Atoka County, Oklahoma Genealogy

United States Oklahoma  Atoka County

Atoka County, Oklahoma genealogy and family history research page. Guide to genealogy, history, and courthouse sources including birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, wills, deeds and land records, Civil War records, family histories, cemeteries, churches, tax records, newspapers, and obituaries.

County Courthouse
Atoka County Courthouse 200 E Court Street Atoka, OK 74525 Phone: 580.889.5157 Clerk Court has marriage records from 1897, divorce, probate and court records from 1913; County Clerk has land records

Parent County
1907--Atoka County was created 16 July 1907 from Choctaw Lands. County seat: Atoka

Description
In the early nineteenth century the Atoka area existed as part of Shappaway County, in the Pushmataha District of the Choctaw Nation. The designation as Atoka County came circa 1854 and was retained after 1907 statehood. The county and county seat name honors a noted Choctaw warrior, Captain Atoka, who led a removal party to present Oklahoma. He lived east of the town that bears his name. The incorporated towns are Atoka (the county seat), Caney, Stringtown, and Tushka. The present county incorporates a total land and water area of 990.0 square miles. Topography varies from east to west, with the Ouachita Mountains system intruding into the county from the east, offering coal and forest resources. In the western and southern sections, which lie in the Sandstone Hills and Coastal Plains physiographic regions, more level terrain fosters agriculture and ranching. Three streams, North Boggy Creek, Muddy or Middle Boggy River (creek), and Clear Boggy River (creek), provide the primary drainage from northwest to southeast, eventually emptying into the Red River. 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. An important development for the county's future growth, the Katy entered the county at Limestone Gap, continued to Springtown, later called Stringtown, where lumber companies and stone quarries were located, crossed North Boggy, Middle or Muddy Boggy and Clear Boggy, and reached Atoka in September 1872. The line bypassed the old Choctaw capitol, Boggy Depot, thereby increasing the regional importance of the town of Atoka. Varied activities have supplied a living for Atoka County residents. Coal mines, limestone quarries, and the forestry industry have comprised much of the county's early business interests. Cotton and corn provided the early twentieth-century agricultural base. Peanuts took the lead in crop production, and Atoka County farmers harvested 1,654,461 pounds in 1997. In 2000, 1,087 farms involved 420,857 acres in cultivation. In the mid-twentieth century cattle raising emerged as the county's leading industry, numbering 59,182 head of cattle in 1997. Employment was also offered by the Oklahoma State Penitentiary farm, which opened in 1933 north of Stringtown and in 1973 became the Mack H. Alford Correctional Center, a medium-security prison under the Oklahoma Department of Corrections. Transportation access, originally provided in the nineteenth century by the Texas Road, the East Shawnee Trail, and the Butterfield Overland Mail and Stage route, is now provided by a network of state and federal highways. U.S. Highway 69 transects the county from northeast to southwest, and is paralleled by rail facilities of the Union Pacific Railway. U.S. Highway 75 passes generally northwest to southeast. State Highways 43, 3, and 7 pass through east and west. Local historians of popular culture note that on August 5, 1932, Clyde Barrow and accomplice Raymond Elzie Hamilton killed Deputy Sheriff Eugene Moore and wounded Sheriff C. G. Maxwell at a da nce in Stringtown. Barrow and Hamilton, a career criminal, escaped the area, engaging in a robbery-killing spree with Bonnie Parker. Country singer and actress Reba McEntire was raised at Chockie. Charles David Carter, born at Boggy Depot in 1868, served the state from 1907 to 1927 as a U.S. representative. He was instrumental in securing funding for the Choctaw Sanatarium at Talihina, in LeFlore County. The Confederate Memorial Museum and Cemetery at Atoka interprets the region's history. The cemetery, located north of town, is the only designated Confederate demetery in Oklahoma. The National Register of Historic Places includes the Old Faucett Well, one of the state's first oil wells, located four miles northeast of Wapanucka, and Capt. Charles LeFlore's House, north of Limestone Gap. Recreational opportunities include Lake Atoka, Boggy Depot State Park, McGee Creek Lake at McGee Creek State Park, and Stringtown Wildlife Management Area. Dr. G. W. Goldsby was one of the pioneer physicians of that part of the Territory. He and his family were some of the charter members of the first Baptist church organized in Atoka county.

Boundary Changes
For animated maps illustrating Oklahoma County boundary changes, "Rotating Formation Oklahoma County Boundary Maps" (1819-1912) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.
 * Interactive Formation Boundary Map of Oklahoma - shows boundary changes for Oklahoma Counties
 * Oklahoma Historical Boundary Changes - list of all boundary changes by county provided by Newberry Library

Record Loss
There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

Populated Places

 * Atoka (county seat)
 * Bentley
 * Bethany
 * Blackjack
 * Boehler
 * Boggy Depot
 * Bruno
 * Burg
 * Caney
 * Centerpoint
 * Chockie
 * Cook
 * Crystal
 * Daisy
 * Dok
 * East Allison
 * East Talico
 * Farris
 * Flora
 * Forrest Hill
 * Fugate
 * Goss
 * Grassy Lake
 * Half Bank Crossing
 * Harmony
 * Hickory Hill
 * High Hill
 * Hopewell
 * Iron Stob
 * Lane
 * Limestone Gap
 * Lone Pine
 * Mayers Chapel
 * McGee Valley
 * Mt. Carmel
 * Mt. Olive
 * Negro Bend
 * New Hope
 * Nix
 * Old Farris
 * Patapoe
 * Payton Crossing
 * Pine Springs
 * Plainview
 * Pleasant Hill
 * Redden
 * Reynolds
 * Rock Springs
 * Standing Rock
 * Star
 * Stringtown
 * Taloah
 * Tushka
 * Valley View
 * Voca
 * Wards Chapel
 * Wardville
 * Webster
 * Wesley
 * West Allison
 * West Telico
 * Wilson

Neighboring Counties

 * Bryan
 * Choctaw
 * Coal
 * Johnston
 * Pittsburg
 * Pushmataha

American Indians
Census
 * 1851 - 1959 Oklahoma and Indian Territory, Indian Censuses and Rolls, 1851-1959 at Ancestry — index and images ($)
 * 1895 - 1914 U.S., Native American Citizens and Freedmen of Five Civilized Tribes, 1895-1914 at Ancestry — index and images ($)
 * 1898 - 1914 Oklahoma and Indian Territory, Dawes Census Cards for Five Civilized Tribes, 1898-1914 at Ancestry — index and images ($)
 * Dawes Final Rolls - Oklahoma Historical Society

Land and Property
 * 1884 - 1934 Oklahoma and Indian Territory, Land Allotment Jackets for Five Civilized Tribes, 1884-1934 at Ancestry — index and images ($)
 * 1889 Oklahoma County Plats 1889 - Oklahoma Historical Society
 * 1899 - 1907 at FamilySearch — index and images


 * For more information see Indians of Oklahoma

State Census Records

 * 1890 Oklahoma Territorial Census 1890 - Oklahoma Historical Societ
 * 1890 and 1907 Oklahoma Territorial Census, 1890 and 1907 at Ancestry — index and image ($)

Federal Census Records
Federal Censuses were taken for Oklahoma starting in 1860. For links to Federal census indexes, see Oklahoma Census.

Land
Online Land Records

For more information see Oklahoma Land and Property
 * Land Patent Search - index to federal patents and homesteads on the Bureau of Land Management website, some images available
 * 1796 - 1907 - U.S. General Land Office Records, 1796-1907 at Ancestry - index, info taken from Bureau of Land Management website
 * 1861 - 1936 - U.S. Homestead Records 1861-1936 at Ancestry.com - ($), index and images
 * 1889 - Oklahoma County Plats, 1889 - Oklahoma Historical Society
 * 1899 - 1907 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * El Reno Homesteader Filings - Oklahoma Historical Society

Maps

 * Interactive Formation Boundary Map of Oklahoma - shows boundary changes for Oklahoma Counties
 * Maps n More - county and township maps.
 * Oklahoma Civil War Map of Battles

Revolutionary War

 * 1775 - 1783 - at FamilySearch - images only
 * For more nationwide Revolutionary War databases, see US Military Online Genealogy Records.

Civil War

 * http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=9236 Oklahoma, Confederate Pension Index, 1915-1955] at Ancestry — index (free)
 * For more nationwide Civil War databases, see US Military Online Genealogy Records.

WWI

 * For more nationwide World War I databases, see US Military Online Genealogy Records.

WWII

 * Oklahoma Military Deaths - Oklahoma Historical Society
 * For more nationwide World War II databases, see US Military Online Genealogy Records.

Newspapers
Oklahoma Newspapers Online Oklahoma Newspaper Catalogs
 * GenealogyBank - ($), contains images of Oklahoma newspapers
 * Newspaper Archive - ($), contains images of Nebraska newspapers
 * Chronicling America - contains images of some Oklahoma newspapers; searching tips
 * Elephind - Free; search engine that retrieves newspaper images from other free newspaper websites
 * Oklahoma State Historical Society - catalog of known Oklahoma newspapers; lists repositories that have the newspapers
 * U.S. Newspaper Directory, 1690-Present on Chronicling America - contains a list of all known newspapers and the dates they cover; once you locate a newspaper name, contact the local library to see if they have copies of the newspaper

Probate
Online Records
 * 1801 – 2008 Oklahoma Wills and Probate Records 1801-2008 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
 * 1887 – 2008 Oklahoma Probate Records 1887-2008 at FamilySearch — images

School Records

 * 1895 - 1936 at | FamilySearch — index and images

Vital Records
See also How to order Oklahoma Vital Records, order electronically online or download an application for Oklahoma Birth Certificate or Death Certificate Applications to mail.

Births
Online Birth Records Indexes and Images
 * Early Oklahoma Birth Records

Marriage
Online Marriage Records Indexes and Images
 * 1841 - 1927 - Oklahoma and Indian Territory, Marriage, Citizenship and Census Records, 1841-1927 at Ancestry ($)
 * 1852 - 1948 - at FamilySearch — index
 * 1870 - 1930 - at FamilySearch Index only.
 * 1870 - 1930 - Oklahoma, Select Marriages, 1870-1930 at Ancestry — index ($)
 * 1870 - 1930 - Oklahoma, Marriages, 1870-1930 at My Heritage index ($)
 * 1889 - 1951 - Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, Marriage Index, 1889-1951
 * 1890 - 1995 - at FamilySearch Index and images
 * OKGenWeb Oklahoma Marriages

Deaths
Online Death Records Indexes and Images
 * Obituaries Listed in the Oklahoman - Oklahoma Historical Society — index only
 * 1935 - 2014 - U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014 at Ancestry ($)
 * 1936 - 2007 - U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 at Ancestry, incomplete ($}
 * 1936 - 2007 - U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 at Ancestry, incomplete ($}

Divorces
Online Divorce Records Indexes and Images
 * 1923 - 1942 - Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, Divorce Index, 1923-1942

Societies and Libraries
Atoka County Genealogical Society 600 S. Johnstone PO Box 245 Atoka 74525

Atoka Museum & Confederate Cemetery 1 mile north of Atoka 258 North Hwy 69 Atoka, OK 74525 Telephone: 580-889-7192 E-mail:[mailto:atokamuseum@yahoo.com atokamuseum@yahoo.com] Website

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers

Web Sites

 * Atoka County, OK History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * Oklahoma Genealogy Network Community on Google+
 * Oklahoma Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
 * USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.