Bal SHOLER
Information by Lloyd Timmons

Born Dec 6, 1872 Clark, Wright Co. Missouri
Died Aug 1, 1939 Hughes, Latimer Co. Oklahoma

Name: Bal SHOLER
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Birth: Dec 6, 1872 Clark, Wright County, Missouri
Death: Aug 1, 1939 Hughes, Latimer County, Oklahoma
Burial: ? ?
Father: Elijah BERRY (1832-)
Mother: Nancy Jane GRAY (1842-)
Spouse: Rachel Jeanette GARNER
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Birth: Jul 17, 1872 Benton County, Missouri
Death: Nov 5, 1939 Hughes, Latimer County, Oklahoma
Burial: ? ?

Children:
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1 M: William Nathan SHOLER
Birth: 1893 Clark, Wright County, Missouri
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2 M: John James SHOLER
Birth: 1898 Clark, Wright County, Missouri
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3 F: Bessie SHOLER (Twin)
Birth: Mar 31, 1903 Hughes, Latimer County, Oklahoma
Death: Nov 9, 1927 Red Oak, Latimer County, Oklahoma
Spouse: Robert Oliver TIMMONS
Marriage: Jun 29, 1919 Red Oak, Latimer County, Oklahoma
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4 F: Essie SHOLER (Twin)
Birth: Mar 31, 1903 Hughes, Latimer County, Oklahoma
Death: Sep 16, 1979 Galt, Sacramento County, California
Spouse: Clinton Alexander KING
Marriage: Jan 4, 1918 Oklahoma
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5 M: William Howard SHOLER
Birth: 1911 Hughes, Latimer County, Oklahoma

Additional Information by okie666@email.com

Inventive, Real quiet. Changed his name from David I. Berry to Bal Sholer because when he was young he was in with a gang that was robbing a bank. His job was to hold the horses, which he did until the shooting started and he figured something went wrong. He took off on his own. He never tried that again. He changed his name, and sometime around 1900 moved to Indian Territory. He had a nice blacksmith shop, and farmed quite a few acres around Hughes in Latimer County.

Buck and Janie(Timmons) used to help him forging metal. Buck would hold the metal piece with tongs over the anvil, while Janie worked the blower. Bal’s hammer would swing from side to side, quivering and shaking, till he set his focus to it. The hammer came down straight every time and hit right on the mark, but sometimes Buck closed his eyes, anyway, just to make sure.

He raised a small amount of tobacco, for himself and the locals. Once, Janie and Buck got into his tobacco, and divided a plug to chew. Buck took sick quick, and started to turn green, and afterwards throwing up, sicker’n a dog. Janie didn’t seem to have any ill effects at all.

Bal built a purple martin house about 10’ from the front gate, about 25’ off the ground. Told all the kids around they’d have to answer to him if they harmed any of the martins. They helped to keep the hawks away from his chickens and ducklings.

Somewhere around 1920, or maybe as early as 1910, a little girl in the area, about 3 or 4, identified a heavy-set man as being the man who had raped her, he having fled. The men of the area, including Bal, hunted the man down. He confessed to what he’d done. They carried him to a new tree stump, pulled his underwear down, and drove one of Bal’s big staples (he said it was 6” long) down around the top of his scrotum, and left him a dull knife with which to cut it away. The man did flee, but if he survived, I’m sure he never forgot his punishment. Left a bloody spot around the staple. Never said how the little girl fared. Punishment was definitely more immediate back then.