1890
Help Wanted
Oklahoma Trails has several counties and projects up for adoption. If you would be interested in adopting a county or project look at the Oklahoma Trails. If you find one that you would like to adopt e-mail the State Administrator or Assistant State Administrator.
[ Being a County or State Administrator is fun and rewarding. If you have an interest in the history of Oklahoma and the genealogy of it's residents please consider it. If you think "there is no way I can do this" there are many people ready, willing and able to help you. It's not near as difficult as you might think. ]
History
County business initially took place in a building at the intersection of California Avenue and Robinson Street until the construction of the first Oklahoma County Courthouse at 520 West Main Street in the 1900s. In 1937, the county government was moved to a building at 321 Park Avenue, which now serves only as the county courthouse.
In 1825 the Osage ceded the area north of the Canadian River. Part of this area was selected for the Creek and Seminole, who were removed from southeastern United States in the 1820s and 1830s. Following the Civil War (1861-65) the Creek and Seminole ceded their land as enforced by the Reconstruction Treaties of 1866. Vacated tribal lands became known as the Unassigned Lands, which were opened to non-Indian settlers in the Land Run of 1889.
Around 1858 Jesse Chisholm was operating a trading post at Council Grove, which was located west of present Oklahoma City. Seven years later Confederate Indian agent for the Creeks Israel G. Vore invited American Indians to meet at Council Grove and to surrender following the Civil War. Threats from Union forces to disperse the meeting caused delegates to meet at Camp Napoleon on May 24, 1865, to adopt a peace compact. Following the war William McClure established the 7C Ranch near present Choctaw. Montford T. Johnson operated a ranch at Council Grove in the 1870s and 1880s. In 1879 Oklahoma boomer David L. Payne learned about the Unassigned Lands and led a group of settlers from Wichita, Kansas, to the south bank of the North Canadian River in spring 1880. Near present Oklahoma City Payne and his followers laid out a town called Ewing, probably named in honor of Union Gen. Thomas Ewing. The settlement was short lived, because Payne and his party were arrested and eventually escorted back to Kansas.
Prior to the 1889 land opening the Southern Kansas Railway (later the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, AT&SF) constructed a line from the Kansas-Oklahoma border through present Oklahoma County. At the North Canadian River a watering stop for steam engines, known as Oklahoma Station, was established in February 1887. A post office was established at Oklahoma Station on December 30, 1887. The post office name changed to Oklahoma on December 18, 1888, and to Oklahoma City on July 1, 1923. Approximately fifty thousand settlers participated in the opening of the Unassigned Lands. Many claimed land near the established railroad stations. Thus, Oklahoma City became a town of an estimated four to six thousand on the afternoon of April 22, 1889. With the passage of the Organic Act of 1890, seven counties were established. Oklahoma County was originally known as County Two, with Oklahoma City designated as the county seat.
Links
Free Records Search at Familysearch Org
Oklahoma County Cemetery Listings
Oklahoma County Cemetery Listings on Interment Net
Oklahoma County Cemetery Listing at Find A Grave
Oklahoma Birth Certificates
- Search for Oklahoma Birth Cetificates and how to order from the Vital Records Office.
State of Oklahoma Genealogy Records Guide
- Search for death certificates and how to order them from The Vital Records Office
Oklahoma State Archives
- Dept. of Libraries
Third Floor
200 NE 18th St.
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105
Phone: (405) 522-3579 - The Oklahoma State Archives provides an excellent library of genealogy records including: Commissioner of Confederate Pensions Applications, 1915-33, Commissioner of Confederate Pensions Pension Files, 1915-49, U.S. District Land Office Homestead Registers, 1889-1908, Oklahoma Supreme Court Applications to the Bar, 1907-42, Oklahoma Board of Medical Examiners Deceased Files, 1907-86, Oklahoma Board of Pharmacy Deceased Pharmacist Files, 1907-75, and Oklahoma Board of Chiropractic Examiners Inactive License Files, 1921-84.
Oklahoma Genealogical Society Library and Archives
- 2100 N. Lincoln Blvd.
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105-4997
Phone: (405) 522-5225 - The Oklahoma Genealogical Society maintains a library and archives that the public is allowed to visit. The Library and Archives contains over 62,000 volumes with emphasis on Oklahoma, Native American, and western history. In addition to these materials -- many of which are rare and out-of-print -- the library also houses a number of special collections.
320 Robert S. Kerr Ave., Suite 307
Oklahoma City, OK 73102
Phone (405)713-1864
320 Robert S. Kerr
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73102
Phone (405) 713-1722
800 Nazih Zuhdi Drive.
Oklahoma City, OK 73105
Phone (405) 521-2491
E-Mail Lists and Message Boards
Oklahoma County Mail List on Rootsweb
Oklahoma County Message Board on Rootsweb
Oklahoma County Message Board on Genforum
Adjacent Counties
