Records

We can’t be sure this photo was taken after the wolf hunt reported (below) in the Jan. 2, 1941, edition of the Times, but it seems likely, given that the late Raymond Luna, second from right, is pictured with four other men, probably Everett Johnson, Jud Hayes, Ode Beasley and Boyd Hickey. Except for Luna, we don’t know which name goes with which man. If you can help identify them, please contact Sue Ann Jones at 417-989-1040 or sueann@ozarkcountytimes.com.
Correction: We’ve been informed that the woman named as Mary Mefford in last week’s 1963 photo of Ozark County Times correspondents should have been identified as Delphia Mefford, correspondent for Price Place (Arkansas).
Ozark County News
Dec. 30, 1904
Joda Wilson, Constable of Barren Fork...
Anthony and Kristen Clough of Bakersfield are the parents of a baby boy, Cooper James, born Nov. 20, 2017, at Ozarks Medical Center in West Plains. He weighed 7 pounds, 14 ounces, and was 20 inches long.
His sibling is Payten, 2.
His grandparents are Eric and Jorja Kirsch of Norco, California;...
Michael and Chandele King of West Plains are the parents of a baby girl, Brixley Marie, born Nov. 25, 2017, at Ozarks Medical Center in West Plains. She weighed 7 pounds, 13 ounces, and was 19 inches long.
Her siblings are Hunter, 5, and Ashlynn, 3.
Her grandparents are Duane and Christine Wake...

This photo of the Ozark County Times correspondents, dated Sept. 28, 1963, was recently shared with the Ozark County Historium by occasional Times correspondent Theta Nokes, whose mother, Lilliam Clayton, is one of the correspondents pictured. These names are written on a piece of paper attached to the photo: Front row, from left: Edith Reynolds, Centerpoint; Alzona Miller, Sandridge; Rose Ranck, Dawt; Pearlie Poe, Charity; Golda Walker, Grabeel; Hazel Effia Hodges, Toledo; Bertha Watson, Lilly Ridge; Rose Snell, Pine View and Willhoit; Mary Mefford, Price Place and Alma Garrison, Guber. Back row: Pansy Rozell, Ocie; Roy Pare, Romance; Brooksie McGinnis, Lutie and Theodosia; Lilliam Clayton, Wasola; Opal Hooper, Gamaliel, Arkansas; Bessie Freeman, Crossroads; Edythe Farmer, Hi-Romance; Edith Jones, Clark; Bessie Feemster, Noble; Ila Young, Lone Pilgrim; Jenice Williamson, Nottinghill; Dohna Mahan, Caney; Blanche Honeycutt, Idumea; Audy Wallace, Longrun; Verna Gardner, Souder; and J. W. Findley, Hammond, who wrote the “Weatherman Bill” column.
Ozark County News
Dec. 21, 1899
Rev. A. L. Simmons, pastor of the M. E. Church of this place, returned Monday after holding a three-week revival meeting at the Howard Ridge Church. He reports a good interest in the meeting resulting in 15 additions to the church, six by letter and nine on probation...
Whitney Wharton of Trimble, is the mother of a baby boy, Dawson Michael Wharton, born Nov. 10, 2017, at St. Luke’s Hospital in Kansas City. He weighed 4 pounds 1 ounce and was 18.2 inches long.
Maternal grandparents are Tina and Jason Wharton of Trimble; great-grandparents are Karen and Corkey...
Graveside services for Elener Arlene Maine, 89, of Bakersfield, were held Dec. 12, 2017, at Mount Pleasant Cemetery near Udall. Mrs. Maine died Dec. 9 at South Fork River Therapy and Living in Salem, Arkansas.
She was born June 22, 1928, in Almartha, the daughter of Ewing and Maudie Hammons Fry. ...
The family of Herbert Taft Wyman Jr. gathered to celebrate his life Dec. 9, 2017, in the home of his son, Robert Wyman in Overland Park, Kansas. Mr. Wyman died of complications from Alzheimer’s disease on Nov. 30 at the Kansas City Hospice Center in Overland Park
He was born Dec. 1, 1929, in Kansas...
Funeral services for Sean “Wade” Kelley, 17, of Dora, were held Dec. 9, 2017, at West Plains High School. Wade died Dec. 4 in West Plains.
He was born May 13, 2000, in West Plains, the son of Sean Earl and Krystal Fay Adams Kelley. He was a senior at West Plains High School, where he attended auto...
Private services will be held for Mary Beth Roberts, 76, of Pontiac, who died Dec. 9, 2017, at Baxter Regional Medical Center in Mountain Home, Arkansas. A celebration of her life will be held at a later date.
She was born Nov 11, 1941, in Peoria, Illinois, the daughter of Dale D. and Esther...

This photo, from the collection of Judy Ford Lyons, shows Ozark County’s second jail, built in the 1870s in Gainesville and most likely the one mentioned in the 1897 report of a prisoner’s attempted escaped in this week’s Times Past. A History of Ozark County, 1841-1991 says the two-story jail, about 12’ x 18’, was attached to the sheriff’s dwelling with removable steps leading to a second-story doorway. The lower jail level could be entered from the long porch fronting the sheriff’s dwelling. The jail and dwelling were “located in the field across Lick Creek, northeasterly from the town square, where Highway 160 bridge crosses the creek,” according to the history book. In its Dec. 28, 1905, edition, the Ozark County Republican expressed its opinion that “the jail ... is little better than a hog pen, ...disgraceful to the county.” A later newspaper story said the old jail “is immediately below a livery stable and the drainage from the stable naturally makes the jail a very unsanitary place to confine persons.” In its Jan. 11, 1907, edition, the Ozark County Times reported that the county court had appointed a committee to select a site and erect “a good substantial stone jail for Ozark County.” That jail is believed to stand today near Harlin Drive and Third Street and is owned by Wayne and Doris Sayles.
Ozark County News
Dec. 9, 1897
James Guilliams, who is in jail on a charge of burglary, came near causing a conflagration in town last Thursday by trying to burn his way to freedom. The jail is made of logs, and the walls are double.
Last Thursday, while passing through the alley, Hugh Layton...