Tag Archives: Pearl Brasher

Brasher

Noble High School Seniors 1915

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My husband’s grandmother, Pearl Lillian (Brasher) Stufflebean lived in several different places growing up, all in Texas and Oklahoma.

By 1915, she was living with her father and stepmother in Noble, Cleveland, Oklahoma and graduated that June from Noble High School.

Pearl had many family photos which we inherited and, luckily, she labeled some – not all – of them.

A few days ago, I wrote about Pearl’s visit to her mother in Floydada, Floyd, Texas and, later, while looking through the photo album, I found a couple more pictures that seem to be taken the same summer, but back in Noble.

These two photos are a bit historic as they capture some early school history of Noble High School.

This isn’t the greatest photo with one young lady looking away, but it’s a great view of the small town of Noble in 1915.

Pearl helpfully told the girls’ story:

Pearl Brasher, Anna Lou Oliphant, Nadine Scott, 3 of the 4 Seniors at Noble High School 1915

So, of course, I had to determine what happened to Anna Lou and Nadine.

First, Anna Lou Oliphant was born on 29 March 1897, “near Clarksville,” Johnson, Arkansas and was the eighth of nine children born to David and Sarah Jane (Anderson) Oliphant. By 1900, the family was living in Norman, Oklahoma, and, in 1910, had finally settled in Noble.

After high school, Anna Lou married Samuel Edwin Wadley on 17 June 1923 in Carter County, Oklahoma. They were the parents of three children.

Anna died in 1968 and is buried in Ardmore, Carter, Oklahoma.

Mary Nadine Scott was born on 7 September 1900 in Oklahoma, but had a sad end after high school. She died when she was only 19 years old after she, a “young motorist,” was shot and killed – assassinated according to the 1 June 1920 newspaper headline – and a second article stated that two men had been arrested.

Nadine deserves to be remembered so she will have her own post in the future, telling her story.

This second photo was taken when the weather was cooler:

This photo is labeled on the back as (1) Nadine Scott (2) Mary Bell (3) Pearl Brasher and (4) Mary Petty. They’re sitting on a wagon with a partial view of Noble in the background.

Three of the four young ladies are known to us already. Nadine Scott can be clearly seen in this photo.

Mary Petty was in a photo about which I wrote a few days ago when Pearl was visiting her mother in Floydada, Texas. Mary apparently made the trip to Texas with her.

Mary Bell is a bit of a mystery. There are two Mary Bells in Noble in this time period and one is impossible to be the second lady from left as the photo was taken about 1915 and the first Mary Bell was born in 1908 so would only have been seven years old.

With the ability to enlarge the photo on the computer, Mary looks older than the other three young ladies. However, the second Mary in Noble was born in 1871 and would have been 44 in 1915. Mary definitely looks older than Pearl and Mary Petty, but Nadine looks older than everyone and she was only 17 here.

Mary Bell seems to have an older face, but I’m not convinced she is 44 either, so Mary remains a mystery.

Pearl clearly had many friends and she loved to have her picture taken!

Brasher

1915 Letter from J.B. Bishop to Pearle Brasher

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Among the many items my husband’s grandmother, Pearl Brasher Stufflebean, saved was a note written to her in 1916 from J.B. Bishop.

JBBishopEnvelopetoPearlBrasher
J.B. Bishop to Pearle Brasher

The postmark is quite difficult to read as it went over the stamp. It looks like May 1916, which is the year that Pearl graduated. It is less likely given Pearl’s and J.B.’s ages, but it could be 1918.

NOTE: It seems she used the “Pearle” spelling during her high school years.

Pearl and her mother moved around after her parents divorced in the early 1900s. She was born in Hopkins County, Texas, but lived in Hobart, Kiowa County, Oklahoma for a few years when she was around five or six. In 1910, she was living in Hale County, Texas with her mother, her stepfather, Charles Horne, and baby half brother, Aulton.

Charlie owned a laundry business and the family moved several times. One of their stops was Floydada, Floyd County, Texas. Pearl kept in touch with at least two friends from Floydada, Gladys Felton, who wrote to Pearl in 1918, and J.B. Bishop who wrote this note in 1916. I am guessing that she likely attended high school there for a year or two, although she graduated from Noble High School in Noble, Oklahoma in 1916. She lived with her father and stepmother at that time.

JBNoteToPearlInside
Note from J.B. to Pearle

Pearle,
You remember the promise you
made last year on condition that
I graduates. So what say Pearle.
as ever J.B.

This note poses some questions for the reader, two of which will remain unanswered. First, did Pearl write back to J.B.? Second, what promise did she make? Third, exactly who was J.B. Bishop?

The last question is the easiest to answer because J.B. stayed put in Floydada. He was John B. Bishop, born 12 December 1897, making him two months older than Pearl, who was born 9 February 1898.

John was the son of Stamps DeWitt Bishop (1870-1915) and Eugenia (Jennie) McDaniel (1874-1961). Given that his father died in 1915, I wonder if J.B. thought about dropping out of school to help his family and Pearl encouraged him to stay on and graduate?

As for the promise that Pearl made to J.B. – this is just speculation, obviously – but perhaps he wanted to date her and she promised to go out with him if he graduated. Of course, that meant she would have had to have traveled from Noble back to Floydada or else J.B. would have had to have gone in the other direction. That would have been quite a journey as the two towns are about 300 miles apart.

If the promise was a date, I don’t know if Pearl ever wrote back to J.B. or not. If she did, she likely announced her marriage to Earl Stufflebean, which took place a short three months later on 10 August 1916.

J.B. went on to marry Nola Kate Caudle on 2 August 1924. She was born on 6 August 1901 and died on 16 October 1998. J.B.’s life was much shorter, as he passed away in 1970. Both are buried in Floydada, Texas.

However, J.B. did have two daughters. Although both of them have also passed away, J.B. has one surviving grandchild and I have found an address for her. I wonder if she would like to have the original note that her grandfather wrote to Pearl one hundred years ago?

Brasher, Old Photos

Mystery Friends – Building a House in Noble or Norman, OK, c1914

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Here is yet another mystery photo that I would like to share:

PearlWithArmAroundFriendsShoulderAbt1915
Pearl Brasher, middle left

This photo was taken probably in the 1914-1920 time frame, either in Noble or Norman, Oklahoma. I tend to think it was a new home being built by friends of Pearl Brasher (possibly already married to Earl Stufflebean) more likely in Norman, where they settled after they married on 10 August 1916. Pearl was just 18 when they married.

I think it is more of a possibility that she was a young newlywed visiting the structure that would be the new home of another young married couple who were friends of Earl and Pearl.

I’d say the proud home owner was the young man standing in front, his wife was the lady in the middle standing next to Pearl and the female in the back was a friend or relative of the home owners.

It is possible that this was taken in Noble, but I think it is much less likely that Pearl would have been hanging around a young married couple who had just purchased a home if she had still been a high school student.

The young woman in the back probably won’t ever by identified; I have photos of other Brasher and Stufflebean family members and neither the young man or other young woman looks anything like them, leading me to believe these were friends.

I know this is a really, really long shot, but if you have a grandparent or great grandparent who lived in Noble or Norman in the World War I era and recognize these people, I would love to put names to faces. I’d also be happy to give you the original photo if you have proof of your relationship to them.