| Notes |
- Dan was a farmer, oil field worker, and bootlegger. Rosa said he was a very strong man, once stealing a good size calf from a man who refused to pay a debt and running with the calf over his sholder most of the way from Wewoka.
Trix tells a story of Dan at a local dance, the sort that neighbors rotated among their homes. Dan was playing fiddle and was ready to leave at some point that was too early for one of the other partygoers. They went outside to fight. The other man grabbed an ax and chopped Dan in the back. The ax stuck, Dan pulled it out and then chopped the man's legs off.
Dan and Rosa's first house at Letha was a 12x24 ft. red wooden house. Their previous place was just off the road to Wewoka Lake.
Dan was wealthy during the bootleg years. Prince remembers as a small boy playing in a tunk full of money. Prince remembers that Dan had more than 20 stills in the Kiamishi Mountains and at least that number of drivers.
A partner of Dan was Red McBride.
Dan built a large wooden house that burned. He built a new stone home in the same location and also put up a stone barn.
After Dan's health went, the family was broke. His wife, Rosa kept up the liquor sales for a time, but couldn't manage it for long. She remarried Bill Clifton, who had managed the business for Dan after Dan was sick. Bill couldn't manage it either and also drank quite a lot, so they were divorced.
Dan was drinking "Jake" whiskey with a man named Rice, another named R.T. Harbor, Woody Woodward, and Sheriff Sims. Rice, Harbor, and Sims got what was called Jake Leg from a poison in the whiskey, Sims was called Jake Sims thereafter.
Dan built a large brick mansion next to the stone house just before his health broke. A local teacher, Ethyl Miller, rented a room in the house during that time. School board did not object to a teacher renting from a bootlegger because board supt. was one of Dan's whiskey customers. Ethyl now lives on her family's place near Antlers, OK near a small town named Finley. She had no furniture so Dan bought her $10,000 worth of furniture, including a piano which Ethyl's sister Mabel used to teach Edna.
Edna says Dan died of pellagra, (from eating too much corn?). Rosa said consumption.
The last 3 or 4 years of his life he had stomach ulcers and was only able to eat raw oysters. These were imported from New Orleans. It was due to his health that Dan surrrendered to the law and was sent to Leavenworth. It is said that he believed he would get better health care there than in Seminole.
Many important politicians, including the Governor, were frequent guests and drinking buddies with Dan, so it is entirely possible that Dan did have, as the family story has it, the option of going to jail or not.
It is said that Dan and John pulled a few jobs with Pretty Boy Floyd. They were going to rob one of the big county dances and the old man at the door told Dan that he knew who he was and he had better go home. Sos they left empty handed that night.
It is also said that Al Capone, sent a man down to take over Dan's bootlegging business. The man made friends with Dan's right had man to whom he told his plans. So Dan's friend went and told him what this fellow planned to do. So Dan had them come and eat breakfast and said to this fellow, "You have been here long enough now. I will show you where all of my stills are." which is what the man had been waiting for. They say a big smile came upon this man's face at this time. As they left the house that morning, Dan took Rosa aside and said one one of us will be back! About a week later Rosa was going to wash Dan's overcoat, and found a bullet hole in the pocket. The man from Chicago was never seen again.
Dan was a farmer, oil field worker, and bootlegger. Rosa said he was a very strong man, once stealing a good size calf from a man who refused to pay a debt and running with the calf over his sholder most of the way from Wewoka.
Trix tells a story of Dan at a local dance, the sort that neighbors rotated among their homes. Dan was playing fiddle and was ready to leave at some point that was too early for one of the other partygoers. They went outside to fight. The other man grabbed an ax and chopped Dan in the back. The ax stuck, Dan pulled it out and then chopped the man's legs off.
Dan and Rosa's first house at Letha was a 12x24 ft. red wooden house. Their previous place was just off the road to Wewoka Lake.
Dan was wealthy during the bootleg years. Prince remembers as a small boy playing in a tunk full of money. Prince remembers that Dan had more than 20 stills in the Kiamishi Mountains and at least that number of drivers.
A partner of Dan was Red McBride.
Dan built a large wooden house that burned. He built a new stone home in the same location and also put up a stone barn.
After Dan's health went, the family was broke. His wife, Rosa kept up the liquor sales for a time, but couldn't manage it for long. She remarried Bill Clifton, who had managed the business for Dan after Dan was sick. Bill couldn't manage it either and also drank quite a lot, so they were divorced.
Dan was drinking "Jake" whiskey with a man named Rice, another named R.T. Harbor, Woody Woodward, and Sheriff Sims. Rice, Harbor, and Sims got what was called Jake Leg from a poison in the whiskey, Sims was called Jake Sims thereafter.
Dan built a large brick mansion next to the stone house just before his health broke. A local teacher, Ethyl Miller, rented a room in the house during that time. School board did not object to a teacher renting from a bootlegger because board supt. was one of Dan's whiskey customers. Ethyl now lives on her family's place near Antlers, OK near a small town named Finley. She had no furniture so Dan bought her $10,000 worth of furniture, including a piano which Ethyl's sister Mabel used to teach Edna.
Edna says Dan died of pellagra, (from eating too much corn?). Rosa said consumption.
The last 3 or 4 years of his life he had stomach ulcers and was only able to eat raw oysters. These were imported from New Orleans. It was due to his health that Dan surrrendered to the law and was sent to Leavenworth. It is said that he believed he would get better health care there than in Seminole.
Many important politicians, including the Governor, were frequent guests and drinking buddies with Dan, so it is entirely possible that Dan did have, as the family story has it, the option of going to jail or not.
It is said that Dan and John pulled a few jobs with Pretty Boy Floyd. They were going to rob one of the big county dances and the old man at the door told Dan that he knew who he was and he had better go home. Sos they left empty handed that night.
It is also said that Al Capone, sent a man down to take over Dan's bootlegging business. The man made friends with Dan's right had man to whom he told his plans. So Dan's friend went and told him what this fellow planned to do. So Dan had them come and eat breakfast and said to this fellow, "You have been here long enough now. I will show you where all of my stills are." which is what the man had been waiting for. They say a big smile came upon this man's face at this time. As they left the house that morning, Dan took Rosa aside and said one one of us will be back! About a week later Rosa was going to wash Dan's overcoat, and found a bullet hole in the pocket. The man from Chicago was never seen again.
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1892 - 1931 (38 years)
