A Tale of Two Towns: Part One

In the late 19th Century, a fellow named Jeff King arrived in the Indian Territory, and he settled on the open prairie in the Chickasaw Nation. At that time, the area was just range land, primitive and untamed. It was mostly used for grazing purposes and large herds of cattle were scattered throughout.

Whilelittleisknownabout King, he left a legacy that endures until today and his name is known throughout MarshallCountyandbeyond.

Shortly after arriving in about 1890, King began building a home and a schoolhouse. He named his place “King’s Chapel.” However, sadly, before he could complete the construction of the school and other structures, he became ill and died.

In his honor, another individual completed the school and then built several other structures, both business and residential. Also, in King’s honor, the community was renamed King’s Town - later shortened to Kingston.

Once Kingston was established, a post office was constructed and chartered on April 4, 1894, with John F. Robinson as postmaster. The settlement also included a general store, a cotton gin, several other businesses and the schoolhouse that also served as a church.

What most people don’t realize is that the Kingston of 1894 was not the Kingston of today. The Kingston of 1894 was about 2.5 miles southwest of the present-day Kingston. In 1894, nothing existed in the present-day Kingston area, other than prairie and pastureland.

In 1897, a young, newly married, 24-year-old entrepreneur namedJamesHampton Willis (better known as J. Hamp), opened a store in Kingston. J. Hamp was from the prominent Willis family from Southern Pickens County. J. Hamp’s father, Raleigh Britton Willis, was the pioneer that founded the community of Willis, Okla.

J.Hamp’swifewasEmma Mildred Harris. She was from a prominent Chickasaw family.HerfatherwasRobert Maxwell Harris, the then Governor of the Chickasaw Nation.

Approximately a year after their marriage, and the opening of his store in Kingston, J. Hamp and Emma had their only child, a young girl named Helen Robenia Willis. Helen was born on January 29, 1898, in what was then Kingston, (King’s Chapel) Indian Territory.

About 1900, the St. Louis- San Francisco Railroad (more commonly known as the “Frisco Railroad”) began building a rail line from Sapulpa through the Indian Territory to Texas. Grading for the line through Pickens County to the Red River began soon after.

Because of his connections, J. Hamp learned of the proposed route, and he began buying property along the planned rail line. Then much to the surprise of the folks in the area, the line bypassed Oakland, the first town established in Marshall County, and it bypassed Kingston.

The line ran about a mile east of Oakland, and then about two and a half miles northeast of Kingston. Whether by luck, or insider information, the Frisco line ran right through the property that J. Hamp bought northeast of Kingston. Once the line was completed, J. Hamp moved his store from Kingston to his land next to the train line. He then named the place Helen, after his young daughter.

J. Hamp then began platting a town on his land around the new railroad line. He then moved his store from Kingston to his new town and he began selling lots. He named his new town for his two-year-old daughter, Helen. Thus, the town of Helen was born.

The following was written in the Denison newspaper about the new town of Helen: Helen is 25 miles north of Denison. It has the most beautiful and healthful location on the entire Frisco railroad and there is no more attractive township in the entire Indian Territory. It is in the centre of a large and rich belt ofgrazingandfarminglands, andcommandsawidestretch of Territory, east and west, which yearly yields bounteous harvests of small grain corn and cotton. Helen sits in beauty on the hills and its citizens can see nightly the lights of Denison and Sherman 25 and 35 miles away.

A few years later, J. Hamp became a mining inspector for the Chickasaw Nation. He held that position for 18 years. Afterhistimeasamining inspector, he returned to his home in Kingston where he ran a grain business until his death in 1940. The last 11 years of his life, he ran the business from his bed as he was stricken with an illness that left him paralyzed.

His widow, Emma lived until 1965. Both are buried in the Kingston Cemetery.

Young Helen married Royal Palmer Lewis. They later moved to Oklahoma City where Helen lived until herdeath1977.SheandRoyal are buried in Maysville in Garvin County. Helen and Royal had two children.

Upon his death in late 1890 or early 1891, King was buried in a now unmarked grave in his town of King’s Chapel. A location known only to God.

Gary Henry is an attorney, author, photographer and Marshall County historian. He lives in Oklahoma City with his wife Diane. Henry is the son of Kingston natives, GeorgeS.(Skippy)Henryand Betty Ann Hughes. Henry’s grandfather was George S. Henry, the longtime superintendent of Kingston Schools. Several generations of Henry’s family hail from Marshall County.