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CHARLES FRANCIS COLCORD
and
HARRIET SCORESBY COLCORD
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"His life was gentle, and the elements
So mix'd in him, that Nature might stand up —
And say to all the world, 'This was a man'."
Chronicles of Oklahoma
Volume 12, No. 4,
Page 381
December, 1934
Charles F. Colcord
President of the Oklahoma Historical Society, died at his ranch in Delaware County, Oklahoma, Monday, December 10, 1934. His body was brought to his home in Oklahoma City Tuesday, December 11. The casket was placed in the rotunda of the Historical Building where his remains lay in state from 10:00 A. M. to 1:00 P. M. December 12, and were viewed by hundreds of sorrowing friends.
The funeral services were held in the First Christian Church at 2:30 P. M., conducted by Reverend J. H. O. Smith. Interment was in the Fairlawn Cemetery.
Colcord used his Glenn Pool profits to build Oklahoma's first
skyscraper, a 12-story building in Oklahoma City, that he
envisioned as a hotel -- and that's what it became 96 years
later.
When he built the building in 1910, it was the first
steel-reinforced building in Oklahoma and was used as an office
building until last October when Tulsa developer Paul Coury of
Tulsa remodeled it as a boutique hotel similar to his Ambassador
Hotel in Tulsa. Colcord wanted the steel reinforcement because
he had seen the devastation to buildings in San Francisco
following the 1906 earthquake.
Born in Kentucky, Colcord moved to Texas with his parents as
a child and later lived in dugouts in the Cherokee Outlet for
several years while helping his father in a cattle business.
Visit the Kentucky Colcord Farms website at http://www.bluegrassfinishedbeef.com/
for photos of the Kentucky area.
Colcord bought a team of horses and a wagon for $66 and made
the run into Oklahoma Territory April 22, 1889. He traded his
horses and wagon for a shack and a lot in Oklahoma City that
became Lot 1, Block 1.
Colcord served as Oklahoma City's police chief for several
years and later was Oklahoma County's first sheriff. He was
appointed as a U.S. marshal by President Grover Cleveland.
Colcord also made the run into the Cherokee Outlet and staked
a claim in Perry where he also built a house.
He was involved in the move of the state seal from Guthrie to
Oklahoma City in 1910 and served as chairman of the finance
committee for building a new capitol on North Lincoln Avenue.
Colcord died in 1934 at his ranch in Delaware County near the
town of Colcord that was named for him.
A 1935 Chronicles of Oklahoma article called Colcord the
"First Citizen of Oklahoma." He had served in many
civic organizations, including president of the Oklahoma City
Chamber of Commerce, and was president of the Oklahoma
Historical Society from 1926 until his death.
My mother was very beautiful, one of the belles of Kentucky.
She was Maria E. Clay, the daughter of William Green Clay. There
were four children in my mothers family, Thomas E. Clay, Sidney
B. Clay, my mother and Mattie (Clay) Donaldson.
Colcord bought a team of horses and a wagon for $66 and made
the run into Oklahoma Territory April 22, 1889. He traded his
horses and wagon for a shack and a lot in Oklahoma City that
became Lot 1, Block 1.
Colcord served as Oklahoma City's police chief for several
years and later was Oklahoma County's first sheriff. He was
appointed as a U.S. marshal by President Grover Cleveland.
Colcord also made the run into the Cherokee Outlet and staked
a claim in Perry where he also built a house.
He was involved in the move of the state seal from Guthrie to
Oklahoma City in 1910 and served as chairman of the finance
committee for building a new capitol on North Lincoln Avenue.
Colcord died in 1934 at his ranch in Delaware County near the
town of Colcord that was named for him.
A 1935 Chronicles of Oklahoma article called Colcord the
"First Citizen of Oklahoma." He had served in many
civic organizations, including president of the Oklahoma City
Chamber of Commerce, and was president of the Oklahoma
Historical Society from 1926 until his death.
The Reverend Thomas Scoresby, prominent
Methodist minister living in Medicine Lodge, Kansas area was the
father of Miss Harriet Scoresby. Mr. Scoresby was an Englishman
of a well known family of seafarers and navigators. His great
grandfather, Captain William Scoresby, discovered and planterd
the British flag on what is still known as Scoresby Sound
situated north of Greenland2
I went up to Elm Creek to attend a
dance given by Mrs. Slack, an elder sister of Harriet Scoresby
and fell violently in love with her at first sight and
determined to have her for my wife.
The second time I met Harriet I was
driving a herd of cattle from the range into Kansas. Her father,
her uncles and all other members of her family were bitterly
opposed to Harriet marrying a wild cowpuncher. I made up my
mind all the preachers in Kansas could not stop me. I talked to
Harriet's brother-in-law, who lived in Barber County, Kansas and
he told me the whole family was opposed to me because people had
exaggerated reports about me. I think this brother-in-law did a
lot towards breaking down this opposition and Harriet's mother,
who was one of the greatest women I ever knew, was favorable
toward me from the very start. Also a young brother, O.
C. Storesby, who was something of a wild kid himself, seemed
to take a liking to me and often helped me out in meeting his
sister.
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Daily Oklahoman, The
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
June 26 , 1951, page 1
Mrs Colcord 86, Widow of Pioneer Developer, Is Dead
Mrs Harriet Scoresby Colcord, widow of the late
Charles Colcord, pioneer city builder, died at
7:15 pm Monday in her home, 421 NW 31. She was 86.
Her husband, who died in 1934, was prominent in the
development of Oklahoma City for 45 years. He built
the Colcord building in 1910 and was influential in
building the Biltmore hotel and Commerce Exchange
buildings.
She is survived by four daughters and two sons. Private services are set for 10 am Wednesday in the home.
Burial will be in Fairlawn cemetery.
Daily Oklahoman, The
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
June 26 , 1951, page 7
Harriett Colcord Grew With City
Mrs Harriet Scoresby Colcord, 86, widow of the late
Charles Colcord, pioneer city builder and capitalist,
died at 7:15 pm Monday in her home at 421 NW 30.
At her bedside were her six children. She had been in
ill health for several years.
Mrs Colcord was aboard one of the first trains to roll
into Oklahoma City, and, with her husband, her life
paralleled that of the city.
When her husband first built the 12-story Colcord building
at Grand and Robinson he was dubbed "the guy who built a
12-story building in a three-story town."
But her husband went ahead to point up the development of
the city until his death in 1934, when he left an estate
unofficially valued at $1,500,000.
Daughter of Minister
Mrs Colcord was the daughter of an English Methodist minister
who settled in Kansas. She met Colcord, destined to become
one of the most colorful pioneer builders in the southwest,
when he was a roving cowboy. She married him over the protest
of her family and the couple moved to Arizona.
In 1889, her husband made the run to Oklahoma City with a team
of horses and a wagon and $66. Two months later Mrs Colcord
and her three children arrived by train.
Her husband traded the team and wagon for a small shack on
lot 1, block 1, in Oklahoma City. It was near the present site
of the Santa Fe railroad depot.
Later, with her husband, then a peace officer whose sole
income was $1 for every arrest he made, she moved to a small
yellow house at NW 4 and Broadway, site of the Oklahoma
Publishing Co.
Just Two Moves
In 1900, the couple built their present home at 421 NW 31, a showplace in the raw frontier town.
In 1910, her husband built the present Colcord building at a cost of $750,000. He later spearheaded the building of the
Commerce Exchange building, the Biltmore hotel, and the elevated Santa Fe railroad tracks. The elevated tracks, Colcord
said, would promote the development of downtown Oklahoma City.
Throughout her life, Mrs Colcord had little time to devote to women's clubs.
"I'm too busy raising six children," she was quoted as saying in 1939 when her pioneer experiences were commemorated in
Oklahoma City's golden anniversary celebrations.
Rites Are Scheduled
She was, however, one of the founders of the First Families of Oklahoma and later served as its president. She was also
a member of the '89ers. In 1930, the state '89ers association held a New Year day open house in Mrs Colcord's home.
Private funeral services will be at 10 am Wednesday in the family home. Burial will be in Fairlwan cemetery under the
direction of Street & Draper funeral home.
Surviving are four daughters, Mrs L.D. Callahan and Mrs James
White, both of the home; Mrs W.H. Helmerich and Mrs J.W. Bates, both of Tulsa; two sons, Ray Colcord of Rogers, Ark. and
Sidney Colcord, Tulsa; nine grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren and one brother, Fred Scoresby, of Sterling,
Kansas
Colcord Daughters Husbands' Full Names & 1 Cousin' Married Name:
* John Wesley Bates
* Walter H. Helmerich
* L. Dudley Callahan
* Grace Scoresby Wright
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| A
call to the Fairlawn Cemetery office August 2, 2007,
reveals that Charles and his wife Harriett were both
buried there. [405-524-2559] I have searched all online
links to Fairlawn Cemetery and found no listing of their
names &or photos of their stones. |
1Colcord, Charles
Francis. The Autobiography of Charles Francis Colcord.
C.C. Helmerich (privately printed), 1970. Library of Congress
No. 73-140435.
photo ~ http://www.tulsaworld.com/webextra/itemsofinterest/centennial/centennial_storypage.asp?ID=070410_1_A4_spanc51006
2Scoresby
Sound, arm of the Greenland Sea, E Greenland. It has
numerous fords that branch out generally westward to the ice
cap. Some of the branches extend more than 180 mi (290 km)
inland. At its mouth is the settlement of Scoresbysund (1995
pop. 483), the center of the district of Scoresbysund. The town
is a fishing and hunting base.
"Scoresby Sound." The Columbia Electronic
Encyclopedia.
© 1994, 2000-2006, on Fact Monster.
© 2000–2007 Pearson Education, publishing as Fact Monster.
02 Aug. 2007
<http://www.factmonster.com/ce6/world/A0844093.html>
[NOTES: Mariah Louisa "Birdie" Colcord, sister of
Charles Francis Colcord, believed born 24 Jan 1863 at Savannah
Georgia, died in San Diego county California on or about the
15th of June, 1945.
Names of known spouses for Mariah L. Colcord include John
Middleton (m 18 Dec 1879 Barber county KS, div ??. No children),
Lee Briley (m 5 Jan 1884 Barber county KS, div ??. 1 son), Wm
Edgar Griffiths (m 17 Dec 1889 Indian Territory, widowed,
husband d. 13 Aug 1899. 2 children), Phenius Hughes (m ??, div.
??. 1 daughter), and Charles Runkey (m ??, widowed ??. No
children). Mariah was listed as "Maria Bunkey" on
Calif death index. source: http://boards.ancestry.com/localities.northam.usa.states.oklahoma.counties.oklahoma/3041/mb.ashx
see http://www.westernoutlaw.com/stories/files/John_Middleton.pdf
for pic of Middleton and William and Maria Colcord plus history
of the family during late 1880s
http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/C/CO020.html
http://www.colcordhotel.com/oklahoma_city_history.html
Sources: fair use as stated above
Contributed by Marti Graham, August 2007. Information
posted for educational purposes for viewers and researchers. The contributor is not
related to nor researching any of the above.
I live outside the Oklahoma City area, I cannot personally do any research for you. However I will try to direct you to someone who may help you if you can't find what you want here.
Please understand ALL information on this site was contributed by people like you. If it's not on the site,
I don't have it. Thanks
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