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Guide To LeFlore County Oklahoma Genealogy Part of the OKGenWeb Project |
Updated: 14 Nov 2023 |
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School records - according to Guide to the Historical Records of Oklahoma, Revised Edition [Bradford Koplowitz, published 1997, ISBN 0-7884-0730-9] there are no LeFlore County school records prior to 1921. It also states that in 1994 a change in Oklahoma's county government dissolved the office of Superintendent of Schools. The records of this office remain in the county courthouses under the authority of the County Clerk, but some records have not been moved and are maintained by the Board of County Commissioners. -- Can anyone tell me where the records are housed in LeFlore County, what time period they cover, what one should expect when requesting copies, cost of copies, research fees, who to write, etc. Any tidbit is helpful.
TOP There were two types of early schools before statehood - The Indian schools, and the white "pay or subscription schools." The Choctaw Nation with the help of church organizations such as the Presbyterians, Methodists and Baptists established the Indian schools. The Methodist established schools for the Choctaw boys and girls, Fort Coffee and New Hope Academies. They were the two most important schools in the county. The Presbyterians established schools at Shady Point, Kulla Chaha, and an academy at Cameron. Often white children were allowed to attend the Indian schools by paying a small fee. No rural schools could be organized on a legal basis before statehood. In the towns until 1898 there were no legal means to establish schools. They, too, had private and subscriptions schools. Poteau is said to have established the first school by tax and bond action in the Indian Territory. After 1902, Poteau and Howe were among the first incorporated towns to use bonds to establish schools in buildings erected by bonds. A series of schools called, "Moonlight
School," were organized in LeFlore County and various sections of
Oklahoma soon after statehood. Schools for adults that taught reading,
writing, and arithmetic. The day teacher offered this free. Some of the early schools:
The Fort Coffee Academy occupied the old Military Fort in the extreme northern part of LeFlore County situated on a high bluff, called Swallow Rock, that overlooks the Arkansas River. After the fort was abandoned the buildings were used as a school for the Indian boys. Henry C. Benson was the first teacher and W. H. Goode was the first superintendent in 1843. In the spring of 1844, 33 boys were in attendance, the school was under Methodist supervision and it was their first effort to educate the Choctaws. The school was located about six miles northeast of
the present town of Spiro and operated in conjunction with that of New Hope.
It remained in operation until the Civil War and was not reopened when the
war closed. Nothing remains of the site except a deep rock walled
well. A small cemetery also exists where the body of Major Francis
Armstrong is buried. He was Superintendent of the early Choctaw
removal and also Superintendent of the Choctaw Agency when it was
established in 1832. He died 1835 at the Agency five miles east and
was brought to Swallow Rock, (Fort Coffee), for burial. 1 Probably same "Pay School" later referred to as "Hickory Grove" one mile northeast of Kulla Chaha where Mrs. Matta Peck began teaching at age 15y 9mo. |
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