Bryan Co., OK; Town of Liberty, 1909-1983 - History --------------------------------- Submitted by the Bryan County Heritage Library Located in Calera, OK Written by Pauline Kelly Typed for the archives by Trudy Marlow --------------------------------- USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. Files may be printed or copied for personal use only. ---------------------------------------------------- LIBERTY, 1909-1983 The Liberty Community is bounded on the north by the road that begins at the Red River and goes straight west through the Steakley farm and on past the Melvin West farm to the river again. The west, south and east boundaries are the Red River. Liberty is nestled in a bend in the river. In the early days the road went all the way through on the north side but now the bridge is gone on the "old dipping vat place" owned by Mr. and Mrs. Bob Campbell, and also there is a creek that is deeper now on the Doyle Little farm and can not be forded. This creek which is quite deep now, was said to have been started by Bill Sears with a "turning plow" on the then Bill Turner farm. The old timers say Jake Colbert, a Liberty black man, said he dug part of Red River with a "turning plow". This may well be. After the flood of 1908 the river was farther south, thus enlarging the boundaries. The legal description of the boundary of Liberty, former school district No. 70A, is as follows: "Beginning at the NE Cor. of Sec. 25, thence W. 5-1/2 miles to the intersection of the Red River, thence following the meandering of said river to SE Cor. of the NE 1/4 of Sec. 25, thence N to the point of beginning." That portion of land known as "Liberty" was once part of the Kemp School District, but since the distance was too far for the children to travel to school, the residents in the southern part of the district asked to have their own school in their area. Mr. Torn Phillips, whose farm was just across the northern dividing line, and was a Kemp school trustee, was instrumental in bringing about the division. The story goes, that a Mr. Hale who lived in the area made the remark that they had gained their liberty from Kemp, so why not call the community "Liberty", and the name stayed. The first trustees were Will Skinner, Perry Southard and R.L. Wilson, and Mr. Southard's daughter, Mrs. Bernice Little, still has old warrants and bills related to the school business. The first school was established in the SE corner of the SE 1/4 of Sec. 27, which is about half way from the east and west boundaries and one mile south of the northern boundary. Soon there was a need for two additional schools. One, two miles west on the land now owned by Wayne Kelly and Mrs. G.E. Kelly, and another 1- 1/2 miles south on the land owned by Bill Haddock. The schools were known as the North End, (site of the first school), West End and South End. Later there was a fourth school to accommodate the black children of the area, about 1/2 mile southwest of the South End school on the now Lloyd Wylie farm. This continued for a few years until a vote was taken and those in favor of moving the schools back to the North End prevailed, so the schools were moved, buildings and all. The lumber for the first North End School was donated by Jim Whitamore and Glover Wells. The land was donated July 26, 1909 by A.H. and Lena Beagles and consisted of one acre square. Later, on Oct. 20, 1922, another acre was bought from J.L. and Ninnie Hoket for $125,00, which made the property 98-1/2 yds. square. The school district continued for 59 years until it was consolidated with Achille in the spring of 1968. The North End school, (which was then simply known as Liberty), burned in the summer of 1946. Gardner and Helen Griffin were the teachers, and had just moved to Liberty. As was the custom then, the children attended school in the summer after hoeing was over and continued until cotton picking time. The teachers and children were cleaning the school yard and burning the trash, when some paper blew to the top of the school house and was on fire before it was noticed. All the community turned out to fight the fire, but to no avail. The next building was the Yarnaby school house, which was moved to the site. Yarnaby had consolidated with Yuba. Then in about 1952 a new building was constructed. Garland and Dorothy Curtis were the teachers. This building partially burned on May 13, 1982 while being used as a community center and is in the process of being rebuilt. Originally the land in Liberty was allotted to the Chickasaw Indians. The amount each person received depended on the value placed on the land. The least was 80 acres and the most 160 acres. They also received annuities. Some of the names of Indians who received allotments were Skinner, Reynolds, Duckworth, Turnbull and Shipp. The Indians were wealthier than the other people who lived in the community. Some of the businesses operated in the community were a saw mill operated by Charlie Haggard and Lee Cox on the now Pat Trammell farm in the southeast part of the community, and a ferry in the southwest part on the land that now belongs to Loyd Lasiter. At one time the biggest pay roll was the Kimbell Farm owned by K. Kimbell of Ft. Worth. The farm, which consists of something over 2000 acres, was home to twenty or thirty families during the depression days. Will Taylor was the overseer. Today the land is owned by K. Kimbell's niece and her husband and is known as the Ben Fortson Ranch. Liberty once had a bus, of sorts, that made a trip to Denison every Saturday. It was a tarp covered 1-1/2 ton truck owned and operated by Mrs. Opal Holland. The benches built around the sides of the truck bed could accomodate about 25 passengers. The fee was 25 cents for a round trip. Another business Liberty had was a dipping vat. It was located on the northern boundary on the now Bob Campbell farm, and was to accommodate all the cattle owners in dipping their cattle for ticks. The cattle were driven to the vat from the Liberty and Kemp Communities. The dip was furnished by the county. Another enterprising group who lived briefly in Liberty was the Doolan Gang who lived right west of the dipping vat place on land owned by Bill Haddock. In fact, Bill Haddock was born in the cabin that formerly was the hideout of the Gang. That was during the time when Liberty wasn't cultivated, but had a lot of wooded area. Liberty even had two lakes. One was called Grassy Lake and was located nearly a mile south of the school site and the other was Red Lake which was about a mile farther south near the river. Grassy Lake was drained during the WPA days and Red Lake evidently just dried up. The pay for WPA workers was $2.50 a day for a man and team. Of course there has always been a Liberty Store. The first was owned by F. F. Fowler and operated by Brown. It was just across the road south from the North End School. The building burned to the ground once, but the present building has been standing for about 60 years. For the last 37 years it has been owned and operated by Mr. and Mrs. Doyle Kelly. Others who have owned the store were Bill Sears, Bob Adams, Mose Maloy, Ed Dillingham, Joe Norman, Bob Elrod, John Stevens, W.R. Craige and Grandon Haddock. The first all weather road was an Indian project completed in 1948. At the opening of the road a fish fry was held and all friends and neighbors of the community were invited. The road was one of the projects completed when the community entered an Oklahoma Rural Neighborhood Progress Contest sponsored by the Farmer-Stockman magazine of Oklahoma City and Dallas. The Liberty Church of Christ met in the school building when it was first formed in about 1941. The first preacher was Andy McAlister. The auditorium of the present building was built in 1956. The present preacher is Jan Kelly, son of Mr. and Mrs. Doyle Kelly. The Liberty Home Demonstration Club was organized in about 1931. Miss Nina G. Craige was the agent. It has been a force for learning and improving the home and community for over 51 years. The only living member of the original group is Mrs. Myrtle Carpenter. For recreation, Liberty has had an independent basketball team in 1946, 1947 and 1948; a roping pen on the present Ben Bodine farm; and also a skating rink in the old gymnasium. The goal of the residents has always seemed to be to preserve the community so people who are and those who have been Libertyites are proud of the name. ---------------------------------------------------- Written by Pauline Kelly