroads crossed at Vinita. (see the Short History of Craig Co. for more info.)

Craig County has long been a livestock producing area with cattle ranches located throughout. The industrial base of Vinita has been expanded to include everything from the manufacturing of towers to micro connectors. As headquarters of the Grand River Dam Authority, Craig county is also the site of the Kansas, Arkansas, Oklahoma Electric Power Distributor, and the Northeast Oklahoma Electric Cooperative. Eastern State Mental Hospital has been in operation since 1913.

Annual events include the original Will Rogers Memorial Rodeo in August, the Calf Fry Festival in September and Oktoberfest in October.

Location: Craig County borders Kansas and is located in northeastern Oklahoma. Climate: The average precipitation is 45.6 inches yearly in this area. January’s average temperature is 40.6 degrees Fahrenheit and July’s average is 79.6 degrees Fahrenheit. County Seat: Vinita
Land Area: 762 square miles of agricultural land on rolling hills and level plains.

Short History of Craig County, Oklahoma

1803	The United States acquired most of the area that is now Oklahoma as part of the Louisiana Purchase. Panhandle remained under Spanish control.
1812	Most of present-day Oklahoma became part of the Missouri Territory.
1819	Most of present-day Oklahoma became part of the Arkansas Territory.
1821	Missouri become the Twenty-fourth State.
1828/29	Cherokee and Choctaw moved out voluntarily to Indian Territory, (old settlers).
1830	The western part of the Louisiana Purchase, including the Arkansas Territory, was designated as the Indian Territory.
1833	The Creek, Seminole and Chickasaw Indian tribes came to Indian Territory.
1836	Arkansas becomes Twenty-fifth State.
1838/39	The forced removal of the Cherokee Indians over the Trail of Tears. Eight of the nine Cherokee District formed, The Cherokee Districts are Flint, Going Snake, Delaware, Sequoyah, Illinois, Canadian, Saline. & Tahlequah.
1845	Texas becomes the Twenty-eighth State.
1854	The Indian Territory was limited to the area of what is now Oklahoma. Five-mile strip across southern boundary of Kansas was known as neutral lands. Crawford and Cherokee counties Kansas were neutral land was in the Delaware District, IT. until after the Civil War.
1856	Cooweescoowee. District formed from the western portion of Saline District.
1860	Federal Census (white man in Oklahoma) at the end of Yell County, AR census roll.
1860	Coody's Bluff in Nowata County, six miles E. of Nowata post office began 5 May 1860. Prior to the Civil War was 42 post offices had been established in all of Indian Territory. Because of the sparse settlement on the Prairie Plains, one of the closest to what was later Craig County was at Coody's Bluff What few families there were did their trading and got their mail at Chetopa, Kansas. Before the outbreak of the Civil War, only 13 of the twenty-nine post offices were in Cherokee Nation. Only Fort Gibson, Tahlequah and Flint survived the war. Flint dated back to 1846.
1861	Kansas became the Thirty-fourth State.
1861	The Five Civilized Tribes sided primarily with the Confederacy and raised the Confederate Indian Brigade and the Indian Home Guard. They fought in battles in the Arkansas and Oklahoma area.
1865	The Civil War ends.
1865	Between 1865 and 1889, cattlemen, railroaders, soldiers, and settlers lived within Indian Territory's borders before settlement was legally permitted.
1871	Vinita came into existence seven years after the end of the Civil War. The war had left the Cherokee Nation a field of destruction.
1871	The rail lines came through which is now Craig County. Vinita known as "The Junction" was ready to become a new trading and shipping point for the Cherokee Nation.
1890	In May, Indian Territory was divided into Oklahoma Territory and Indian Territory. The area which is Craig County was part of two Cherokee District, West of Katy R.R. line was known as Cooweescoowee District and East of the tracks was Delaware District.
1890	Territory census was not destroyed. They were not housed with the federal censuses. (Townships in Craig County have numbers instead of names.)
pre 1907	Court records before State Hood check at Muskogee, OK and Ft. Smith, AR archives. Oklahoma becomes a State, and CRAIG COUNTY IS FORMED.

Establishment of the Towns in Craig Count

1871	Vinita
1871	Blue Jacket
1887	Big Cabin
1887	Welch
1895	White Oak
1898	Centralia
1898	Ketchum

Railroads

1871	M.K.T. Railroad or Katy Lines came from Chetopa, Kansas through Welch, Blue Jacket, Vinita, Muskogee, to the border into Texas. Indian Territory was called "the promised land" as it offered fine grazing land the possibility of free land.
1871	Atlantic & Pacific Railroad or Frisco line stopped at Vinita until permission was granted in 1881 to cross the Katy Line. This rail line came from Neosho, Missouri to Big Cabin, Vinita, Claremore and to Tulsa by 1882.
1912	K.O.G. Railroad went through Ketchum

Major Trails

Major trails through Indian Territory such as the Chisholm, Great Western, East Shawnee, West Shawnee, Couch, Payne and Plummer ran between cattle land in Texas and grazing and farm land in Kansas. East Shawnee trail from Fort Washita to Baxter Spring, KS. Military Road used to haul food supplies and ammunition during the Civil War from Fort Scott, KS to Fort Gibson, IT. The Military Road crossed Cabin Creek about three miles above where it empties into Grand River (about 16 miles from Vinita). Battle of Cabin Creek took place at the crossing during the Civil War.

Newspaper

1882-1912	Vinita Indian Chieftain
1892-1912	Vinita Daily Indian Chieftain
1899-1960	Vinita Leader
1904-1918	Centralia
1904-1920	Blue Jacket
1904-1964	Welch
1910-1915	Big Cabin
1910-1918	Vinita Weekly Journal
1919-present	Vinita Daily Journal
19124-1929	Craig County Gazette (Ketchum, Blue Jacket, Centralia)
May-Nov 1913	Ketchum
1961-1975	Craig County Democrat

1907 Oklahoma Becomes Forty-Sixth State

Reference Sources:
Ancestry Red Book-American State, County and Town Sources, edited by Alice Eichholz, Ph.D.,
C.G., published by Ancestry, Salt Lake City, UT, 1992, pgs 858. (Oklahoma information on pages 589-605)
The Boundaries of Oklahoma, by John W. Morris, Oklahoma Historical Society, Oklahoma City,OK 1980.
Oklahoma Place Names, second Edition, by George H. Shirk, publisher University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK, 1989, pgs 268.
Research Outline, Oklahoma, Family History Library, Salt Lake, Utah, 1992.
The Handybook for Genealogists United States of America-Ninth Edition, Published by The Everton Publisher, Inc., Logan, UT, 1999, pgs 546. (Oklahoma on pages 320-329)
Vinita, I. T—The Story of a Frontier Town of the Cherokee Nation 187 1-1907,by O.B.Campbell, published by Colorgraphics, a subsidiary of the Oklahoma Publishing Co., Oklahoma City, 1969, pgs.171.

Return to Osborn Family

La habra Orange County Californina
(Osborn's)

The History of Orange County

The Formation and Development of Orange County

The state of California was created out of territory ceded to the United States by Mexico in the year 1848. It was admitted into the Union as a free state in 1850 with a population of 92,597. This population was located in a few little cities with a small portion in the mining camps and scattered over the grazing lands adjacent to the water courses. The style of government inherited from Mexico might be characterized as feudal or patriarchal, each city or pueblo and the adjoining territory being governed by an alcalde or other officer appointed by the Mexican government. When the state was formed, each of the principal towns was created into a county; because the towns were far apart and the intervening territory sparsely settled, the areas of the first counties were large and the populations small. As the county was settled and other centers of population were formed, efforts were made from time to time to form new counties by cutting off portions of the old ones; some of these efforts were successful and others failed.

With the growth of the communities in the southeastern part of Los Angeles County, there sprang up the desire for a smaller county with a county seat nearer home. This feeling grew until finally an appeal was made to the legislature of 1889 for autonomy. The city of Santa Ana, which had outgrown the other cities in the proposed new county, took the land in the struggle for county division. A lobby was maintained in Sacramento all winter at considerable expense, without being able to overcome the influence of Los Angeles against the bill for the new county. This bill was entitled "An Act to Create the County of Orange," the name Orange being selected partly on its own merits and partly to conciliate the city of the name, which also aspired to be county seat. Finally, late in the session, W.H. Spurgeon and James McFadden took up the matter in the legislature with better success. They found some members who were friendly to their project and others who were hostile to Los Angeles. There are sometimes a few members of the legislature who are looking for "Col. Mazuma" to come to the help or hindrance of much desired legislation. Because the rich County of Los Angeles would not distribute a large defense fund among such members, they turned against that county. Then San Francisco has begun to recognize in Los Angeles a possible rival and was glad of the opportunity to deprive her of some of here territory. These various interests and antagonisms were so skillfully handled that the bill was passed by legislature and was signed by Governor Waterman on March 11, 1889.

The colorful pageantry of human history in Orange County began at some undetermined point in the distant past when Shoshone Indians came to dwell along the coast and in the lower canyons of the mountains. Theirs was a simple form of existence: they lived off of the abundance of the land.

In 1769, Gaspar de Portola, a military man and Spanish aristocrat, was appointed governor of Lower California. He commanded an expedition traveling northward into the literally unmapped and half mythical territory of Alta California. His assignment was to seek out the legendary Bay of Monterey. He was also to secure the Spanish claim to his vast frontier against any invasion from Russian trappers or British colonizers. Portola called upon Father Junipero Serra, president of the Mexico City Missionary College, to assist in this monumental undertaking.

It was late in July in 1769 when this first party of European explorers reached the boundaries of present-day Orange County. Members of the expedition named the region "The Valley of Saint Anne" (Santa Ana). It was to this valley that Father Serra returned six years later, where he proceeded with the work of establishing the Church and converting the local people.

While the East Coast of North America was engaged in revolution and spectacular change, the West Coast too was undergoing a quiet and almost undetected transformation. Father Serra dedicated the Mission of San Juan Capistrano, Orange County's first permanent settlement, on November 1, 1776. The Mission became a self-sustaining unit based upon an agricultural economy. Its chapel and adjoining structure were the first signs of civilization erected upon the fertile, virgin soil of the Santa Ana Region.

In 1801, Jose Antonio Yorba, a volunteer in the Portola expedition, also returned to Santa Ana. He established the county's first rancho (Santiago de Santa Ana) in what are today the cities of Villa Park, Orange, Tustin, Costa Mesa and Santa Ana.

Following Mexico's liberation from Spanish rule in 1821, the extensive land holdings of the Capistrano Mission were subdivided and awarded to a number of distinguished war heroes. By this time Yorba's Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana had grown to resemble a feudal manor, and the romantic rancho era of Orange County had been ushered in.

Cattle were introduced into the area in 1834. A prosperous hide and tallow industry developed. Southern California became a virtual suburb of New England as sailing ships loaded with cargo traveled back and forth between coasts. In 1835, author-seaman Richard Henry Dana arrived at what is today known as Dana Point. He later immortalized Spanish Orange County in his book "Two Years Before the Mast" by describing it as "the only romantic spot on the Coast." The Spanish California tradition of a carefree lifestyle, fiestas with music and dancing, bear and bull fights, rodeos, and gracious hospitality, survived until the 1860.

A severe drought brought an end to the cattle industry. Adventurous pioneers, such as James Irvine, capitalized on the economic downfall of the ranchos. Irvine, an Irish immigrant, established a 110,000-acre sheep ranch that is today one of the most valuable pieces of real estate in America.

In 1887, silver was discovered in the Santa Ana Mountains. Hundreds of fortune seekers flocked to the "diggings." Land speculators and farmers came by rail from the East to settle in such boomtowns as Buena Park, Fullerton and El Toro.

Orange County was formally organized as a political entity separate from the County of Los Angeles in 1889. The wilderness had finally given way to irrigated farmlands and prosperous communities. A year-round harvest of Valencia oranges, lemons, avocados, and walnuts made agriculture the single most important industry in the fledgling county. And with orange groves beginning to proliferate throughout the area (150,000 orange trees), the new county was named for the fruit: "Orange County."

The twentieth century brought with it many industrious individuals such as Walter Knott, a farmer turned entrepreneur, who founded the Knott legacy in Buena Park.

During the years that followed, Orange County witnessed the discovery of oil in Huntington Beach, the birth of the aerospace industry on the Irvine Ranch, and filming of several Hollywood classics in the Newport area.

In 1955, Walt Disney opened his Magic Kingdom in Anaheim. Noted as the pioneer of animated films, Disney revolutionized the entertainment world again with his "theme park" recreation concept.

By 1960, the neighboring metropolis of Los Angeles was "bursting at the seams." As the population spilled over the county line and across the rural Santa Ana Valley, it left in its wake an urban landscape of homes, shopping malls, and industrial parks.

Today Orange County is the home of a vast number of major industries and service organizations. As an integral part of the second largest market in America, this highly diversified region has become a Mecca for talented individuals in virtually every field imaginable. Indeed the colorful pageant of human history continues to unfold here; for perhaps in no other place on earth is there an environment more conducive to innovative thinking, creativity and growth than this balmy, sun bathed valley stretching between the mountains and the sea in Orange County.

LA HABRA HISTORY:

A century ago, the area that now is La Habra was a sparsely populated valley dominated by herds of sheep and fields of barley.

Aside from the wooden ranch house owned by Jose Sansinena that overlooked what is now Hacienda Road, the valley's only structures were an occasional shepherd's shack.

Sansinena, a Frenchborn Basque shepherd, owned the northern third of modern-day La Habra. The Puente Hills, where Sansinena's sheep roamed, was prime grazing land, as were the Coyote Hills in southern La Habra, owned by Domingo Bastanchury, another Basque shepherd and Sansinena's former boss. Today, much of Bastanchury's land makes up the southern third of La Habra.

Between Sansinena's and Bastanchury's land was a central strip belonging to a company formed by Abel Stearns, a Massachusetts merchant who leased the land to barley farmers.

Two or three years after Orange County was formed in 1889, the first group of non-sheepherding settlers came into the La Habra valley. The Stearns company began selling them the land that would become centeral La Habra.

With the newcomers came the idea of planting fruit trees, and as in much of the county, orange groves sprange up. Among that group of early La Habra settlers was the Milhous family, the grandparents of future La Habra lawyer and US President Richard Nixon.

By 1903 a blacksmith shop, country store and hardware store with a post office where the core of the fledgling town. That same year, oil was discovered on the part of Bastanchury's land that is within present-day La Habra. That parcel was sold to the Standard Oil Co., its current owner, in 1911.

The Pacific Electric Railway arrived in 1908, creating opportunities to ship tomatoes and cabbages grown in the area. The population had grown to a few hundred people.

The oil and increased farming - citrus became the prime crop - sparked a minor boom before World War I. Citrus packing houses moved in and more industry was established in the next two decades. In 1925, with a population of about 4,000, La Habra was incorporated.

After World War II, an industry and population explosion hit La Habra. The Alpha Beta Co. established its headquatrters there in 1952. The '50s and '60s is an era that can be called the era of the vanishing grove when houses mushroomed overnight.

Today, Standard Oil still owns wells in southern La HAbra and the city's bedroom-community reputation established in the '50s and '60s remains.