Interview #4265
Field Worker: Jennie Selfridge
Date: June 1, 1937
Name: Dr. Thomas Peter Howell
Residence: 3 miles west, one north of Davis, Oklahoma
Date of Birth: August 29, 1849
Place of Birth: Eagletown, Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory
Father: Dr. Calvin H. Howell, born in North Carolina,
died when Thomas was 12 years old
Mother: Rhoda Pitchlynn, born in Mississippi, sister of
Peter Pitchlyn
Click
here for children and spouses.
Interview with Dr. Thomas Peter Howell, Box 218, Davis,
Oklahoma
I was born at Eagletown, Choctaw Nation, Indian
Territory, August 29, 1849. My family lived just east of the Peter
Pitchlynn farm which was located on the east side of Mountain Fork.
We had a large farm there and owned a large number of slaves, as did my
Uncle Peter P. Pitchlynn.
I first attended school at a Mission on Mountain Fork.
I believe this was called the Mountain Fork Mission. Chamberlin
was one of my teachers, and Byington was the missionary
there. I later attended school at Center, Arkansas, and then
entered Cumberland University at Lebanon, Tennessee. During
vacation I would visit in Washington, D.C., with my uncle, Peter Pitchlynn.
After attending Cumberland University for two years, I entered medical
school at Baltimore, Maryland, where I graduated in the spring of 1872.
After graduating from medical school, Dr. Israel W.
Folsom (who later moved to Ardmore) and I went to Atoka where we
began the practice of medicine up and down the M.K. & T. Railroad
We also operated the drug store at Atoka. The Nichols family was
operating the hotel there at that time. I spend two years at Atoka
and sold out to Dr. Folsom, then moved to Pauls Valley, where I began
the practice of medicine.
In 1876, I moved to my present location, three miles
west and one mile north of Davis. Here I established a good
medical practice, sometimes riding as far as Healdton to see a patient.
I would go on horseback, usually riding down one day and coming back the
next.
My mother moved four miles west of the present town of
Davis while I was attending school in Baltimore. She settled on
the old Moncrief place, which is now owned by a Mr. Smith.
My first wife was Lizzie Grant, a daughter of Tom Grant.
Tom Grant later married my sister.
The first store around Davis was called the Washita
store and was owned and operated by Matt Wolfe. Apparently
he wanted to own the whole place and did not want anyone else to own
property there, so Sam Davis went
down to the present town of Davis and established a and began
operating a store.
Early settlers in this country were the Gardner's,
Brad Camp, Sam Garvin, Tom Grant, Mitchell's, Wantlings, Kimberlins and
Joe Myers. The Kimberlins and Wantlings raised corn in large
acreage and sold it at Fort Sill for $1.00 a bushel.
Fort Arbuckle was abandoned in 1870, although the
United States surveyors were still using the buildings as headquarters
for the surveyors when I first visited there.
I operated a large ranch in the Arbuckle vicinity for
many years and gave up the practice of medicine to engage in this
enterprise and I still own several hundred acres of land.
Transcribed by Brenda Choate and Dennis Muncrief,
December, 2000.