Ed Lockhart sentenced to 20-year term

— Sequoyah County Democrat, April 13, 1923

From the files of Your Sequoyah County Times

25 Years Ago

(From the April 16, 1998, issue of the Sequoyah County Times) —Citizens of Sallisaw will soon have a public transit system which will take them where they need to be within the city for a mere $1.

The Kibois Area Transit System (KATS), based in Stigler, has announced they will provide a public transit system for the Sallisaw citizens.

The system will be run from the Cookson Hills Community Action Office in Sallisaw and anyone needing transportation can just call, said Sandra Sloan.

Sloan said she believes the new transit service will be the first of its kind in Sequoyah County. If the system proves to be successful in Sallisaw, she said there will most likely be expansion of the service.

50 Years Ago

(From the April 12, 1973, issue of the Sequoyah County Times) —With the opening on Saturday of the 15-mile stretch of I-40 near Warner, 94 percent of the state’s interstate mileage has been opened for traffic.

The opening witnessed by over 800 persons, began with a luncheon at Connors State College in Warner and ended with the ribbon cutting ceremonies at the Oklahoma 2 highway interchange with I-40.

—Representatives of the Sallisaw Port Authority, the city administration and the Sallisaw Chamber of Commerce met Monday with the Army Corps of Engineers in Tulsa to discuss progress toward a port on Kerr Harbor.

Meeting with the Corps were Mayor Perry Wheeler, City Manager Lloyd Haskins, Sallisaw Port Authority Chairman Calvin Remy and chamber of commerce director Jim Mayo.

The detailed study is being done to determine the best site for a port. Currently under study is a site west of U.S. 59 where is crosses Little Sallisaw Creek.

75 Years Ago

(From the April 16, 1948, issue of the Sequoyah County Times) —A new business establishment, Thompson’s Shoe Store was opened in Sallisaw this week. The firm is on Elm Street directly across the street from Remer’s Locker Plant.

The owner is Pitchford C. Thompson, who comes to Sallisaw from Tahlequah. Both Pitchford and his wife are former Cherokee County teachers. Assisting them in operation of the store is Thompson’s mother, Mrs. Lou Thompson.

In addition to carrying a complete line of shoes and dresses, the store is enhanced with a fully equipped shoe repair department.

In charge of the repair department is William “Bill” Glory, who is 15 years experienced as a shoe repairman. Glory learned the trade while a student in the Chilocco Indian school.

—A chest x-ray clinic will be held at the health office, Friday morning. Xrays are made by appointment only. All foodhandlers who have not had a chest x-ray in the past year are to attend this clinic before a foodhandler’s certificate can be issued, health department officials announced.

100 years ago

(From the April 13, 1923, issue of the Sequoyah County Democrat) —Just a few hours after the attorneys for Ed Lockhart had told him the governor of Oklahoma had honored the request of the Arkansas authorities, and he would be taken back to Harrison, Arkansas, to stand trial for raiding the People’s State Bank in 1921; he broke his long silence and confessed to participating in the raid on the Farmers’ State Bank at Gore in the winter of 1921. He was more than willing to accept a 20-year sentence in the Oklahoma penitentiary rather than to back to Arkansas for trial.

Sheriff John E. Johnston and Under- sheriff Bert Cotton were the custodians of Ed Lockhart on his way to do his twenty-year stretch in the penitentiary at McAlester, leaving here with their prisoner on the early morning train Tuesday morning following his being sentenced Monday afternoon.

In his confession Lockhart stated in the raid on the Gore bank in 1921 he and his pal (Jack Brodie now in the pen) got $1,400. He did not tell the authorities that Brodie was his pal, but twelve men in Sequoyah County decided he was in the raiding party on the Gore bank in 1921 and was sentenced to 10 years, after a hard fought trial in the district court here.

Only a few days ago Chief of Police J.C. Woll, while on a tour killing stray dogs in this city, noticed a blanket hanging closely to the bars on the south side of the county jail. The chief obtained a pair of field glasses and watched Lockhart calmy sawing the bars. The Sheriff’s force and the police department of this city were on a constant watch throughout the day and night to prevent the bandits from making their escape. On last Friday evening, it is claimed by the local authorities was the time for Lockhart and his pals to make a dash for liberty but in the meantime a “leak” was sprung, and someone got word to Lockhart that it was sure death to make the attempt. The following morning Sheriff John E. Johnston searched the jail and found several bars sawed, three saws and several pocket knives. He did not find any fire arms or ammunition.

—The Sallisaw Bank and Trust company which closed its doors in February following a run by the depositors will not open for business Monday as so stated in various daily newspapers this week.

In an interview Wednesday with a former official, he stated the bank would not be able to open for business on Monday, as they had planned, because minor details are yet to be worked out. The bank will probably open for business before the month is out, he stated.

The defunct bank was capitalized at $31,000 and had more than a quarter million dollars deposits. It was the largest state bank in this section of the state.