Email Museum

White Deer Land Museum

116 S. Cuyler

Pampa, TX 79065

Memories of Ola Gregory Covey

(Ola Gregory Covey, who will be 93 years old on December 13, 1999, is the only living person in Gray County who worked in the county courthouse when it was located at Lefors --- from 1902 until 1928. On January 30,1997, Ola was interviewed by Anne Davidson, director of White Deer Land Museum, and Eloise Lane.)

In early 1928, Ola was without a job in Duncan, Oklahoma, when she received a telephone call from her half brother Bill Beaver, who worked in the oil fields around Lefors. Bill told her, "I've got a job for you here. We're getting ready to move the county seat. Pampa is a good-sized town and the election is sure to carry. It would work into a good job for you."

So in February of 1928, Ola went to work for county and district clerk Charlie Thut in the Gray County courthouse at Lefors at a salary of $85 a month. Ola and two other workers often worked in a big vault where permanent records had to be kept.

On March 9, 1928, an election was held to determine the location of the county seat of Gray County. The votes were 3,672 for removal to Pampa and 1,386 against removal to Pampa. As soon as the votes were canvassed, people came in every kind of vehicle and rode around and around the courthouse to celebrate. Pampa sent a firetruck to collect the records from the county clerk's office.

There were rumors that some of the records were missing, but Ola insists "that did not happen." She explains that a file fell over in a pick-up and some papers -- containing criminal records --- were scattered but all of them were recovered.

There were reports that unqualified voters were brought in from the oil fields. At that time people had to pay a poll tax of $1.75 in order to vote, but the first vote was free for a person who had just reached the age of 21. Many of the younger men voting for the first time had no poll tax receipt to show and that is why some people thought there was a lot of illegal voting.

The First Baptist Church of Pampa (then at the corner of Kingsmill and Russell --present location of First State Bank of Miami) offered Gray County use of the basement of the church building for records and offices at $150 per month plus charges for water, gas and electricity.

Ola needed to move to Pampa with the courthouse and Miriam Wilson, county treasurer at the time, found a place with her nephew, Weldon Wilson, brother of Ray Wilson. Then the offices of sheriff and tax collector were combined --Weldon was in the law department and Ray worked in the tax department of the sheriff's office.

Weldon and his wife, formerly Mary Meers, a daughter of J. Frank Meers, lived at 605 North Somerville. Mary and Ola were often by themselves at night when Weldon was working. This was still during the oil boom days and Weldon told the two women "to stay put" and not be out driving around by themselves.

A section of the church basement was partitioned off and a vault was built for keeping the records of the county and district clerk. Once there was a sensational rape case and people attending the trial made a huge amount of traffic. The main auditorium was used for the court and the choir loft was for the jury. When court recessed and people began to leave the building, Ola and her fellow workers felt the floor above them shaking so hard that they took refuge in the vault.

In the temporary courthouse, Ola and another worker were in the clerk's office with Charlie Thut and so was the county treasurer. Soon the office of county auditor was created and Ray Wilson, who was appointed auditor, was also in that room.

There was a larger room outside where the justices of the peace, the constables and the abstractors had a table for their work. There were two tables with typewriters for the abstractors --- Ola remembers Mr. Saunders well --and Mr. Faulkner's office -- Kelly Patterson ran that end.

There was a room for the sheriff, E.S. Graves, who was also the tax collector. In the sheriff's room they had made a little vault which did not open into the clerk's vault. The sheriff had to have a place to keep evidence.

Ola told an amusing story about a drifter who was picked up by the police and placed in the county jail.

This was during the days of prohibition when it was customary for a person to have his own private bootlegger if he could afford to do so because some of the whiskey was rotten and caused those who drank it to become crippled a condition called jake leg.

One morning a prominent lawyer who drank quite heavily came to the county treasurer's office and said to Charlie Thut, "I've got me a new bootlegger." Trying to impress the girls in the office, the lawyer spoke loudly, "I really got some good stuff --- I have some really good stuff. It cost a bundle and was shipped in from overseas through old Mexico."

The lawyer continued to give details while the girls exclaimed with oh's and ah's and asked how he managed to get such a good bootlegger.

The lawyer then went past the office of Sheriff E.S. Graves who said, "Come in. I want to show you what I've got. I've caught a big one. Believe me, he's going in for a term. I'm going to send him up for a long, long time."

The lawyer replied, "Oh, don't be so hard on him. I might want to represent him."

The sheriff said, "Well, let me show you what I've got." As they passed the jail, the lawyer recognized that the drifter in jail was his bootlegger.

The sheriff showed the lawyer a big juice bottle of pure alcohol and jars lined up in a row. The sheriff said, "These are the fanciest bottles and the caps, sealing wax, labels and Scotch flavoring are the best that can be had."

The lawyer took one long look at the array and then said, "Well, that so-and-so that so-and-so! I hope you send him up from now on." And the sheriff replied, "Oh, don't be so hard on him. You might want to represent him."