EARLY OKLAHOMA CITY PERSONALITIES

                                                                            Albert M. De Bolt

There have been many individuals who have contributed to the development of Oklahoma City since it’s founding. One such person was Albert Maywood DeBolt. Born in Milford Center, Union County Ohio September 19, 1861, DeBolt made the Run of 1889 settling in Oklahoma City.  He established one of the major lumber concerns in the new community.  If one were to view early photographs of Oklahoma City after the run, one can see a makeshift sign locating DeBolt’s lumber business.  Before coming to the Unassigned Lands, DeBolt worked as a traveling salesman for six years.  He left the state of California to make the run. His business was a fixture in downtown OKC for 32 years. He later engaged in developing residential sectors of the city as well as built homes for those new developments.

 Mr. DeBolt was a member of the Chrisitian Science church and served on the building committee. The building still stands just north of downtown, but has been closed for a number of years. He married Frances V. Swails just nine days shy of his 42^nd birthday September 10, 1903. A.M. and Frances had two children Frances V. and Albert Monroe.

 DeBolt in addition to his lumber business and real estate enterprises also owned several cotton gins. In the work The Story of Oklahoma City, by William F. Kerr and Ina Gainer, they mentioned in their biographical sketch on DeBolt that he helped develop several residential neighborhoods. This is pure speculation by the author’s part, but the Maywood edition located east of I-235 and Lincoln Boulevard today was probably one of DeBolt’s ventures as the his middle name was Maywood and it would make sense that he would leave some legacy of his work to continue long after his death.

Death did find DeBolt succumbing at home located at 1801 North Hudson after a three year illness. He died May 28^th, 1926 at the age of 64. Another 1889’er passing to his reward. He was buried in Milford Center , Ohio his place of birth.

For more detailed information on DeBolt see Kerr and Gainer’s The Story of Oklahoma City, Volume III, and The Daily Oklahoman, May 29^th, 1926, page one, columns 6-7.

We have begun adding new content to the "Fun Stuff" page.  We have hundreds of old newspaper ads for businesses that were part of the Display at the Museum Of The Unassigned Lands.  The Museum was operated by the Oklahoma City / County Historical Society and now much of what was on display will be added here for all to view.  If you have any "Fun Stuff" or just interesting photos or news articles that you would like to publish on our website, drop us a note and we will see that it gets done.

A new feature is being added to the Oklahoma City/County Historical Society website. Entitled: Oklahoma County Place Names is similar to George Shirk’s Oklahoma Place Names and the late arm-chair historian John Womack of Lexington , Oklahoma . Womack self published a small publication entitled: Place Names of Cleveland County. Both Shirk and Womack featured cities and towns, but Womack included geographical features that defined his county of residence.

It is hoped that this effort will aid not only long time residents, but folks who have recently relocated to the area as there is no publication of its kind for Oklahoma County .

The author has gleaned from a variety of resources to produce this feature. We welcome your input.

Place Name #1:

Very few people today give it much thought when driving on NW 93^rd Street from Western to Santa Fe . Also known as Britton Road there is remnants of a downtown along this route. Known as the town of Britton , this community had a post office from November 26, 1889 to November 15, 1950. The town was consolidated with Oklahoma City earlier that same year on April 1^st. Like many communities along railroad lines, the town was named for employees of the transportation company. In this instance, the town was named for Alexander Britton a Santa Fe railroad attorney who resided in Washington , D.C. (See: Oklahoma Place Names, by George Shirk, 1974 ed.)

This is a little something we put together in celebration of up coming anniversary of the April 22, 1889 Land Run that opened the unassigned lands of central Oklahoma ... check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMSnDjcr_8g&feature=player_embedded

We have added a new page to the site to help keep up with the Pathmaker event that is put on each year by the Oklahoma City / County Historical Society.  Be sure and check out the new page with photos from the 2010 event.  Here is a little history as to how the Pathmakers came to be...

The Pathmaker Award ceremony was the brain child of board member Pen Woods in 1990. The first luncheon was held around May 2nd 1990 to commemorate the centennial of the Organic Act that created Oklahoma Territory. The intent of the award was to honor four living and four from the past who helped develop and shape Oklahoma County and their respective communities within the county

Within a few years the Distinguished Service award was added to honor individuals, groups or organizations who contributed to the betterment of their community.

Since 1990, nearly 200 persons or organizations has been inducted into the Society’s Pathmaker ceremony.

The 2010 Pathmaker Awards Luncheon was huge sucess!  Mark your calenders now for the October 2011 Awards Luncheon ~ check the blog for exact time and location as it is and event that you will not want to miss.

In the waning hours of the March 3^rd, 1889 a rider was inserted into the Indian Appropriations Bill opening the unassigned lands of then central Indian Territory for settlement.  The date that was originally set was April 21^st but that being a Sunday, then president Benjamin Harrison being a deeply religious man, changed the date to Monday April 22.  The bill was signed into law by former president Grover Cleveland who was scheduled to leave office on March 4^th, 1889.  Albeit he signed the bill he included no plan as to how to achieve this newly crafted law.  It was left to Harrison to devise a way to open these lands within the prescribed time frame.  Oklahoma to this day remains the only state in the Union to have been opened for settlement by a horse race.

In and effort to make our organization a more effective and powerful force in the community, we have broken the board of directors into committees.  My dear friend and accomplished historian, Penn Woods and I will be working hand-in-hand on both the Public Relations and Website Committees.

Mr. Woods brings to the table not only a very distinguished personal and military career, but is also unquestionably one of the most noted historians on the history of Oklahoma City and the surrounding area.  His input and insights will bring a much-needed wealth of information to this site and many other projects as well.

The pairing of Pendleton Woods and Rick Thompson will bring the knowledge of history and technology to the forefront—It is our hope that this is but one of the first steps in making the Oklahoma City / County Historical Society a more valuable asset to you, the reader and viewer.

A meeting of the board of directors held on February 22nd completed the elections of the officers of the board.  We would like to welcome all new officers to their positions. 

I would like to take a moment and apologize for not providing more timely updates to the blog and site in general.  Albeit the society has remained active in a variety of activities and programs, illness has prevented many postings that should have been made.

If you have tried to reach us by email… I must once again apologize for the delay and I am getting to each and every one of those emails as quickly as I can—rest assured that if you have tried to contact us, your email will be answered. 

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We are in hopes that 2011 will see great strides forward for our society.  At this time I would like to personally congratulate Mr. Bill Welge for his recent election as the new president of the Oklahoma City/County Historical Society.  Bill has been a positive voice in our organization almost since its creation and his leadership will provide a new direction for the Society.  Bill is also director of research at the Oklahoma Historical Society.  Once again, congratulations Bill!  The Board Members are excited about the changes in store for the upcoming year.

The I.M. Pei model is part of a collection owned by the Oklahoma City/County Historical Society. Rachel Mosman, a board member of the society and an archivist with the Oklahoma Historical Society launched the effort to bring the model back on display after working with more than 40,000 of 750,000 photos of pre-Urban Renewal era photos of downtown Oklahoma City.

Mosman was joined in this effort by Bill Welge, director of research at the Oklahoma County Historical Society as well as a host of others to make this project a reality.

The scheduled date for unveiling was May 3rd, and began at 5:30 p.m. in the northeast lobby of the Cox Convention Center. Speakers included Mayor Mick Cornett and state historian Dr. Bob Blackburn. In addition to the model, the display included new information panels about the history of downtown and the urban renewal era, and original paintings that were produced almost 40 years ago in conjunction with the introduction of the Pei Plan.

With over 250 people in attendance, the event was a smashing success! We are proud to have shared such great stories with so many great people.  For further information about the model and many great photos of the unveiling, check out the official I. M. Pei OKC website at:  www.impeiokc.com/

The Pathmaker awards ceremony was a great success!  The luncheon is always a great way to have close contact with people that have helped to make this great city what it is today.  It was my personal pleasure to escort Thomas Hill, chief executive officer of Kimray Inc. and founder of Character First the podium for his acceptance speech.  I had a chance to visit with Larry Nichols, CEO of Devon Energy about his company’s roll in downtown.  Devon is currently under construction in what will be the tallest building in Oklahoma.

This is a must-attend event and if you would like more information visit the Become Involved page or contact us at:  

info@okc-history.org

This year marks the 20th Annual Awards of the Oklahoma City / County Historical Society October 13th, 2009.  The society annually honors living and deceased pathmakers in Oklahoma County.

Living pathmakers honored this year are Larry Nichols, chief executive officer of Devon Energy, Corp.;  David Thompson, publisher of the Oklahoman, president of OPUBCO Communications Group, and chairman of the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber; Tom Ward and Trent Ward, founders of the Whitefields Home for troubled and abandoned boys; and Thomas Hill, chief executive officer of Kimray Inc. and founder of Character First.

Deceased pathmakers are Jim Lange, longtime editorial cartoonist for the Oklahoman; Madalynne Norrick, civic leader; Dr. Charles Royer, early eye-transplant physician; and Margaret Annis Boys, educator whose contribution to the Oklahoma City Community Foundation endows beautification and environmental projects.

Monthly OCCHS Board Meeting

It is not too early to start thinking about attending the next Oklahoma City/County Historical Society Board Meeting.  We will be meeting Tuesday October 1st at 5:30 p.m. in the AT&T Building in downtown OKC.  We would love to have anyone with an interest in history of our area come by for a visit and meet the board of dirctors.

For futher information feel free to contact us at:  info@okc-history.org or by telephone at 405.922.6209.  Hope to see you there.

Mark Your Calendar!

The next meeting of the Oklahoma City/County Historical Society will be August 27th at 5:30 p.m. in the AT&T Building in downtown OKC.  We would love to have anyone with an interest in history of our are come by for a visit and meet the board of dirctors.

For futher information feel free to contact us at:  info@okc-history.org or by telephone at 405.922.6209.  Hope to see you there.

If you are seeking fine photographic restoration in your efforts to trace your genealogical heritage, we would recommend this studio.  These folks have been more than helpful with our efforts to restore damaged historical photos.                                      Click Here!

Yesterday I had the distinct honor of sitting down with one of the most amazing historians that I have met in recent years.  His name is Pendleton Woods, or Penn, and is the oldest board member of the Oklahoma City / County Historical Society.  Penn, who is 86-years-young, agreed to sit and discuss history with us all morning while we recorded his recollections of times long past.  As part of our commitment to preserve oral history as well as all other forms of history, we will publish a DVD with illustrations and photos of and his narrative all blended together…  

Pendleton Woods is not only a charter board member here at OCCHS, but is an active participant in many charitable and historical organizations all around the area.  Penn's unselfish giving of both his time and monetary gifts have made him—in the eyes of many—the preeminent historian and individual philanthropist of this area.  We here at the Oklahoma City/County Historical Society are honored to share in the wisdom and experience of such a valued member of the community.  

Have you been cleaning out your garage lately and found some relics that you think might be important to our history?  Did uncle Bob recently pass and left you a stack of papers or an old pistol that you are afraid to fire?  We are always looking for new artifacts for our collection, especially those with a personal story.  Any donated items will be handled with the greatest of care and cataloged with any personal information that you provide.