Drumright
Post office established December 28, 1912.
First known locally as Fulkerson.
"Drumright began its career as Fulkerson, but was renamed for the
owner of the land on which the townsite was laid out in 1913. For nearly
three years its tents, lean-tos, and ramshackle wooden buildings, set amid
300 or more oil derricks over richly producing wells, sheltered bootleggers,
highjackers, gamblers, and nearly every other variety of boom town outlaw
along with the decent population. Then, in 1916, the town made "Fighting
Jack" Ary chief of police. He quickly moved against the leader of the criminal
element, a half-blood Creek Indian named Creekmore; and after he was in
prison the other bad boys either left town or followed him to jail.
Drumright's principle street runs over steep Tiger Hill, on which
in the early period of the neighboring oil field's development, many spectacular
wrecks of mule-drawn trucks loaded with heavy equipment furnished thrills
for the people of the town."
Named for Aaron Drumright, townsite owner.[2]
More history below.
Drumright Cemeteries
Drumright Court Records
Drumright
Funeral Homes
Drumright Newspapers
Drumright Schools
History of Drumright
"Aaran Hatcher Drumright. He is the son of Richard Franklin and Eliza
Hatcher Drumright. He is the grandson of Robert James Drumright who migrated
from Virginia to Tennessee in 1835. He was born in West Plains, Missouri
January 22, 1882. He married Mary Gertrude Ryan of Iowa in 1905 who died
in 1921. He married Lydia Rachel Parker February 22, 1922, who died in
1925.
Mr. Drumright left West Plains, Missouri in 1900 and went to Oklahoma
where he bought land and farmed. He also owned land in Kansas and South
Dakota. When the oil fields opened up in Oklahoma in 1912 and oil was discovered
on his land, he subdivided 120 acres into town lots and sold them for business
property at the price of $12.50 per lot, which made it possible for the
town to grow and they called it 'Drumright' for the founder. By 1915 there
were eight oil wells operating.
Mr. Drumright was very active in the affairs of 'Drumright'. In addition
to his real estate business, he built the first modern service station
in that area. For some time he was county commissioner. He was a promoter,
director, and president of Drumright Bank. He was appointed Postmaster
by President Herbert Hoover. He was a 32 degree Mason and an active member
and supportive pillar of the Drumright Methodist Church.
After his retirement from the post office, he moved on his large
estate near Parsons, Kansas in 1937. February 1968 he sold his property
to the city of Parsons for construction of Lake Parsons.
Mr. Drumright died February 21, 1969. His funeral was preached in
the Methodist Church in Drumright, Oklahoma by his pastor Rev. David Severe.
He was laid to rest in the Drumright Cemetery. Survivors included two sons,
Everette F. Drumright of Poway, California and Aaron H. Drumright, Jr.
of Ottawa, Kansas, a daughter Mrs. Bess Drumright Johnson of Rockford,
Illinois, and a sister Mrs. Lina Ellen Drumright Bridges of Pomona, Missouri."
[1]
Sources:
1. Contributed by James
H. Carroll from noted sources.
Oklahoma, A Guide to the Sooner State, The American
Guide Series, sponsored by the University of Oklahoma (Norman, OK: University
of Oklahoma Press) MCMXLVII. p. 390. and Gracie Drumright Dowland, The Drumright Family Tree
(Nashville, TN: Eveready Press, 1974) p. 124.
2. George
H. Shirk, Oklahoma Place Names (Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press,
1965)