Who were these Early Alva Group...

Is this the "First Grand Jury of WOODS Co."?... We recently received an interesting "old" photo showing Scott Cummins seated on the front-row, 4th from the left. To the right of Scott Cummins, the Pilgrim Bard, is Thomas Dyer, seated front-row, 3rd from left. Notice the dark hair gentleman standing on the back-row, 3rd from left... That is my Grandpa Wm. Jacob "Bill" McGill. From the picture of McGill... it looks like some of those during his early 1900's baseball photos around 1907 or so.

We would like very much to find out the names of the other gentlemen. Someone suggested that it may be the "First Grand Jury of Woods County." OR... Is it an Alva Lodge Group?

Some of these faces seem familiar as if I have seen them in the 1903 Souvenir Edition of the Alva Pioneer. These are NOT positive identification... Center-row: far left-George Crowell, 2nd left-W.F. Hatfield, 3rd left-L.W. Moore; Back-row, 2nd right-F.P. Alexander;

Do YOU recognize any of your ancestors in this photograph? Is it a Lodge photo? Could this be a photo of Alva Businessmen in the early 1900s? Could this be the 1st Grand Jury of Woods County after Statehood?

Liberty 35 School 1904-05- NW Oklahoma

School Photograph The Pioneer Teacher... "My name is Earl Fugit and several of the students named are my Great Aunts or Uncles who I knew as a child and young man. I am also fortunate to have a copy of the Woods County Atlas 1906 and a copy of Pioneer Footprints Across Woods County. I also have a copy of genealogy notes compiled by Neil Fugit (deceased) and Albums containing many photographs of the Fugit, Oviatt and J B Ross family dating from late 1800 thru the 1950.

One of these albums contains the exact same school photograph. These albums belonged to Mrs. Nellie Oviatt Fugit and were passed down to me by my father Ray Fugit. Using the above documents I believe the school was Liberty School located approximately 6-miles South and 1-East of Alva -- about 5-miles North and one 1-East of Hopeton. This school was about 5 miles from the Warwick homestead.

believe the names on the back of the picture are all in the same hand writing and was added sometime after the picture was taken. (the inclusion of spouse names would indicate after 1919), I also feel the picture was taken prior to 1910 because of the birth dates and marriage dates of some of the students as shown below. I think the year could be as early as 1904 or 1905. I have arranged the list by gender and in age sequence in hopes of being able to identify some of the students from other photographs I have -- in the Pioneer Footprints. No success so far." -- Earl Fugit - Email: erfoknym@comcast.net

Rediscover the Treasures - Northwestern...

Duchess' NW Corner...

Northwestern -- Rediscover the Treasure... That is what we have been doing all this week. Rediscovering and discovering the treasures of some old Northwestern yearbooks.

It all began when Oakie and I made our daily trip to the postoffice the beginning of this week. What was waiting for us was a book box of treasures... three old Northwestern Yearbooks from 1926, 1937 and 1938. Can't wait until Oakie gets finished scanning -- transcribing them for you all.

Yep! This Precious Pug watches the birds, eagles and other mountain creatures while Oakie has been busy cranking up the old scanner -- starting the scanning process -- transcribing The Ranger 1926 "Castle On The Hill" Yearbook. Oakie has been consumed -- transported back in time to the 1926's in NW Oklahoma. Finding, learning more about the Castle on the Hill each day. We are updating our okielegacy.net with the following pages - NSTC - The Ranger 1926. We have put the full-scanned pages of The Ranger 1926 Yearbook on our NW OkieLegacy Webshots. Browse through both places and see what ancestors, friends and memories you might remember. Bookmark for future updates. This should keep Oakie busy for awhile, huh?

As to Rediscover the Treasure & Northwestern... You need to mark your calendars for September 30th thru October 2nd, 2004, Alva, Oklahoma. Join us and help rediscover the Treasure as the Community and the Rangers band together for another Cinderella Coronation and Homecoming celebrations at Northwestern's 2004 Homecoming. Hope to see most of you there! Yep! Oakie and I will be crowding the downtown square the morning of Saturday, October 2, 2004, for the Ranger's Homecoming parade. We are looking forward to seeing Y'all there!

Remember how it was in the "old days" ... When the parade with hundreds of bands, schools, elaborate floats would start up at the College and march down College Avenue -- around the downtown square -- ending at Washington Elementary School. Remember the organizations and church groups that setup food booths along College Avenue? Remember the Big Shows with Big Entertainers that got everyone got dressed to-the-nines?

Comparing Goldbug Mascots

Let us go back to NW Oklahoma, Alva High, in Alva, Oklahoma for a few moments with memories of the "buggettes," a girls cheering squad for the Alva High "Goldbugs." You can view the Alva Goldbug Reunions 2000 & mascot here AHS Goldbug Reunion 2000 - I know there are other schools with the Goldbug mascots. There are the Kensington High School Goldbugs in Kansas. Also, I hear that there are some Goldbug mascots in Fowler, Kansas and a school in California. I am told that this information was printed in a 'National Administrators Publication.' As another Alva Goldbug says, "It would be interesting to compare mascots and stories about how each school originated the idea."

If you have a Goldbug mascot and story, please share your origin with us in the 'Comments' section under this blog. If you have a photo of your Goldbug mascot, save it to a jpg file and Email Linda - paristimes@earthlink.net. Thanks ahead of time for contributing to the OkieLegacySoapbos.

Original Runnymede Hotel - Kansas Colony

The original Runnymede Hotel building as it appeared in Kansas before the move. Note the fancy Victorian trim on the porch and the gables on the third floor. The third floor was removed before the move to Oklahoma and rebuilt here as a Mansard style roof. -- courtesy of the Kansas State Historical Society & Jim Richey

Runnymede Project - Alva, Oklahoma...

Hi Linda, Thanks for stirring up interest in the Runnymede project in your e-zine. Your history is quite accurate. I have several pictures of the Runnymede -- both before and after the move from Kansas to Oklahoma. I also have pictures of the Runnymede colonists who enjoyed having their pictures made with guns, knives and big western hats. I suppose these wild west pictures were meant to impress the folks back in England. I'll attach a few lo-res pictures (I have several more, mostly of settlers). Any pictures with a file name beginning with KSHS should be credited to the Kansas State Historical Society. We would love to have a picture of the building being moved. If someone has such a picture we will carefully make a copy and return the original to its owner. -- Jim Richey - Email: j.richey@sbcglobal.net

Architect's Drawing - West Elevation

This architect's drawing of the west elevation shows how the building will look after renovation. Note the return to the siding of the original building. The addition to the right will house a kitchen and rest rooms. -- courtesy of Jim Richey, Alva, OK

ca. 1910 - Runnymede Hotel

This shot from about 1910 clearly shows the same veranda and Victorian trim as the original Kansas building. The third floor has been remodeled. -- courtesy of Jim Richey, Alva, OK

Company B - Front of Runnymede

Company B in front of the Runnymede. As the most prominent building in Alva for the first few decades the building was often the backdrop for photographs. -- courtesy of Jim Richey, Alva - Oklahoma

Alva's First Jury

Alva's first jury posing on south side of square with the Runnymede hotel, grocery store and Bickel's in the background on the east side of the square. -- courtesy of Jim Richey, Alva - Oklahoma