History of Mannford High School

I ran across this the other day and felt that it was important enough to be reproduced and put in my blog.  Unfortunately, I don't know who to give credit to for writing it in the first place or digitizing it.  At any rate, I noticed that my uncle, Albert Winans, was one of the first graduates of Mannford High, in 1926.

History of Mannford High School

In the early years of Mannford before Oklahoma ever became a state the people felt the need of a school for the children so in 1902 posts were set on the site of the present Methodist Church. A box building was constructed of 1 x 12’s around these posts and covered with a shingle roof. The floor was dirt and pine was nailed together to make the seats. This building remained in existence for two years. The first summer Miss Ella Williams (Mrs. Devasior) was the teacher. Some of her first pupils were Johnny Finley, Bill Lust, and Dot Wheeler.

In 1904 a two-story brick building was built on the present site of Mannford School. This building contained four rooms, and in 1905, when the roll-call was counted, it showed that forty students were attending the new school. Some of the students who attended were the Mitchell children, the Coonrod girls and Raymond Holmes.

In 1920 consolidation was begun and the first two districts that were taken in were the East and West Basin and the Cross-L district. The third district to be taken in was the Evans district.  Consolidation was eventually finished in 1921.

In 1921 the early building was torn down and another brick building was built and High School curriculum was added in 1925. R. E. Holmes was one of the board members at this time. The school had only two buses at this time. They were wooden bodies built on new chassis in Oilton. Two more were added later on.

In 1926 there were four senior graduates. They were Kathleen Lovett, Lucina Ruhl, Leroy Winans, and Albert Winans.

B. F. Ellis was the superintendent in 1927. There were six graduates that year. This includes Raymond West, Bennie Bellis, Ola Ogden, Creta Sims, Glen Tate and Omer Sanders.

In 1928 with Miss Moore as their sponsor the following graduated from Mannford High school. Furl Tate, Iva Gill, Lucy Beaver, Florence Nantx, Emma Sims and Glen Lemaster.

The senior graduates of 1929 were Blanch Stanley, Guy Hinton, Evelyn Roop, Emory DeLancy, Bernese Lemasters, Ethel Todd, and G. W. Hasking. Their sponsor was James Weaver.

In 1930 the graduates were Helen Zickefoose, Myrtle Kay, Naomi Henderson, Winifred Tate, Ruby Ogden, Martha Albertton, Enid Coughran, Jewel Giles, Jessie Reed, Davis Clegg, Edwin Johnson, Arthur Wilson, and Lela Wilson with James Hunter as sponsor.

Allene Todd, Everett Hooper, Aranelle Peacock, Albert Merill, Christine Hinton, Delbert Roop, Donald Smelzer, Dorothy Maloney, Lilis McDaniel, Mary Clegg, Omah Reed, Mary Kay, Bill Hinton, Marie Vowell, and John Davee made up the graduating class of 1931. J. A. Weaver was sponsor of the class.

The 1932 graduating seniors were Ethlyn Boyington, Earl Bellis, Julia Wilson, Doss Haskins, Pauline Windosor, Jack Hawkins, Pearl Runyon, Glen Lund, Henry Lund, Fannie Ingalls, Hubert Peacock, Jess F. Reed, Linnie Mac Canada, Thomas A. Wien, Irene Roop and Kenneth Witt. James Weaver was senior sponsor.

The graduating seniors of 1933 were Odas Stockton, Ida Loveall, Howard Evans, Lilis Mitchell, Lawrence Coulson, Allie Coleman, Wilda Runyon, Doris Wilson, Jessie Frost, Herbert Holmes, Ercell Beaver, Mildred Sneed, Leona Elder, Tom Thurmond, Ethel Copline, John Shelly and Thelma Harmon.

Graduating seniors of 1934 were Raymond Zickefoose, Clyde Weaver, Vera Cold, Bertha Ingalls, George Wilson, Wilma Schram, Clayton Greenwood, Edith Crosson, Hudson Zickefoose, Lenora Weaver, Virginia Daniel, Evelyn Harden, and Forrest Hooper.

In 1935 the following graduated from Mannford High: Velma Melton, Maryin Reed, Jasper Loveall, Kathleen Boyington, Ladora Crane, Tommy Ashlock, Clyde Pursell, Mary Ogden, Claude Zumwalt. L. F. Robinson was the superintendent and senior sponsor that year.

In 1936 diplomas were given to Joyce Sissom, Claude Aldridge, Dorthy Greenwood, Mary Katherine Baker, Cecil Brooks, Reba Chapman, Wilma Beaver, Talmadge Greenwood, Nadene Hopps, Jewel Barton, Vernon Butler and Deloris Crupper.

In 1937 and 1938 the new wing or what is now the grade school was added. The superintendent at this time was Mr. Joe B. House. The graduates were as follows: 1937; Mary Morgan, Roy Frost, Paul Hinton, Neoma Brady, Josephine Young, Evelyn Caterhaut, Ellen Box, Jack Greenup, Frankie Johnson, Arlie Dunegan, Carleen Trower, Mary Runyon, Joe Aldridge, Ralph Reynolds, Preppa Ingalls, Genevieve Rainbolt, Lorene Zickefoose and Ira Reed. 1938; Alva Witt, Glossie Lee Smith, Dorothy Krotizer, Mary Ella Belt, Verna Mae Gilreath, Forrest Adsit, Wavel Box, Mildred Ihrig, Geneva Crain, Jannie Boyd, Roy Ringer, Kathleen Zickefoose, Chester Canode, Bertha Sue Boyd, and Dean Harness.

In 1939 Haxle Barton, Phil Hinton, Phyllis Hooper, Keith Martin, Lena Mitchell, Margie Stroup, Orvel Means, Thelma Hooper, Edward Lawmaster, Helen Witt, Ray Brooks, Evelyn Zickefoose, Fern Sissom, Beulah Bellis, and Billie Ihrig received diplomas,

1940 saw the following students graduate from Mannford High School: Eugenia Clegg, Owen Housley, Raymond Tate, Dan Vaught, Bertha Larremore, Eugene Crane, Gene Hasking, Margaret Larremore, Neoma Burlison, Warren Means, Marcella Ihrig, Leon Brooks, Ruth Rashendorfer, Elwyn Thurston, Lucille Johnson, Raymond Brady and Warren Green.

In 1941 these students graduated from M. H. S. They are Dixie MacDonald, Oliver Zickefoose, Bonnie Jo Cunningham, Roy Lawmaster, Oneta Ihrig, Edith Vowell, Edith Mae Larremore, Billie Weaver, Gladys Anderson, Floyd Zickefoose, Gloria Rashendorfer, Herchel Palmer, Josephine Davis, Maxine Dye, Jewell Bellis, and Billy Adsit. Mr. M. S. Van Noy was superintendent at that time.

In 1942 with Carolyn Tissingtron as their sponsor these students graduated from this high school: Denny Joe Smelser, Frank Spess, Joe van Noy, Beverly Ann Boyington, Erza Pulliam, Willa Dean Trower, and Beulah Lawmaster.

There were twelve senior graduates in 1943. Mr. J. T. Thompson was superintendent and Caroline T??sington senior sponsor. They were: LeRoy Anderson, Don Woodrell, Barbara Martin, Billy Greenwood, Clayton Krotzer, Essie Shoemaker, Naomie Thurston, Florence Means, Bobby Greenwood, Frank Dale and Willis Dale.

The senior class of 1944 consisted of Marie Lawmaster, Paul Spess, Wilma Rossman, Lois Hooper, Clois Hooper, Beth Hinton, Buna Burlison, Kenneth Applegate, Lucretia Rich, Zola Claypool, Helen Fisher, Florence Crane, and Leonard Zickefoose.

In 1945 high school diplomas were handed to Ruth Spess, Betty Wilson, Billy Joe Lamberson, Bette Anderson, Lois Mac Donald, Ermalee Dale, Nadine Melton, Buck Cramer, Sheralee Hooper, and Dick Woodrell.

In the senior class of 1946 there was Willadean Newport, Vera Lee Hammock, Peggy Flinchum, Maxine Colberg, Lila Shackleford, Willa Lee Fender, Virginia Reeves, Rheba Dickey, Russell Nance, and Beth Brashears.

The seniors of 1947 were Donald Butler, Joe Reeves, Dale Robbins, Dixie Nance, Beulah Kinion, Paul McCrackin, Ida Lou Reed, Stephen Krotzer, Maxine Hinton, Dallas Standridge, Marjorie Compton, Jessie Donald Hooper, Donna Jane Means, Leslie Davidson, Rebecca Spess, Nona Osterhout and Earl Murray Jr.  This class under the supervision of Cecil Smith, superintendent put out the first high school annual in several years.

In 1948 the following students graduated from Mannford High School: Maxine Box, Vera Harvison, Gordon Gilreath, Leroy Fitzwater, Imogene Butler, Carol Spess, Violet McCrackin, Jack McIntire, Louise Reeves, Raymond Manley, Marjorie Shackelford, Jimmy Bowen, Pamelia Chapman, Don Holmes, Clarence Green, Doris Woodrell, Ronald Smith, and Beulah Nance.

This year another group of young people will leave Mannford High to make their own way in the world. They are Bethan (Butler) Greenwood, Alma Jean (Martin) Gilreath, Lenore (Houston) Flinchum, Charlene Brady, Renee Gregg, Rita Jo Gill, Louise Barton, Ray Allen Clegg, Lester Kercheval, Don Brashears, and Kenneth Gilreath.

Mannford Consolidated High school now has an enrollment of three-hundred grade and high-school pupils. There are thirteen teachers. At present and for the past three years Mr. Cecil C. Smith is superintendent. Mr. C. G. Davis is principal. The members of the school board are B. I. Greenwood, C. S. Krotzer, and N. S. Mitchell who has served the past twenty nine years as a member of this board.

(From the 1949 Mannford High School Yearbook, photo added by Edd Alexander)

My Hometown

Although I was born in Rock Springs, Wyoming, and lived in Cromwell, Oklahoma for the first three or four years of my life, I consider Mannford, Oklahoma to be my hometown.  My mother was from Cromwell and just happened to be in Rock Springs when I was born.  My adoptive father was from the Mannford area and that's how we came to live there.

Mannford was a settlement on the banks of the Cimarron River and, prior to about 1904, didn't even have a name.  It was platted in 1904 and became a "for real" town before Oklahoma became a state in 1907.  Mannford was named after a gentleman who lived in the area and helped found the town.  His land included a low-water crossing on the river which became known as Mann's Ford, later shortened to Mannford.

For several years, Mannford was a growing area because of the railroad which ran through there, the farming and the cattle which were fed out in the area.  Eventually, the town reached a state of equilibrium and the population leveled out at about 500 people.  In 1951 when I was five years old, my father, with his new wife and two adopted sons, returned to Mannford.  Growing up in a small town was the best thing that could have happened to me.  Most of my memories of childhood are pleasant ones.

In the mid to late 1950's, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced that a flood control reservoir would be built somewhere around the confluence of the Arkansas and Cimarron Rivers.  The lake was to be an integral part of the Arkansas River Navigation System which was then being constructed.  The system was conceived to allow navigation from Tulsa to the Mississippi River.

I remember that Life Magazine called the system the "biggest pork barrel project in the history of the United States".  Senators Mike McClellan of Arkansas and Robert S. Kerr of Oklahoma each had a tremendous influence in Washington, D.C. and were able to get the spending, about $4.3 billion at the time, approved.

At any rate, the construction of the flood control reservoir, to be called Keystone Lake after the nearest town to the dam location, began.  Several towns were to be affected, Cleveland, Osage, Prue, Keystone, and Mannford.  Cleveland and Osage were right on the edge of the flood control pool so elected to protect their towns with levies.  The town of Prue was more impacted and moved a short distance to escape the lake.  Keystone was not so fortunate; it would be about 50 feet under water so a serious move would be required.  Unfortunately, no leaders stepped up to lead this effort, and as a result, Keystone died except for memories.

My hometown, Mannford, was going to be mostly under water at flood stages and the Corps of Engineers gave them the option to either build levies to protect the town or to move it completely.  Several of Mannford's leaders took this as an opportunity to take the town into a new position and elected to move the town.  The location chosen was two miles east and two miles south of the old town, about 2.8 miles.  This would insure that they were on the relocated State Highway 51 as well as having the railroad run through it.  Incidentally, our family didn't have to move; we had been two miles east of Mannford and now we would live two miles north of the newly-located town.

In 1957, my family moved to Pampa, Texas, and we were there until 1960 when we returned to Mannford.  Some construction on the reservoir and ancillary projects began while we were in Pampa but the majority of the work began about the time we returned to Mannford.  Many things had to happen before the lake could be impounded including construction of new highways, railroad tracks, parks and moving many houses, businesses and even cemeteries.

By August, 1962, the new school had been completed and I started my junior year there.  Jobs for young people abounded and I did my share of construction work on park roads in the area.  We got to see a huge project being built right in our backyards and it was an exciting time!

Mannford has survived several natural disasters since it's move, including a tornado in April, 1984, which destroyed the High School, several churches, and many homes.  A wildfire in 2012 burned 60,000 acres and about 400 homes in the area but didn't get into the town proper.

Today the "new" town of Mannford has matured into a thriving community with a lot of amenities and I believe that it's proximity to Tulsa will make it a high growth area for the next 50 years.  The population has grown from about 2000 people in the 2000 Census to about 3000 in the 2010 Census.

Painting the House

Louise has been after me for a couple of years to paint the house - not just the outside but all the interior and the trim.

We've lived here for 20 years and I've had the exterior painted a couple of times.  We had never had anything painted on the inside except for the kitchen cabinets, which were painted about five years ago.  I would rather do anything than paint and I'm old enough that I don't do anything on ladders anymore so any painting has to be done by someone else.

Interior paint is apparently like women's clothing.  What was in fashion when we built the house is not in fashion now.  The walls were all beige but Louise wanted them to be gray.  After a couple of years of putting her off, I realized that I was going to have to do something.

Finally, I started looking for a painter and one guy was highly recommended to me.  I started trying to contact him in May and he would never return my calls.  After three or four months, I remembered that I had used a member of my shooting club to paint the exterior several years ago so I decided to call him.  Harold said he would be glad to paint the house so he came out and took a look.

We developed a plan to paint the exterior and have it done by September 23, when we were hosting a Nash cousins family reunion.  The interior work would be started after the reunion.  Harold is in his mid-70's and he warned me that he was slow.  Although his son and grandson helped him some, he as basically a one-man show.  He is a third generation house painter; his father and his grandfather both painted houses.

Harold, with his son and grandson, got the exterior painted just before the reunion and it looked nice.  We didn't change the exterior color but painted it just for maintenance.  After the reunion, he, with his grandson, B.D., came back and started on the interior.

If you ever do decide to have the interior of your house painted, take a vacation and don't come back until it's finished!

Black Bean Salad

One of Louise's and my favorite places to eat in the Rio Grande Valley is The Blue Onion in Weslaco, Texas.  They serve a black bean salad which I dearly love.

I didn't ask them but decided to try to replicate their recipe.  Most black bean salad recipes also call for corn but I didn't want to, for some reason.  Here is my recipe which serves 4-6:

2                 16oz. cans black beans, well drained
1/2 cup        onions, finely chopped
1/2 cup        pimentos, finely chopped
2                  medium jalapenos, deseeded and finely chopped
2 tbl.            olive oil

4 tbl. white vinegar

2 tbl. lime juice

2 tbl. sugar

1/4 tsp. pepper

1 tsp. salt

Mix all the ingredients together and, if you can, let them set in the fridge overnight
to meld the flavors. It does taste pretty good without that rest, however.


Addendum: When you drain the beans, go ahead and rinse them too to get the
"gunk" off them. Also, instead of pimentos, use 1/2 cup of finely chopped red bell
peppers.

Edd Alexander March 27, 2018

Harry Nash Revealed

Well, it's been a long time since I've put anything on this blog - almost a year in fact.  Why?  Because I have had writer's block.  That's code for being lazy.

Yesterday, after seventeen years of frustration, I finally found out where my great grandfather Harry Nash came from.  I first wrote about Harry in April, 2013, listing him as one of my failures in genealogy.  He has certainly been an enigma - I've been able to trace back every one of my ancestors for several generations except for him.

My grandfather was Edward Everett Nash.  He was born just before the turn of the twentieth century (1894) and saw a lot of hard times.  His parents abandoned him when he was a small child and he lived in orphanages until he was 12 or 13.  At that time he struck out on his own.

Ed's mother was Susan Pearl Miller, my great grandmother.  She had 18 children by two different husbands and, as far as we can tell, didn't raise any of them!  For several years, I've been able to research her family and have met a bunch of cousins.  I have a pretty clear picture of her life although I never met her.

Susie Pearl's mother was Martha Jane Duncan and her father was Daniel D. Miller.  The other day I was browsing the LDS website, FamilySearch, and found that we can trace the Duncans back to about 950 A.D.  In fact, my 30th great grandfather was Duncan I, King of Scotland.  He was murdered by Macbeth in order that Macbeth might assume the crown.  Macbeth, of course, was the subject of the play by William Shakespeare.

But I digress.  The subject of this blog is my Grandfather Ed's father, Harry Nash.  Because Granddad was abandoned, he never knew much about his parents.  In fact, family lore tells us that Ed only met his father once when he was about 13 or 14 and working on a ranch in Arizona.  A man rode up to him and asked Ed if he knew who he was.  When he replied that he didn't, the man told him that he was Ed's father.

As I stated earlier, I've been searching for some information on Harry Nash for seventeen years.  Every lead I've ever followed was either wrong or inconclusive.  It's ironic that only yesterday morning, I told my wife, Louise, that I certainly hoped to solve that riddle before I died.  Then, by yesterday evening, much of it was solved!

I was going through some DNA matches for my aunt Edith when I found a new match named Jeffrey Pepper.  He was a good match to her but not to any of Aunt Edith's other family lines.  I thought that he must surely be descended from the Nash's.  I sent him an email and, within an hour, he responded telling me that his great grandfather was indeed a Nash.

With the information he gave me I went to work on Ancestry.com and quickly found his great grandfather, Frederick W. Nash.  A little more digging and I found that he had a brother, Harry W. Nash.  This Harry was born about the same time as my great grandfather had reportedly been born but in Massachusetts, not Michigan as the family had believed for years.

I was beginning to feel certain that this was the right trail and when I learned Harry and Fred's father's name, I was sure.  It was Edward Everett Nash, exactly the same name as my grandfather!  In a matter of a couple of hours, I had gone from knowing nothing about Harry Nash to having a pretty good understanding of them.

It's almost kind of a letdown to know that the mystery is solved.  I've chased it for so long and now it's over, sort of.  There is still a lot we don't know about Harry, specifically what happened to him after he and my great grandmother separated.

Jeff Pepper has promised to send me more information about the family and I'm anxious to get started on researching more of Harry's background.