While we know our northern friends may not feel it, in the South, Spring is
here. So we thought we'd share a few of our gardening sites appropriate
for this time of the year. Along with gardening, there's grilling, and getting
ready to diet so that you can fit back into that bathing suit this summer!
And Other Contributing Societies And
Individuals.
The Oak Hill Aid Society
On Oct. 30, 1904, during the period of
vacancy, ten persons interested in its
continuance met in the Academy and organized
an aid society, to aid the Freedmen's Board
in maintaining it. Solomon Buchanan and
Samuel Harris took the lead in calling the
meeting. James R. Crabtree served as
chairman and Bertha L. Ahrens as secretary.
The others present were Mitchell S. Stewart,
Wilson Clark, S. S. Bibbs, Charles B. Harris
and Mrs. J. A. Thomas. The organization was
effected by the election of M. S. Stewart,
president; J. A. Thomas, (absent) secretary;
B. L. Ahrens, treasurer; and Samuel Harris,
field secretary:
May 28, 1905, George Shoals was elected
president and S. S. Bibbs, secretary. On
June 25th, 1905 a constitution was adopted,
in which its object was stated as follows:
"The aims and object of this society shall
be: To help the Presbyterian Board of
Missions for Freedmen; to raise the funds
required to pay for the land on which the
buildings are located; to devise ways and
means by which the academy may be directly
aided with supplies of food, live stock and
other things, when money cannot be given;
and, to do what we can, to enlarge its
course of study and provide new departments
of industry."
"It is understood, that all money raised
shall be sent to the aforesaid Mission Board
and be applied by it to the general needs of
this institution, when no specific object
has been named by this society. It is also
understood, that this society shall not
hinder the aforesaid Board, in its absolute
control of the academy and farm."
The annual membership fee is twenty-five
cents, other offerings being entirely
voluntary, each giving, "as the Lord hath
prospered him." The first week in October
was designated, as the time for an annual
public meeting, to give emphasis to the work
of the society and solicit free-will
offerings from everybody. Other
congregations were requested to form similar
organizations, to create a visible bond of
union in the support of the academy.
The first visible result of this lowly
organization, founded as a forlorn hope,
appeared on the 15th of April 1905, when at
the close of the eloquent appeal of Samuel
Harris, its field secretary, before the
Presbytery at Grant, Rev. F. W. Hawley, the
Synodical Missionary of Indian Territory,
challenged all present to unite with him in
making a pledge of support toward the
purchase of the land. Heading the list with
a pledge of $10.00, all were surprised to
find it increased, in a few minutes, to
$210.00. Two weeks later Mr. Harris made a
similar appeal at Oak Hill, and $45.00 more
were pledged. He visited Forest Church and
received pledges to the amount of $45.00.
George Shoals visited Bethany Church at
Parsons, and $15.00 more were pledged,
making the amount pledged, $315.00.
Sam Harris, in the fall of 1905, voluntarily
went to Atoka and had forty-five acres of
land allotted to his wife and four of his
children, in order that they might later be
added to the Oak Hill farm; and the
education of his children be provided for,
at that institution. His death occurred the
next year, and in 1912, the last of these
lands were added to the Oak Hill farm. His
children are now enjoying the privileges of
the institution.
He belonged to a generation that could
neither read nor write, and that which he
accomplished for Oak Hill and his needy
children during the short period of his
co-operation with the superintendent, is but
another beautiful illustration of what may
be done for a needy and worthy cause, by
one, however unlearned, whose sincere and
burning interest leads him to lend a helping
hand and to use the power of his voice in
its behalf.
He had come to appreciate and, before the
Presbytery, emphasized the importance of
these three vital facts:
1. The need of a good Christian education
for all the members of his own rapidly
growing family.
2. The great value of the educational and
religious privileges, and the facilities for
industrial training, afforded the young
people of the colored race at Oak Hill
Academy, located in the very midst of them.
3. The great meaning of the changes, that
were taking place in the country around them
since the building of the railroad, the
transition to statehood, the allotment of
the lands to them individually, and the
incoming of large numbers of white folks
from Arkansas, Texas and other sections; who
were founding and building towns, leasing
and occupying the farm lands, gaining
control of the business interests of the
community; and thus making it ten fold more
necessary for the young people of the
colored race to have sufficient intelligence
to enable them to do their own thinking and
manage successfully their own business
interests, in order to avoid the impending
doom, of being soon crowded out of their
present homes and possessions.
His burning desire as he often expressed it,
was to bring it to pass, that their children
and the generations to come might rise up
and be able to say, "Our Fathers, in
grateful acknowledgement of the inestimable
value of the educational, moral and
religious privileges, that the Presbyterian
Board of Missions had established and so
long maintained, for the benefit of the
colored people of that section, had
contributed the funds, paid for and donated
the lands occupied by the buildings of Oak
Hill Industrial Academy."
The members of his family, in whose names
the allotments for Oak Hill were secured,
were Catherine, his wife; Roland (died Nov.
24, 1911), John, Margie and Ellen.
Land Funds Contributed
The following is a brief summary of the
funds contributed for the purchase of the
land at Oak Hill.
Rev. F. W. Hawley, Sam Harris, Bertha L.
Ahrens, Adelia M. Eaton, Wiley Homer,
William Butler, R. D. Colbert, Malinda A.
Hall, Noah S. Alverson, R. E. Flickinger and
Jo Lu Wolcott, each $10.00; Samuel Gladman,
W. J. Starks, S. H. Buchanan, John Richards
and Finley Union Sunday school, Lehigh, per
Isabella Monroe, each $5.00; Virginia
Williams, and Matt Brown, each $3.00; Simon
Folsom and Alonza Lewis, $2.50; specials
from Churches in Oklahoma, as follows:
Anadarko, Bartlesville, Perry and Vinita,
each $2.00; Chelsea, $2.50; Muskogee and
Wagoner, each $3.00; Oklahoma First, $5.00;
Oak Hill $10.00; and Alva $50.00.
The Oak Hill Aid Society in 1906 gave
$39.00; in 1907 $46.00; in 1908, $16.00 and
in 1910 to 1912, $19.00; making for it
$120.00, and altogether $335.00.
This amount covers the cost of the forty
acre allotment of Samuel A. Folsom, on which
the Academy and Boy's Hall are located. This
was the first tract purchased, and it was
obtained August 30, 1908, a few days after
the Choctaw Freedmen were legally authorized
to execute warranty deeds.
These facts are worthy of note, since to
that extent they indicate the achievement of
that object, for which Sam Harris plead so
earnestly and effectively at Presbytery.
A lady at San Jose, California, gave $200
in 1909, for an annuity bond to cover tract
No. 5, on the Oak Hill plat, containing
twenty acres and allotted to Caroline
Prince. Bertha L. Ahrens in 1908 purchased
the three fourths inheritance of three of
the heirs of William Shoals, in tract No. 8,
containing thirty acres, that in course of
time, it might be included; and in 1909 and
1913, R. E. Flickinger donated tract number
4, containing twenty acres north of the
buildings. These three specials include and
cover the 70 acres on section 20, north of
the public road, north of the buildings.
The Oak Hill Women's Missionary society
was organized in October 1906, and at the
end of its first year contributed to Home
Missions, Gunnison, Utah, $5.00; and to the
Board of Freedmen, $15.00.
Locality Of Donors
The following exhibit shows the location of
the generous contributors, who united in
furnishing the general expense funds for the
support of the students and furnishing the
Temporary Boy's Hall, as it appeared in the
report for July 1, 1909.
State
Expense Fund
Furnishing Boy's Hall
Total
California
$ 444.20
$ 13.41
$ 457.61
Illinois
55.00
55.00
Iowa
96.75
5.00
101.75
Kansas
19.23
12.25
31.48
Ohio
105.00
105.00
Oklahoma
117.00
80.49
197.49
New York
5.00
5.00
Pennsylvania
329.00
5.00
334.00
Total
$1166.18
$ 121.15
$ 1287.33
Donors To The General Support A record has already been made of those
who contributed toward the purchase of the
farm in response to the appeal through the
Oak Hill Aid society. A grateful mention of
the Women's and Young People's societies and
individual donors, who contributed to the
support and extension of the general work of
the institution, seems eminently
appropriate. They include the following
list:
Alabama: The Negro in Business by Booker T.
Washington, Tuskeegee.
California: Alhambra, Dinuba, Rev. H. J.
Frothingham, Elsinore; Eureka, Lampoc, Long
Beach, Mrs. O. L. Mason; Los Gatos, Los
Angeles, First; Mrs. Margaret Daniels, Mrs.
Archibald; Central, Mrs. Hiram Leithead;
Highland Park, Mrs. Kate C. Moody M. D.;
Third, Mary A. Clark, Boyle Heights,
Hollywood, Immanuel, Spanish Mission, Carrie
E. Crowe, Westminster; Nordhoff, Margaret
Daniels; North Ontario, New Monterey, Monte
Cito, Oakland, Mattie Hunter; Orange, Red
Bluff, San Diego First, Mrs. A. W. Crawford;
San Jose First and Second, Mrs. Frances
Palmer, Mrs. G. H. Start, Mrs. Mary Langdon;
Lebanon of San Francisco, San Martin, Santa
Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Santa
Paula, San Louis Obispo; Upland Ventura,
Watsonville.
Colorado: Fort Morgan, Gunnison, Timnath.
Connecticut: Miss A. C. Benedict,
Waterbury.
Illinois: Cairo; Chicago, Bethany, J. H.
Jones, Leslie Music Company; Fairbury, Mrs.
J. J. Pence; Mason City, Springfield Second.
Indiana: William Elliot, Lafayette $5,000
for Elliott Hall; Greensburg, Winona Lake.
Iowa: Alta, Lucy M. Haywood; Boone,
Burlington First, Clarinda, Corning, Corning
Presbytery, Crawfordsville, Creston, Des
Moines Central, Fonda, M. E. Church, Mrs. A.
S. Wood, Adele Curkeet, Adelia M. Eaton,
Mrs. R. E. Flickinger, Geo. Sanborn, Mrs. J.
B. Weaver, Mrs. John E. Jordan, Clark Perry;
Fort Dodge, Gilmore City, Mrs. Bert C.
McGinnis, Clarence M. Patterson; Grimes,
Hamburg, Knoxville, Lenox, Malvern,
Manchester, Nodaway, Princeton, Red Oak,
Rockwell City, Ella T. Smith, Elmer E.
Johnson, John H. Mattison; Sanborn,
Sigourney, Shenandoah, State Center, Storm
Lake, Washington, Bethel, Winfield, Walnut.
Kansas: Auburn, Burlington, Clay Center,
Derby, Edgerton, Herrington, Halstead,
Highland, Humboldt, Junction City, Kansas
City, First, Grand View Park, Western
Highland; Lincoln Center, Lawrence, Lyons,
Manhattan, Morganville, Mulberry Creek,
Neodesha, Oakland, Osawatomie, Oswego,
Phillipsburg, Roxbury, Stanley, Sterling,
Syracuse, Topeka, First, Second, Third and
Westminster, M. B. True; Waverly, Wichita,
First.
Massachusetts: Marblehead, Mrs. J. J.
Gregory.
Michigan: Coldwater, Harrington.
Missouri: Kansas City, Montgomery Ward &
Co., Maryville, Prof, J. C. Speckerman; St.
Louis, Majestic Range Co.
Nebraska: Beatrice.
New York: Mexico, Mrs. Mary O. Becker,
Mrs. Mamie G. Richardson; Plattsburg, Mrs.
M. D. Edwards; Honoye, Anna M. Bowerman; New
York, Am. Bible Society, Oliver Swet Marden.
Ohio: Bellefontaine, Mrs. D. O. Spade;
Columbiana, Mrs. Mattie C. Flickinger;
Dayton Lorenz Music Co.; Denison, College
Hill, Miss H. M. Wilson; East Liverpool
First, Mansfield, Springfield First,
Wellsville First.
Oklahoma: Alva, Mrs. H. E. Mason,
Anadarko, Atoka, Annie Osborne, Ardmore,
Rev. Charles C. Weith, Bartlesville,
Blackwell; Mrs. Emma F. McBride, Coalgate;
Cement, Central, Cimmaron Presbyterial;
Chickasha, Edmond, Elk City, El Reno, Mrs.
F. R. Farrand, Enid, Eagletown, Kiamichi
Presbyterial; Garvin, Rev. and Mrs. W. H.
and Emma A. Carroll; Hobart, Mrs. Geo. D.
Willingham; Frederick, Griffin, Charity
Glover; Granite, Grant, Susan Seats, Kaw,
Kingfisher, MacAlester, Millerton, Rance
Cherry, Joseph Garner; Muskogee First,
Mulhall, Norman, Prof. Geo. N. Gould;
Oklahoma First, Phil C. Baird D. D., Mrs. W.
A. Knott; Okmulgee, Perry, Ponca, Shawnee,
Stroud, Tulsa, Tonkawa, Oak Hill, Valliant,
Solomon H. Buchanan, Dining Table and
Chairs, Samuel Folsom, Front Door of Elliot
Hall, Lucretia C. Brown Communion Service,
Bertha L. Ahrens, Adelia M. Eaton, John
Claypool, Malinda A. Hall, R. E. and Mary A.
Flickinger; Vinita, Wagoner, Watonga.
North Dakota: Fillmore, Mary I. Weimer.
Pennsylvania: Armagh, Bakerstown, Black
Lick, Blairsville First, Blairsville
Presbyterial, Braddock, First and Calvary;
Buelah, Coatesville, E. Lilley; Cresson,
Congruity, Derry, Doe Run, Easton, College
Hill, Brainard and South Side; East Liberty,
Ebensburg, Greensburg, First and
Westminster; Anna B. Hazleton, Irwin,
Jeanette, Latrobe, Ligonier, Johnstown,
First, Second and Laurel Avenue; Lewistown,
Manor, McGinnis, Murraysville, Philadelphia,
Lena D. Fieber and Prof, H. W. Flickinger;
Pittsburgh, First and Second, Ellen M.
Watson, Mary R. Scott; Port Royal,
Parnassus, Pleasant Grove, Poke Run, Plum
Creek, New Alexandria, New Kensington, South
Danville, Mrs. W. A. Reagel; Turtle Creek,
Westmont Chapel, Wilkinsburg, Martha Graham,
Mrs. J. J. Campbell, Williamsburg, Windber
and Windsor.
South Dakota: Volga, Hartford, Mrs. M. E.
Crowe.
Texas: Bushy Creek, Mary A. Pierson,
Crockett, Mrs. John B. Smith.
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includes some historical materials that may imply negative stereotypes
reflecting the culture or language of a particular period or place. These
items are presented as part of the historical record and should not be
interpreted to mean that the WebMasters in any way endorse the stereotypes
implied .
Choctaw Freedmen and Oak Hill Industrial
Academy, 1914, Robert Elliott Flickinger
