I will mention here that Booker T Noe, a cousin, was the Master Distiller for Jim Beam Brands and has a Single Barrel Bourbon in his name. I met Booker many years ago while I was a lobbyist for The Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S., Inc. He is a rather rotund, jovial sort and looks like many of his descendants and cousins. We talked a bit about how we were cousins, a fascinating story. I got to taste his product out of a barrel before it actually hit the market. I know that will surprise many of you LOL. It is one of 4 single-barrel bourbons which are blended to make Jim Beam White Label.
J.C. Matthews was a descendant of James Calvin Matthews, named for his
grandfather, oldest son of Robert Calvin Matthews, who was lost after the Civil
War Battle of Peay Ridge, never to be seen again. My grandfather partnered with
Mr. Harber in his first grocery and feed store and then Harber financed that
one and 4 more owned by my grandfather. Mr. Harber learned early that groceries
and feed was not his cup of tea. One of my grandfather’s brothers settled here
too and had Mattie’s Café in Bowlegs, OK. For the old-timers in Seminole, the
amazing stories of the others named here are mostly well known.
I do not know why Izard Co., AR settlers were also settlers of Tidmore IT,
other than to say that is what they did, moved in packs. I have been to Izard
County—Mt. Home, Pineville, Calico Rock, etc. I attended a Matthews Reunion in
2001. It is still a setting way back in time and is a beautiful, bucolic area,
resting on the ill-famed White River of Clinton lore. There are so, so many
stories and they will be added here over the next several days, weeks and
months. For those in Seminole especially, it will be, in large part, the
history you never knew.
*I am pictured here at the front of Calico Rock Hardware Store, the location of
G-G-Grandfather’s general store on the White River. It is rumored that he had a
barrel of fine whiskey and sold it by various quantities, depending upon your
level of interest. There are a number of fun family anecdotes that may have
mentioned that, which I have in my possession. I can neither confirm nor deny
the stories. He built the first school, Masonic Lodge, AME Church and more.
Page 2 of Seminole
Indian Territory
They Built This City
Once again, in the Seminole Producer, 85 Years Ago column, we find other
notables who came to Tidmore IT/ Seminole from the beginning. The date of this
story was October 30, 1932. The story concerns the Seminole newspapers into one
– “The Producer Publishing Company became the sole owner of Seminole Morning
News…” A new weekly edition became the sole news horn for the area, now named
The Seminole County News. The Stockholders of Producer Publishing company were
of course, James T. Jackson, President; S.A. Jackson, Secretary; W.E. “Doc”
Grisso, Vice-President; H.W. McNeill, Director. Stockholders of the Seminole
County News were W.S. Livingston, president; Mrs. W.S. Livingston,
vice-president; V.C. Cope, secretary-treasurer; and Ralph Livingston, director.
In the previous segment of this continuing saga, I have mentioned Doc Grisso
and H.W. “Bill” McNeill and others. I will now supply a little nugget or two on
Mr. and Mrs. Livingston. Mrs. Livingston was none other than Amy Dell Schenck,
daughter of Joseph Applegate Schenck, MD and Clarissa Ellenor Matthews.
Clarissa was the daughter of Robert Calvin Matthews, my G-G-Grandfather, also
mentioned previously. Clarissa was born in 1849, in Benton Co., TN, also previously
mentioned. Clarissa will be pictured here, along with a family photo.
W.S. Livingston was actually William Shelby Livingston, b. 1871, and I would
safely guess in Benton Co., TN. He and his wife are buried at Maple Grove
Cemetery in Seminole, Oklahoma, along with many other family members. Ralph
Livingston was born Ralph Schenck Livingston, just a few months before
statehood in February, 1907, in Seminole. Many of you old-timers here will
remember many of the family, certainly Rena Jo Livingston, her brother William
Shelby Livingston, Jr. This family not only helped build Seminole but Shawnee
as well. I knew Jack Livingston, a grandson, the best. He worked at Mick Tool
Co., along with my father, as a machinist of oil field “fishing tools”. I spent
a lot of time there as a youngin’. That is probably where I first met Joe
Mills, father of my spouse, Marsha Ann Mills Matthews. Jack always wore that
engineer cap and was never without his pipe/ tobacco, packing it and puffing
away. He and Everett Dobbs, who also worked there always came to my Little
League baseball games. I think E.L. Mick even attended a few. “Mick” bought the
latest model Thunderbird, trading it every year. They were all just like
family, and in fact, Jack was family. I know Rita Presley Baker will recall
“Dobbs” quite well. She comes from another family or two who have been here
forever.
Page 3 of Seminole Indian Territory
They Built This City
The Seminole Producer, 85 Years Ago Column, November 8, 1932, mentions one Paul
Noe, former Seminole Insurance Agent, defeated his republican opponent, Leo G.
“Happy” Nichols by a margin of 10,548 votes to 3,131 for county treasurer. I
guess ole “Happy” was none too happy after that thrashing. Please do note the
number of votes—a total of 13,678 votes cast. Our most recent election here had
a total of just over 1,400 votes cast. If we keep “growing” we will be playing in
the Little River Conference.
I do recall Paul Noe quite well and in fact, I recall being at their place on
Jefferson Street as a wee tyke. I believe the house number was 226 Jefferson
St. I had a Daily Oklahoman paper route that included Jefferson, University,
etc. so I do recall house numbers in some cases. I also remember phone numbers
when there were just 3 digits; ours was 291, then it became 2911 and then
EV2-[Evergreen] 2911. I will add a picture below of Fizer M. Noe and his wife,
Myrtle Maude Jones. Myrtle Maude Jones was the daughter of Rufus Philo Jones
and Mary Alice Matthews, daughter of Robert Calvin Matthews. If you like to
calculate these relationships, Myrtle was my 1st Cousin, twice removed. Her
mother was my 2nd Great Aunt.
Paul Noe was of course a descendant of Fizer Noe. Fizer is somehow a family
name. My grandfather was Winford Fizer Matthews. My father was Winford Fizer
Matthews Jr. and I was about to be Winford Fizer Matthews II but Mom won that
argument. If I recall correctly, Paul had a son named Paul Noe Jr. I knew the
daughter of Fizer Noe and Myrtle, Angie Ruth Noe, now of Houston, TX. Angie was
one of two cousins who helped get me started on the family history/ genealogy
in 1986. The other was Mary Jones, a descendant of Rufus Philo Jones. The rest,
as they say, is history. Pictured are: Franklin Randolph Noe and his wife,
Serena Elfrenza Matthews, daughter of Robert Calvin Matthews. Also pictured,
Fizer M. Noe and his wife, Myrtle Maude Jones. I have also added a photo of
Bill McNeill and his wife, Eliza Ann Wilmoth Matthews McNeill, daughter of
Robert Calvin Matthews. They were mentioned previously on Page 2 of this
series. Fizer M. Noe is of course the descendant of Franklin Randolph Noe. Last
but certainly not least is a photo of cousin, Booker T. Noe, Master Distiller,
Jim Beam [Boehm] Brands, with a link to his obituary in the New York Times. I
think we last spoke in 1999, in Louisville, Kentucky.
*All photos are at our
website: (17)
Seminole Indian Territory [IT] Ghost Towns and History | Facebook
Booker T Noe Photo:
https://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/27/us/f-booker-noe-ii-74-master-bourbon-distiller.html?fbclid=IwAR3HEFmImMnDxhtR7Pjz8LbpEYvnFIyt4ZIMnfo5hex6IGQ-T4RARJPu0LM
Page 4 of Seminole Indian Territory
They Built This City
The Seminole Producer,
85 Years Ago column, features November 12, 1932, mentioning two notable
Seminole families that I have mentioned time and again. I just previously
mentioned Rena Jo Livingston. Two other names are mentioned in the same
column—Norma Jean and Mildred Chase.
Leola Mildred Chase is
the daughter of Robert Hutton Chase and Cora Maude Noe, previously mentioned.
Cora was the daughter of Franklin Randolph Noe and Serena Elfrenza Matthews,
daughter of Robert Calvin Matthews, my G-G-Grandfather. Norma Jean Chase is the
daughter of Virgil Randolph Darius Chase, the son of Robert Hutton Chase.
Virgil is another favorite son of Izard Co., AR. Robert Hutton Chase brought he
and family from Elijay, Georgia. Virgil came to Seminole, along with a host of
others in the Chase family. He rests in Maple Grove Cemetery as well.
Ricky Chase Dell and her
little sister lived behind me on Roosevelt Street with a whole lot of family
and friends. Ricky and her sister are absolutely gorgeous, as their mother;
good genes as it is said. The Sullivans, also cousins, lived on Roosevelt as
well, having lived directly across the street from us on Coolidge before their
move.
Russell Herbert “Herb”
Chase also came here to Seminole but later moved to Fairland, Ottawa County,
Oklahoma, in the NE part of this state. William Darius Chase, the head of
family, was the father of Robert Hutton Chase. He was born in 1839, in Fulton
Co., Georgia, where he married Elizabeth Harrison Spruell. They ended up in
Elizabeth, Fulton Co., Arkansas, another spinoff of Izard Co., Arkansas. It is
fair to say he knew my G-G-Grandfather, Robert Calvin Matthews, both arriving
in Izard Co. at about the same time. Another son of William Darius Chase,
Wilson Alexander Chase, ended up in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Oh, what a tangled web we
weave.
