Volume 15 , Issue 23

NW Okie's Corner

Still looking into the the December, 1941 trial of Kenneth (George) Root, who was arrested for the shooting death of Donald Lee Benson (1919-1941), at a luncheon held at the Rose Hill school, near Alva, Oklahoma. Chronicling America newspapers online only go back to the 1920's. Is there someone out there that could do a lookup in the Wichita Beacon, dated 3 December 1941 (special edition) for the shooting death of Donald Lee Benson and the trial of George (Kenneth) Root (11 December 1941?

The only information that I have found online concerning this 1941 trial of Kenneth (George) Root (17 years of age) for shooting Donald Lee Benson (22 years of age), was on a genealogy site that mentioned a date of 4 December 1941, and Kenneth Root captured in Hardtner hills after shooting Donald Lee Benson, who died from wounds. On 11 December 1941, Kenneth (George) Root was charged with murder.

Donald Lee Benson was born March, 1919; died December 3, 1941. Benson was the son of Elza Albert Benson and Anna "Maude" (Highfill) Benson. In the 1920 Census taken January 17-19, says Donald was about 10 months old, living in Whitehorse, Woods County, Oklahoma. Donald was brother of: Clifford "Harold", Luella May, Rosetta "Faye", Alice Pearl, Eva "Joan", and Marian Jean Benson (Hatcher). He was buried in the Star Cemetery, Alva, Woods County, Oklahoma, USA.

Back in Vol. 7, Iss. 3, dated 1005-01-22, of The Okie Legacy, what we do know is Kenneth Root was dating Benson's sister back in December, 1941. A dinner at the Rose Hill school was the scene when Root shot Benson. What we do know was Kenneth Root was arrested by Sheriff Ken Greer, and charges were filed against Root by County Attorney Bill Gruber. The presiding judge was J. J. Gaiser, and the defense attorney for Kenneth Root was C. H. Mauntel.

We heard from Marian (Benson) Hatcher, who left a comment, "Kenneth Root shot my brother, Donald Benson. I think he got life, but was paroled after 7 years with the stipulation he never come to Oklahoma again. I have no current info but I do have bits of items about the killing and trial." Thanks to Marian Hatcher for the latest updates on the 1941 shooting. Look for Marian's information in this week's edition of The Okie Legacy.

Gateway To Oklahoma History

There is this great site online for viewing, searching old newspaper archives through the Oklahoma Historical Society, using their Gateway to Oklahoma History.

The Gateway is an online repository of Oklahoma history that you can browse through hundreds of thousands of newspaper pages dating from the 1840's to the 1920's. It provides free access to 81,776 issues and 613,515 pages of historical newspaper content.

We found some interesting articles of interest in the 1894, Norman Transcript, Norman, Oklahoma Territory, Vol. 06, No. 12, Ed. 1, Friday, 21 December 1894. We leave you with this little poem by the local Editor, O. W. Meacham:

Who Can Answer

When the fluffy, breezy bloomers
Are the universal go,
How will the tailors press the creases
Into them. I'd like to know?

When the baby's head is nodding,
And it wants to take a nap,
How can mamma lull her darling
In a bifucated lap.

When the chickens go a-grubbing
In the garden in the spring,
How can Bridget "shoo" the creatures
With no skirt to flop and fling.
-- Exchange.

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