Atoka County
1907
History
The Choctaw inhabited the region from 1831 and 1832. Boggy Depot, an important Choctaw town, was established in 1837 east of present Atoka on the Clear Boggy River. Boggy had a post office beginning in 1849, under William R. Guy, the first postmaster. Allen Wright, who suggested the name Oklahoma, meaning "Red People," for the state, hailed from Boggy Depot. In 1858 the town became a stop on the Butterfield Overland mail and stage route, which joined the older Texas Road at Boggy and ran southward into Texas. Two other Butterfield stations, Waddell's and Geary's, existed in the present county. Waddell's stood near Wesley, three and one-half miles northeast of Stringtown, and A. W. Geary's lay on the east side of North Boggy Creek, between Waddell's and the Muddy Boggy River. The Choctaw built court grounds and a courthouse north of present Atoka on the Muddy Boggy.
In 1863-64, during the Civil War, Confederate troops established Camp Boggy Depot, a supply depot, at Harkins's Spring, north of present Atoka. In February 1864 a skirmish took place between Union and Confederate troops near the spring, on the Middle Boggy River fifteen miles northeast of Boggy Depot. Confederate soldiers serving in Indian Territory were buried at the spring in a cemetery that had originally served travelers on the Butterfield route. After the Civil War, the region resumed a slow, steady growth. In 1868 at Boggy Depot Rev. Joseph S. Murrow organized a Masonic lodge, the first established in Indian Territory after the Civil War.
Murrow also supported the development of the town of Atoka, established in 1867. In 1869 Murrow helped found the Rehoboth Mission Baptist Church there, and in 1879 he helped organize the first chapter of the Eastern Star in Indian Territory. He later launched the Indian Orphan's Home. In 1872 Roman Catholic priest Michael Smyth established the state's first Catholic Church, St. Patrick's at Atoka. It served Irish Catholic workers who were building the Missouri, Kansas, and Texas Railway (or Katy) through Indian Territory.
Links
Free Records Search at Familysearch Org
Atoka County Cemetery Listings
Atoka County Cemetery Listings at Interment Net
Atoka County Cemetery Listings 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 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.
200 E Court St
Suite 201
Atoka, OK 74525-2056
200 E. Court
Atoka, OK 74525
Telephone: (405) 889-3565
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Adjacent Counties
Johnston County | Coal County