Marshall County, Oklahoma History: Madill in 1910 and Short bio of Wilkerson Family

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Dan James
jamestx2@airmail.net
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Source:  Newspaper Article - about 1961  
Photo available in Marshall County Archives Photo Gallery of 
Oliver Wilkerson on horseback in downtown Madill in 1910.
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Earlier Times Recalled --- Madill 51 Years Ago
Sand streets, cotton wagons and metal awnings on slender poles were 
a common sight in Madill 51 years ago. The year was 1910 and Oliver 
O. Wilkerson, a former county resident, remembers the time well. He 
was a dashing young man of 15 at the time. Wilkerson was the son of 
late W. W. Wilkerson who farmed in the Raborn and Antioch areas. The 
Wilkerson family had moved to this Indian Territory area in 1897 
from Pottsboro, Tex., where Oliver was born December 25, 1895. The 
now retired Wilkerson who lives in Electra, Tex., worked with his 
father on the farm until 1926 when he moved to Ardmore. From there 
he moved to Lubbock in 1928 and then to Electra last July. 

Wilkerson was in town last week recalling some of the downtown square 
area as he remembered it. Looking over the photograph appearing with 
this story, he recalled that the picture was made in front of the Chaney 
Studio about where the Paul Armstrong Shoe Shop now stands. The wagon 
and team to the right were used by W.J. Reed's grocery store for 
deliveries. At the extreme right is the old First National Bank building 
now the location of Main Automotive. Cotton wagons which were quite 
common to the day are parked at the east side of the courthouse. Other 
identifiable business locations remembered by Wilkerson include Biles 
Drug Store at the present location of Peterson's and Vandervort 
Brothers grocery and dry goods. The area also featured a saddle shop 
and theater along the north side.

While remembering these early years, Wilkerson said his father first 
moved to the Jeff Arbuckle place at Grantham. At a later time the late 
Mr. Wilkerson left the county with the going to Roswell, N. M., with 
the thought of moving his family there. This was about 1908, the year 
of a flood that turned the trip into a 30-day excursion. Wilkerson 
said the family was ready to give up on their father returning, 
thinking he might have been drowned trying to make his way back home. 
After having the family possessions packed and ready to move, Mr. 
Wilkerson moved his family from Grantham to Raborn, rather than 
New Mexico.