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| Garrison homes and Phillips University |
In 1923 my grandparents moved from their house on the farm
near Cleo Springs to a home in Enid, Oklahoma. According to the 1920 census, in 1923 Jim
Garrison was 50, and Mattie was 42. Their children were young teens-Aleitha was 16, Elgin was 13, and Bob was
11 years old. The city of Enid may have been only thirty or forty miles from
Cleo Springs, but it might as well have been a world apart for these youngsters
raised on the farm.
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| Downtown on West Randolph Street, Enid about 1920 |
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| Downtown on East Randolph Street Enid about 1920 |
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| Main campus of Phillips Unitversity |
In 1930 Jim and Mattie owned a home at 2111 East Randolph Avenue valued at $4000. However Elgin's ad below shows his residence as 2029 East Elm Ave., so they may have rented a home before buying one. Both houses were just a block
or two from the campus of Phillips University which spread over 260 acres and
had 1200 students in 1921. Their home was large enough that Mattie could take in
college girls as boarders to bring in extra cash.
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| Mattie Garrison |
Jim got a job working for the college as the campus engineer/janitorial warden. His picture made the yearbook too! During the tough years of drought and depression, the
family had a reliable paycheck coming in.
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| 1931 Phillips University Yearbook- showing staff members including J.W. Garrison as the Campus Engineer and Janitorial Warden |
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| Masonic Temple in Enid |
Jim Garrison was a Mason, and Mattie was a member of the Eastern Star.
Several neighbors were professors and ministers who worked at the college and the nearby Christian Church. The Garrisons were members of the Disciples of Christ, and Mattie attended the Central Christian Church even in her later years in Enid.
Another neighbor of the Garrisons was the Babcock family, who owned and operated a local grocery store. In years to come, young Bob would have a job at a local grocery store; this may have well been his connection. Bob was always known for his sense of humor, and from this picture it looks like even in his early teens, he was quite a "cut-up!"
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| Bob Garrison (on the right) with some friends |
Elgin soon got a newspaper route to help bring in money, and
saved up to buy a motorcycle which he used to deliver “The Wichita Eagle” along
his route. The full page add says:
" Hello Folks! I am your carrier- Elgin Garrison -District No. 2- Enid. Let me deliver the Wichita Eagle to you every day! I'll give you prompt and faithful service- Phone me today- Elgin Garrison 2029 East Elm St.- Phone 821-J - Enid Oklahoma"
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| Elgin Garrison delivering the Wichita Eagle |
So now we know that the Garrisons had a fairly new appliance in those days- they owned a telephone! In those days, rural telephones were scarce, and even in town a phone line was shared - a "party line." One of my mother's favorite stories about my grandmother was that one day Mattie picked up the phone in her house and listened in to some neighbors talking- she heard someone say something she didn't like and broke right in and told them what she thought!
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| girls enjoying an early telephone |
A big new attraction in the mid 1920's was the radio.
