1908: Clarkson 40th Wedding Anniversary

In September of 1908, most of the Clarkson family gathered in Fort Smith, Arkansas for a family reunion honoring the fortieth wedding anniversary of Richard Albert Clarkson and Elizabeth Jane Robinson, a remembrance of the marriage that took place on the 3rd of September 1868 in Washington county Missouri.  A “now treasured” family photograph was taken on that occasion.  This lovely recounting of the event was found, as a newspaper clipping, in the Clarkson family Bible.  The date “Sept 3rd 1908” was handprinted on the clipping.

Mr and Mrs RA Clarkson were given a most pleasant surprise on Wednesday, the occasion being a surprise family reunion in celebration of their 40th anniversary.  Early in the morning, unconscious of what the day would bring forth, Mrs Clarkson accompanied by her two grandchildren, Miss Elizabeth and Henryetta Boyd, of Oklahoma City, who have been visiting at the Clarkson home for a number of weeks, and Miss Etta Clarkson, went to Mt Vista to spend the day.  During their absence, Mrs Walter Boyd, Mrs WH Vick, Edwin Clarkson and little son, of Oklahoma City, arrived as a surprise to celebrate the anniversary of the marriage of their parents.  Mr Clarkson was soon let into the secret and upon the arrival of Mrs Clarkson and daughter at Electric park, returning from their day’s outing, they were most happily greeted by the rest of the family.  To complete the pleasant surprise a most sumptuous dinner had been prepared by the visiting members, and amid many congratulations and good wishes the day passed, making it one of great pleasure and thorough enjoyment.

  

Who’s in the photograph?

(front) Samuel EdwinClarkson, Albert L Clarkson, Henrietta C Boyd, Elizabeth Jane Robinson Clarkson. (rear) Elizabeth B Boyd, AnnieClarkson Boyd, Henrietta J Clarkson, Cammie Clarkson Vick, Richard Albert Clarkson.

For more details on the Richard Albert Clarkson and Elizabeth Jane Robinson Family, visit their page at Family Stories, pamgarrett.com.  Richard Albert Clarkson and Elizabeth Jane Robinson are my great, great grandparents.

Alexander Boyd and the Boyd Tavern

Alexander Boyd is my relation by marriage.  His great- great grandson, Alfred Waller Boyd,  married my great grandfather’s sister, Annie Preston Clarkson.  Alfred Boyd and my great grandfather, Samuel Edwin Clarkson were joint founders of Oklahoma Hardware Company and worked many years together.

Boyd Tavern, Boydton Virginia

Between 1766 – 1770 Alexander Boyd purchased hundreds of acres in Mecklenburg county Virginia, where he established his home and store.  During this same time he married the daughter of his adjoining neighbor, Richard Swepson.  Over an extended period of time, Alexander Boyd, along with his father-in-law and brother-in-law, Richard Swepson junior, established the “Village of Mecklenburg Court” that included the courthouse, prison, tavern, mercantile business and their home plantations.

The original tavern building was constructed around 1790, a small single-story structure. It first belonged to the Swepson family, but in 1794 it came into the hands of Alexander Boyd.  He turned the operation over to his sons, Richard and Alexander Boyd.  In 1796 Richard Boyd was granted a tavern license. 

When Alexander Boyd (senior) died in 1801 he left to his son, Alexander Boyd (junior), the portion of his property that housed the courthouse and tavern.  Twelve years later, in 1812, a portion of this property became Boydton, county seat for Mecklenburg county Virginia.  Alexander Boyd (junior) laid out fifty-eight lots, streets and a public square on forty acres.  Shortly after, the Boyd Tavern was expanded, probably to support the needs of a growing community.   

During the reign of the Swepson and Boyd families, the tavern likely served a variety of purposes.  Traditionally taverns provided food, drink, and sometimes lodging for both townfolk and travelers.  Taverns usually had a “taproom” where men could gather for food and drink.  There they, “learned current crop prices, arranged trades, heard newspapers read aloud, and discovered business opportunities and the latest betting odds on the upcoming horse races.” (wikipedia)  A variety of alcoholic drinks were served, from imported rum to locally produced hard cider.   In larger taverns there might also have been a second room, of a slightly more gentile design, where women could be included for a meal. 

Tavern keeping was a closely regulated business, requiring a license.  Local governments worked hard to insure that their taverns were safe places for people to gather.  They limited what would be served, and who could be served.  They even set prices to avoid gouging. 

Boyd Tavern, being located at the county seat, would have provided for the many visitors who would come for county business, or to attend the county court.  Recent historians assert that Boyd Tavern, in its early days, may actually have been the courthouse for Mecklenburg county Virginia. 

Answering a dispute related to the tavern, Alexander Boyd claimed he provided, “ . . a table amply supplied with all the meats raised in this part of the Country and a cellar furnished with the liquors of Europe, Africa, and America, and a tavern of nearly 150 feet in length with fourteen rooms and twelve fire places for their accommodations, with stables as good as any in the state . . “ 

After the “panic of 1819” and the ensuing financial depression, the Boyd family sold off the tavern and surrounding property.  But, the Boyd Tavern story carries forward to this day.  The building has changed dramatically, and it has had a variety of owners, operators and uses.  In the early 1990s the Boyd Tavern Foundation, along with community leaders in Boydton accomplished the task of restoring the tavern.  It now serves as a social and cultural gathering place for the Boydton community and town visitors.   

If you would enjoy reading more about Boydton, Boyd Tavern, or tavern keeping in Colonial America, I suggest:

The Life and Times of Boyd Tavern

The Boyds and Swepsons of Boydton

Sons of Liberty Occupations: Tavern Keeper

History Down Every Road, see Mecklenburg County; Boyd Tavern.

Photo:  Boyd Tavern (circa 1900) from a postcard.  This image of Boyd Tavern, along with a number of more recent photos, appears on the History Down Every Road website.  Be sure to visit!

Oklahoma City Hardware Company, 1907

Just after 1900 my great-grandfather, Samuel Edwin Clarkson, moved from Arkansas to Oklahoma and established Oklahoma City Hardware.  He bought out another hardware concern and set up shop on Grand Ave in the young, but booming, city.  His brothers-in-law, Alfred Boyd and William H Vick, joined him in the business venture.  This article appeared in The Oklahoman (Oklahoma City) on the 10th of March 1907. Later the business left off the “City” and became Oklahoma Hardware Company, moving operations to a large, new warehouse building on East California Street.  The building still survives today in the center of Oklahoma City’s Bricktown revival district.  The ghost sign, Oklahoma Hardware Company, is still clearly readable on the side of the building.  It is listed on the National Historic Register. 

One of the strongest possible illustrations of the fact that Oklahoma City has a great commercial destiny is the large scale upon which some of the mercantile concerns of more recent establishment here have been founded.  A leader among them is the Oklahoma City Hardware Company, one of the largest wholesale concerns of the entire southwest.  It does a jobbing business exclusively and represents some of the largest and best known concerns in the country.  The house of this company occupies Nos 19 to 25 East Grand avenue, and has an extensive building.  It was first established in business in this city in 1900, and has been constantly growing ever since.  The company is incorporated and has a capital stock of $500,00 making it one of the strongest competitors for the hardware business of the entire southwest, thus aiding in making Oklahoma City the greatest distributing point in this section. 

The large stocks carried by this company embrace everything in the hardware lines, especially including the materials and implements adaptable to the industries of the country.  The officers of the company are all capable and practical business men, progressive and modern in all of their methods, taking a lively interest in everything for the advancement of the material interests of the city and section.  They are Messrs. SE Clarkson, president and buyer; AW Boyd, vice president; WH Vick, secretary and treasurer.  The directors are WM Parker, WF Wilson, RA Clarkson, WH Vick, AW Boyd, SE Clarkson and Dennis T Flynn, all among the best known business men in this section.  The company employs a large number of experienced and efficient men, while the officers in charge of the establishment give their personal attention to the business and attend promptly to all orders.  This is especially one of the establishments which give credit to the city for doing business on a scale that entitles it to the name of a metropolis. 

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