Everyone loves an interesting story and Bryan County history is filled with them. Each month we'll share one from our newspaper archives. Remember to check your family tree and see if your ancestor  might have read about or participated in the event, trial, or tragedy reported. 

            

Daisy Lane Williams

Submitted by: Charlotte Braly Schuepbach, granddaughter of Daisy Lane Williams.

                 Daisy Lane Williams was an amazing woman whose 94 years witnessed many wondrous events in the history of her people, state and country. She was the granddaughter of Jincy Jones who made the long difficult trip on the Trail of Tears from Mississippi to Skullyville, Indian Territory in the 1830's. Jincy married Impson Jones in 1847. His brother was Wilson N. Jones who became one of the wealthiest Choctaws and principal Chief. Jincy taught school. She gave birth to Frances November 12, 1854 in Skullyville.

                When Frances was 20 she married a forty-year-old Irish immigrant named Bartholomew Lane who was a section foreman for the Missouri, Kansas, and Texas (the "Katy") railroad. They lived north of Caddo. Daisy, the ninth child of Frances and Bartholomew, was born in 1894. She bridged two different cultures, two different religions and two different ages in our country’s development. She was born to a Choctaw mother who sang to her in her Indian tongue. In her later years Daisy would sing Choctaw hymns to her own grandchildren. Daisy resembled her father in looks with auburn hair and sky-blue eyes and ivory skin. She learned Gaelic from her father. She learned of his homeland and of the hardships suffered there and of the beauty of the Emerald Isle. Daisy learned of the Methodist Church from her mother; Catholicism from her father. She learned tolerance and acceptance and understanding through love from both parents.

               She was born in an age that saw families homesteading in covered wagons; she lived to see Neil Armstrong walk on the moon. She was born in the agrarian age when families depended on the land for life; she died in the industrial age when almost no families relied on the land for its well being. She saw the Choctaw Nation cease and the state of Oklahoma emerge. She received her allotment near her family's farm north of Caddo.

               She received her education at Murray College in Tishomingo. She studied music, literature, Greek, and Latin. She lived with the family of William Murray who later became governor of Oklahoma. She also attended Oklahoma Presbyterian College in Durant. The pump organ that she played is still in the family. Daisy liked fashionable clothes so she would sew dresses copied from patterns taken from catalogs.

                One afternoon as she was riding down the main street of Caddo, Douglas Williams, the owner of the furniture store, stopped Daisy. He said that he would trade his son James Pinckney for the horse that Daisy was riding. Daisy laughed and said that she would have to check James out first. She liked what she saw. He was a soft-spoken man from South Carolina with blue eyes that danced as he talked. They married in 1912. They built a home on her Indian allotment north of Caddo. They had three children, Rose Elaine, Edward, and Robert. In 1952, James Pinckney Williams (Cowboy Pink) was elected as Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma. The couple moved to Oklahoma City. As wife of the Lt. Gov. Daisy entertained Eleanor Roosevelt, Bess Truman, Robert Kerr, Carl Albert, Sen. John F. Kennedy, John Wayne, among others. Cowboy Pink Williams also served as State Treasurer. They returned to their ranch in 1966 after retiring from politics. Daisy enjoyed traveling. She and her husband visited most of the states, Canada and Mexico. She visited Ireland four times seeking her father's family in the River Kenmare area. She was a member of the Caddo Music and Literary Club and the Civic and Cemetery Club. She leased her ranch to Reba McEntire early in the singer's career. Daisy Lane Williams died in 1986.

Our Collections page will tell you about the many newspapers that are available for your research. You might be surprised by the stories YOU find.