Ruth Emmaretta Hanthorne
RESIDENCES: From letters to Raymond M. Bell and family members it can be determined that during the 7 Aug 1963-1967 period she was living at: Van Sanford Apartments; Seminole, OK 74868.
OCCUPATION: School teacher for at least 40 years.
BIOGRAPHY:
Ruth Emmaretta Hanthorne attended Oklahoma College for Women at Chickasha, OK. She taught at Cement and Seminole, OK and perhaps other places.
One summer she taught and coached, Muriel Diamond in a dramatic reading. Muriel said, "She was a "jolly" happy-go-lucky (not flighty) person. She enjoyed life, had a hearty laugh, telling such interesting true tales of her school and students, but she could be serious too. One summer she was in New York furthering her drama teaching ability and worked on a TV play which featured Tallulah Bankhead. I believe Ruth's name was in the credits for the lighting."
She wrote to Christine Bergen on 7 Sep 1964, from Van Sanford Apartments; Seminole, OK. She stated her father was William Parker Hanthorne (1855-1917) who married Emmaretta Richardson. So it appears that her father was the first to use the "a" as the 2nd letter of the last name.
Ruth Hanthorne spelled her last name, Hanthorne. She lived near Norma (Latham) Henthorn at one time. The address was possibly: 1711 Grisso Drive; Seminole, OK; as of 19 July 1973. She wrote a long letter about Cyrus Henthorne of Arkansas to Paul Howard Henthorne from which the address is extracted.
OBITUARY:
Ruth Hanthorne Dies
Ruth Hanthorne never married. She was a school teacher and retired from that profession. She was born on 2 Jan 1902 in Dewey Co., OK, a daughter of William Parker Hanthorne and Emmaretta Richardson. She died on 14 Jun 1975 at the Seminole Municipal Hospital, Seminole Co., OK at the age of 73 years, 5 months, and 12 days. The cause of death was, Cerebrovascular hemorrhage.
Her residence at the time of her death was 1711 Grisso Drive, Seminole, OK. Her Social Security Number was: 447-22-0443A.
She was survived by one sister, Mrs. Cleo Moon of 218 West Main Street, Lamoni, IA.
The funeral took place at 2:00 p.m. on Monday, 16 Jun 1975 at the Swearingen - Arnhart Funeral Chapel in Seminole, OK. Freeman R. Whitlock (Latter-day Saints) officiated. Burial was on 16 Jun 1975 at the Eagle City Cemetery in Eagle City, OK.
(Source: Information for "Ruth Hanthorne Dies," extracted from Record of Funeral, No. 6, Page No. 69, obtained in Seminole, OK by Billy Gene Henthorn)
Billy Gene Henthorn of Enid, OK visited the Eagle City, OK cemetery in the summer of 1994. He found Ruth Hanthorne and her brother buried side by side. Her stone read: Ruth Emmaretta Hanthorne; 2 Jan 1902 - 14 Jun 1975.
OBITUARY:
Retired Teacher Dies Here
A retired Seminole High School and Junior College speech teacher, Miss Ruth Hanthorne died at 7 a.m. Saturday in Seminole Municipal Hospital. Miss Hanthorne was admitted at the hospital at 12:10 a.m. The instructor was 73 years old.
Services are pending the arrival of relatives from out of state. The body is at Swearingen-Arnhart Funeral Home.
Born at Eagle City, Oklahoma Territory, January 2, 1902, Miss Hanthorne received her early education there. She earned her Bachelor of Arts Degree from Oklahoma College for Women (now Oklahoma College of Liberal Arts and Sciences), Chickasha; a Master's Degree from the University of Oklahoma, Norman, and she had done additional graduate work in English and Speech at the University of Southern California and Denver University. She spent two summers studying in England, concentrating on Shakespearean Literature.
Miss Hanthorne began her tenure in the Seminole school system in 1941 and aughter until her retirement in 1969. She holds membership in several professional organizations including American Association of University Women.
Since retirement, Miss Hanthorne had been an avid worker in the Democratic party and for the past several years she acted as director at party headquarters during major election campaigns. In 1972, the Seminolean was honored as "Democratic Woman of the Year" by her local Democrat Women's Club. This year, Miss Hanthorne was nominated as "Outstanding Federation Woman of the Year" by her local club. She had served in many capacities as well as precinct chairman.
Miss Hanthorne's hobby, since retirement, has been Genealogy. She had traveled extensively in the eastern and midwestern states doing considerable research in the Library of Congress.
(Source: The Daily Seminole Producer, Sunday, 18 Jun 1975, Seminole, OK, includes photograph - furnished by Bill Henthorn)
RECOLLECTIONS-RESEARCHER:
According to Muriel Crownover the genealogy records of Ruth Emmaretta Hanthorne were given to Norma (Latham) Henthorn of Bethany, OK. [Note: It is indeed unfortunate that these notes have now apparently been lost to researchers of the Henthorn family. REH]
RECOLLECTIONS: Early Day Folks in Eagle City
As for our family, my parents, Mr. and Mrs. William P. Hanthorne, and their six children came to Oklahoma from Nebraska in covered wagons. Maude, the oldest, was married to Ira H. Conkling and had a baby, Mable. They made the trip in February, 1900. I am appalled when I think of it. My brother, Hugh, was ten months old and Mable was two months old. The other children were older. Only Cleo and I were born on our scrubby little farm down near Fay, [OK].
My father had been reared on a farm in Illinois, but his heart was never in it. Mother was a good farmer, but Dad was a plasterer and brick layer; so when building started in Eagle City, [OK], he went back to his trade, and we eventually moved from the farm to Eagle City. It was right at the end of 1905 for I remember my fourth birthday came just a few days after we moved, and it comes on January 2. My father was a good workman, and he built chimneys all over the county that are still in working order.
I wish I could write to you about my mother, but I am too close emotionally to do her justice. She was a good woman and loving mother who worked hard and taught us to work hard. She believed passionately in education and saw to it that we attended school regularly. Both Cleo and I taught school for more than forty years. That was because Mother worked so hard and kept us in school.
Sincerely, Ruth Hanthorne
[Note: Muriel Crownover writes, "In the early 1970s the Eagle City, [OK] community began having an annual reunion for all former residents. School was too small to limit it to individual classes although usually the 50-year class was acknowledged and saluted. Later in the '70s an ambitious lady wrote former residents and compiled a little "newspaper" of old pictures and articles written and supplied, and was which was available to those attending. My family mailed one to me for I did not attend that year." This letter written by Ruth Hanthorne appeared in the the 1975 issue. The other parts of the letter dealt with various residents of Eagle City, who are not of interest to the Henthorn/Hanthorne genealogy.]
(Source: Extracted from a long letter which appeared in The Eagle City Pioneers, May 1975, p. 5 - furnished by Muriel Crownover)
