Volume 9 , Issue 14

Chester, Oklahoma

The southwest quarter of section 2-20-16 was the location of the first "Chester" post office established April 8, 1895. Chester has always been the official name of the post office, but there are doubts about how the name originated.

One story has it that Michael Tedrick named the post office after his grandson who lived in Ohio. The other theory is that it was named for chester Long, US Senator from Kansas. At the time the post office was in a store built by Michael Tedrick, located on property he homesteaded. Tedrick had hauled lumber from Alva to build this 2-story affair, with the family quarters on the top floor and the store and post office on the bottom. Tedrick made an application for the post office by filing a petition with the US Postal Department. The petition had to be signed by a number of residents in the area.

The Chester school was located 1/4 mile east of the post office-store. Chester (Dist. #38) was organized July 30, 1895 in a 1-room log structure with a sod roof and a dirt floor. The seats were benches around the walls.

As the story goes, "When it rained, the only dry place in the school building was under the big cedar poles used as ridge poles for the sod roof."

A few slates for written work, a wood stove for heat and a big paddle for discipline, were the main elements of a school day. The students generally ranged in age from 6 to 16 years old. All grades were in the same room and taught by the same teacher.

The first year, school was taught by George M. Tedrick, the son of Michael Tedrick. The school term was about 90 days, since the students were needed on the farms during the warmer weather. The first schoolhouse was a logged building, but it is unknown when it was replced with a frame building. It has been estimated to be around 1900, though.

Teachers, school years and monthly salaries are listed below:

1908-09 - Frank D. Taylor, $40.00 month, school term 6 months.

1909-10 - c. c. Wells, not available (N/A), school term 6 months.

1910-13 - N/A, N/A, school term 6 months.

1913-14 - Pearl Ruckle, $60.00, school term 6 months.

1914-15 - Ethyl Gaston, $50.00, school term 6 months.

1915-16 - Maude Goldsbury, $50.00, school term 6 months.

1916-17 - Ethyl Gaston, $60.00, school term was 160 days.

1917-18 - Rilla Jones, $65.00, school term was 120 days.

1918-19 - Irl Gaston, N/A, school term was 120 days.

1919-20 - Irl Gaston, $75.00, school term was 120 days.

1920-21 - Fern Camp, $90.00, school term was 120 days.

1921-22 - Leota Smith, $75.00, school term was 120 days.

1922-23 - Flossie Howell, $75.00, school term was 120 days.

1923-24 - Eva Cox, $80.00, school term was 120 days.

1924-25 - Claude Strucker, $75.00, school term was 120 days.

1925-26 - Ellen Shaffer, $80.00, school term was 120 days.

1926-27 - Ellen Shaffer, $80.00, school term was 140 days.

1927-28 - Lena Shepherd, $80.00, school term was 160 days.

1928-29 - Lena Shepherd, $90.00, $80.00, school term was 160 days.

1929-30 - N/A, N/A, $80.00, school term was 160 days.

1930-31 - Hettie Hutchens, $90.00, school term was 160 days.

1931-32 - Phoebe Hoda, $85.00, school term was 160 days.

1932-33 - Helen Hussman-Morris, $80.00, school term was 160 days.

1933-34 - Helen Hussman-Morris, $70.00, school term was 160 days.

1934-35 - Hazel Welch, $85.00, school term was 160 days.

1935-36 - Hazel Welch, $70.00, school term was 160 days.

1936-37 - Hazel Welch, $85.00, school term was 160 days.

1937-38 - Edgar Fuller, $90.00, school term 8 months

1938-39 - Donna Louthan, $85.00, school term was 160 days.

1939-40 - Donna Louthan, N/A, school term was 160 days.

It was July 16, 1947, when Chester District #38 was annexed into the Seiling school district. The Chester Cemetery was across the road south from the school, in the northeast corner of the northwest quarter of section 11-20-16. The original owner of the land was H. P. Tedrick. The first person buried in the Chester cemetery was Elizabeth Fisher-Jellison (1894).

The Chester Cemetery corporation was formed on July 27, 1901 with the board of directors: Albert S. Ball, J. W. Franklin, Robert Jellisn, Michael Tedrick, Daniel C. Ball, P. K. Markham and E. P. Condreay. On November 4, 1901, for $15.00, the corporation purchased from H. P. Tedrick, 2 acreds where the cemetery was to be located.

Albert S. Ball was the postmaster starting November 25, 1898. It was during Ball's tenure that the post office was moved 2-1/4 miles west. Residents of the community who came for their mail at the old post office location found only a pile of dirt with a sign that read, "Chester is dead and laid to rest. If you want your mail go 2 miles west."
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