My husband’s grandfather, Earl Marcus Stufflebean, was born in Linn County, Missouri in 1894, one of fourteen children of John Henry Stufflebean. In 1907, the family packed up and moved to Noble, Oklahoma, where J.H. Stufflebean opened a dry goods store, became a store merchant and raised his large family there.
Noble’s early history was detailed by the Oklahoma Historical Society. There was a very early subscription school opened in 1890, but only existed for one year. It was followed by Noble Academy, which was a boarding school that operated from 1891-1895. From 1895-1910, Noble had a school which was only open when town finances could support it. In 1911, Noble built a high school, which was in operation until 1970, when the current Noble High School was opened.
Earl was certainly of school age when the family settled in Noble in 1907, but his schooling would have been intermittent based on the “sporadic” times school was open until 1910 -1911 when Noble High School opened.
I am a big believer in sharing historic photos with the people or places of origin. I recently contacted Noble High School to ask if they would be interested in having the originals of these 1912 photos. The principal said they definitely would like to have them so they went off via certified mail.
Picture #1
Science Lab? 1912 Version
This appears to be a science class at Noble High School in 1912. Earl’s wife put the blue ink “x” above Earl’s picture, but there is no information about any of the other people.
Picture #2
In 1910, there were only about 400 people living in Noble. This might be a photo of all the high school students with Grade 10 in front, Grade 11 in the middle and Grade 12 in the back row. The man in the back row on the right side is likely a teacher – maybe the only teacher in the school. The young man standing next to him is Earl Stufflebean.
Picture #3
This picture is my favorite. On the back is written the “Noble High School Football Team 1912.” Earl is in the back row, second from the right.
If your family lived in Noble in the early 1900’s, please comment if you can identify anyone in any of these photos.