Tucked away in the attic eaves was an old banker's box, full of papers and books. The box belonged to the house's previous owner, Vern E. Thompson, a lawyer who worked as a prosecutor for the Ottawa County District Attorney's office. Mr. Thompson was active in the community, and was a part of bringing Oklahoma in statehood in 1907. Mr. Thompson sold the E Street house to my great grandparents in the 1930s. I do not know if my grandpa ever really went through the box, but he did take the box with him every time the family moved to another city. Needless to say, it is one well-traveled box!
This past summer, Mom, along with her sisters Sue and Sally, took on the large task of going through the mountain of boxes in Sue's garage, most of which belonged to Grandma and Grandpa. Sue and Sally did a quick search through the box, and, realizing it did not have any family photos or documents, it was set aside. Later, it ended up at Mom's house, where I started going through it one night.
So, how does this tie into our Route 66 trip? Well, it's what's inside that counts, right?
In the box were Mr. Thompson's notebooks from his time at law school in New England. Also in the box where his ledgers, brochures for girls sleep away camps in New England (where I assume his daughter attended in the summers), and a near mint condition owner's manual for a 1927 Cadillac LaSalle. The most interesting find, however, were the legal notes and documents. These documents included petitions for Ottawa County's right to vote in state elections (prior to Oklahoma's statehood), documents surrounding Indian Territory land disputes, divorce papers...and a stack of papers relating to a 1908 murder and its resulting trial.
In January of 1908, a 38 year old widower named John Hopkins was courting Lena Craig, a 19 year old teacher. Now, John had four children who needed a mother. He asked Lena to marry him on more than one occasion, and each time she said no. On the evening on Sunday, January 5th, John arrived to take Lena to an evening church service in a neighboring town. On the way, he stopped near a spring, and once again asked Lena to marry him. She again, said no. John then pulled out his revolver and shot Lena 4 times-in the chest, face, arm and lower abdomen. He also cut her throat, leaving a five inch gash. Amazingly, Lena did not die immediately. She remained coherent for several hours, and was able to tell the doctor who attended to her what had happened. However, her injuries were too severe, and Lena passed away in the early morning hours of Monday, January 6th.
On January 23, 1908, John was indicted for the murder of Lena Craig. Mr. Thompson was the prosecuting attorney for the District Attorney. John was found guilty of murder on May 2, 1908. A week following the conviction, Judge T.L. Brown announced that John was to "be hung by the neck until dead". An execution date was set.
John Hopkins was hung on Friday, August 28, 1908. Thousands of Ottawa County residents came to watch the hanging, but only 12 were allowed into the jail yard, where the gallows had been constructed.
Now, this is where the story ties into the old bankers box from the attic of 26 E Street SW.
In the box was a copy of the indictment of John Hopkins...
and the original arrest warrant...
Also in the box was a witness statement (only a portion of the first page is shown)....
Mr. Thompson's list of witnesses for the trial...
and Mr. Thompson's notes from the trial...
Pretty nifty, huh?
While I don't think my grandpa ever really took a good look at what was in the box, I know he would he been excited about what was in it. He probably would have gotten just as giddy as I did upon realizing what the documents where (at one point I was yelling, "OH MY GOD DO YOU KNOW WHAT WE'VE FOUND" at mom!) History was very important to him, especially the history of the Midwest. He was proud of his roots. We don't know what his motives where for taking the box with him for 6 moves and over 5,500 miles, I suspect his goal was to go through everything and research as much as he could. Mom and I agree that he would ultimately have wanted the documents given back to Ottawa County.
While on our trip, Mom and I will return the documents to Miami, donating them to the Ottawa County Historical Society. While I find the documents from the trial fascinating, they are a piece of the county's history! The 1908 trial and execution of John Hopkins may not be a sensation by today's standards, but it was a sensational event at that time. I hope that the Historical Society is as excited about the documents as we were.
So are you wondering how the documents managed to travel over 5,500 miles?
Well, they started in Miami, OK. They then went to Chicago, Illinois, then Cedar Rapids, Iowa, then on to Branson, Missouri, then to San Francisco, California, then Los Angeles, California, and finally Old Hickory, Tennessee.
The moral of the story? Don't assume a box of "junk" just needs to be tossed! You never know what you may come across!
