Marshall County History: New Old Woodville, part 1

The Marshall County community named “New Woodville,” could more correctly be named, “New” New Woodville. This is because, theplaceknownasOldWoodville, was actually the first New Woodville, before “New” New Woodville. Confused?

On November 8, 1881, the second town in what is now known as Marshall County was established. The town was named Harney, Indian Territory.

The first town established inMarshallCountywasOakland, on July 20, 1881. Back in late 1800s and early 1900s, the primary hallmark of a community's development was the establishment of a United States Post Office. In addition to being essential as a means of communication before the advent of telephone service, a post office also represented recognition of the town at the federal level. Most all the towns in Indian Territory date their beginning from the designation of a post office. In many cases, this led to new names or different spellings, as the postal service did not allow a state or territory to have multiple post offices with the same name. This is why Helen became Kingston. At the time Helen was formed, there was another town in Indian TerritorynamedHelena and the postal service denied Helen a post office. So, Helen took the name Kingston, and the town of Kingston was abolished.

The town of Harney was originally located on the Red River about a mile and a half west of what is now known as “Old Woodville.” It was named after a full-blood Chickasaw woman, named Sison Harney.

Sison was the daughter of Luppahubby and Ah-Co-Na-He. Her father, Luppahubby wasalsoknownbythenames, La-Pa-Hubby, and Lupphubbia. Sison’s parents came to Indian Territory from the Mississippi homelands of the Chickasawpeople,duringthe Indian removal, also known as The Trail of Tears.

In the 1830s Luppahubby and Ah-Co-Na-He settled in the Brownsville area of what is now Marshall County. Most of the Brownsville area is now buried beneath the waves of Lake Texoma.

Theretheywelcomedtheir daughter Sison in approximately 1840, and their son, Chikiee,whowentbyLoman, around 1850. Determining actual dates of birth for Sison and Chikiee is impossible as records have differing dates and ages for both. At some point, the family adopted the surname of Brown. Ah-Co-Na-He died before 1895. Luppahubby died on March 17, 1901.

Not much is known about the early life of Sison, but eventually, she married a part-Chickasaw gentleman namedWesleyHarney. Wesley was not full blood Chickasaw, but he was a tribal citizen. They made their home along the Red River near where Sison was born.

Eventually, Wesley was appointed to the Supreme Court of the Chickasaw Nation, and he also served as a Legislator for the tribe. He was a very well respected and influential man who served his tribe with honor and distinction. Sadly, Sison and Wesley never had any children of their own.

After a few years, a community formed near where Sison and Wesley had their farm, and in honor of the long-time resident Sison and her husband, the community adopted the name Harney. From that point, Sison lived in her namesake until the name of the town was changed to Woodville.

On September 11, 1893, whileWesleywastravelingto Tishomingo for a legislative proceeding, he died of unknown causes. In his honor, the Chickasaw Legislature convened a session on September 14, 1893, observed a few moments of silence, then adjourned. He is buried in the Isom Springs Cemetery in Marshall County.

In 1902, Sison, along with a gentlemen named G.W. Vaughn, applied for a marriage license at the Federal Courthouse in Ardmore, Indian Territory. The license was issued on November 27, 1902. However, from the records, it appears that the marriage never occurred.

In 1903, Sison received an allotment of 80 acres of land in the Isom Springs area of the county via the Indian Allotment Act. From that point forward, she lived on her 80 acres at Isom Springs. At some point, she stopped going by Mrs. Sison Harney, and simply became known to everyone around the area as Grandma Harney. In fact, her death notice, that appeared in the Red River Daily Farmer newspaper, referred to her as Grandma Harney, not Sison Harney. Apparently, most of the residents of the area so revered Sison Harney they referred to her as their “grandma” even though she never had children or grandchildren of her own. She was Grandma to everyone.

Sison Harney died on May 29, 1930. The death notice in the paper said she was at her home on her farm in Isom Springs. Oddly, court documents report she died in the hospitalatDurant.According to probate documents, she wasover90yearsofageather death. The newspaper death notice reports her age as 98.

Prior to her death, she had beenunderaguardianshipas an incompetent for about 10 years. Her funeral was conducted by Reverend Monroe Ayres of Woodville.

She was originally buried in the Lucy Brown Cemetery located six and one-half miles south of Kingston. However, during the construction of Lake Texoma, her grave was moved to the New Isom Springs Cemetery.

In 1923 she made a will with Joe Burris, a distant relative, as beneficiary. Some years thereafter she signed some papers which Joe Burris thought might be a will giving her property to Lucy Brown, another distant relative. Then on June 3, 1929, Joe Burris had her make another will bequeathing all her property to him. Then on the 24th day of May 1930, she executed another will, making Lucy Brown, Elta Brown, Polk Brown, and Lewis Brown, all distant relatives, as beneficiaries.

Five days after the last will was executed, Sison died. The county probate court admitted the last will, of May 24, 1930, granting all her property Lucy, Elta, Polk and Lewis to probate. The Judge in that case was Isaac Overton Lewis, one of the founders of Madill.

Joe Burris then appealed the matter to the district court. The District Court reversed Judge Lewis and the will of May 24, 1930, was denied probate, and the will of June 3, 1929, with Joe Burris as beneficiary was admitted to probate.

TheBrownsthenappealed the case to the Supreme Court of Oklahoma. On June 11, 1935, the Oklahoma Supreme Court reversed the ruling of the District Court and upheld the ruling of the Marshall County Court finding in favor of the Browns. This case was of such importance under Oklahoma law that it ended up being a published opinion on the issue of testamentary capacity and is still considered important legally, to this day. Thus, Sison Harney lives on in the law.

Sometime between 1881 and 1888, the Red River flooded the river basin, and the town of Harney was devastated. Thereafter,thetown moved a few hundred yards north of the original location and was re-established.

The first business to be opened in Harney was the Kid Morton store. Apparently, Kid Morton was not really the man’s name, but no one knew his real name andhewasjustknownasKid Morton. The store opened in 1884. Morton did not operate the store for too long, before selling it to Jim Moyer.

Jim Moyer had come to Harney in 1881 just after the founding of the town and was the first schoolteacher there. Hetaughtschool,andfarmed until he saved enough money to purchase the Kid Morton store. After purchasing the store, he enlarged the stock of the store until he had about $3,000 invested in the business. In today’s dollars, thatwouldberoughlyaround $80,000.

Moyer was a very successful. He bought and sold cotton, produce, and most every commodity he could get his hands on. Sadly, he was murdered on December 23, 1888, by a man known only as Luttrell. The murderer escaped capture and was never caught. After Mr. Moyer’s death, the store was bought by J. L. Coffee and William Thomas Christian. Coffee and Christian ran the store for a few years, then sold it to Dr. Burge.

J.L. Coffee later operated a dry goods store in Woodville after it was moved to the location we now know as Old Woodville. W.T. Christian later became the Constable of Woodville, and then eventually the Sheriff of Marshall County.

Being close to Denison, Texas it is said that moonshine flowed freely in Harney. Apparently, United States Marshalls spent a lot of time in the Harney area fighting the bootlegging problem that was quite rampant in the area. During those years, there were several murders in the Harney/ Woodville area. One feud ended up taking the lives of six or seven men. More on that in the coming weeks.

Because of its remote location, without any rail service everything was freighted to town via horse drawn wagons. Mostallshipmentscame fromDenison,onwagons,and across the Red River via a hand drawn ferry.

In 1885, two Dutchmen who went by the names Fred and Louis, built the first cotton gin in Harney. Sadly, these two have also been lost to history. In 1885, the first blacksmith shop was opened in Harney.

Then on July 9, 1888, the townofHarneywasrenamed Woodville, Indian Territory.

Next Week, Part II…Old Woodville, New Woodville, and New New Woodville.