It goes without saying that if you write about the history of Blanchard, you have to include the life and times of Oscar Morgan, so in the following story, I relate his profoundly fascinating and remarkable life from when he arrived in Blanchard until his retirement in 1941 and his subsequent death in 1948.

Oscar Washington “O.W.” Morgan was born at Union, Newton County, Mississippi, on March 11, 1882, to Rufus W. Morgan (1857–1909) and Isabella R. (Hunter) Morgan (1856–1920). Besides Oscar, Rufus and Isabella raised nine other children: William Franklin (1874–1969), Lula Tabitha Ford (1877–1951), Leroy Lee (1879–1959), Ella Angelina Kitchens (1879–1957), James Able (1885–1978), Odest Clifton “Otis” (1888–1973), Earnest Alvin (1891–1925), Dora Ester Lane (1894–unknown), and Walter Murphy (1898–1967).

It is unclear when the Morgans came to Oklahoma, but it was probably around the turn of the 20th century. Oscar's father, Rufus, was accidentally shot and killed by his son, Leroy, in 1909, somewhere east of Blanchard. His mother, Isabella, lived with Oscar when she died in 1920.

Oscar married Mattie Kitchen on August 30, 1901, in Carter County, Indian Territory, and the couple made their home in the community of McMillan. To this union was born one child, a son, Chester Cleveland Morgan (1902–1936).

Sadly, in 1903, when Chester was only about nine months old, his mother passed away at 20. She was laid to rest in the McAlister cemetery in Carter County.

A couple of years after his mother, Mattie Morgan, died, Chester came to Blanchard to make his home with his aunt, Mrs. Lula Ford.

Chester attended school at Blanchard, where he excelled in basketball, playing on the high school team with Purman Wilson, Roy Wilson, Lee Kitchen, Cecil Lobdell, Aubrey Lewis, and Marvin Slack. After school, Chester served in the Navy for several years, and in June 1924, he married Henrietta Simpson in Oklahoma County.

Chester died in July 1936 at the Veterans Hospital in Sulphur. Military services were conducted at the Blanchard cemetery, where interment was made. What happened to Henrietta is unknown, but she was not mentioned as a survivor in Chester’s obituary.

Oscar Morgan came to Blanchard from Ravia, Oklahoma, in 1908, at age 26. The first time his name appeared in the paper, The Blanchard Record, was January 22, 1909, when A.G. Cross, a real estate broker at the time, transferred a deed to "O.W. Morgan" for some real property.

Morgan was a big man, big not only in physical dimension but also in heart. He was a man of enormous courage and integrity. Morgan had “true grit” and “the right stuff” and was said to have been a peace officer's peace officer. Over the years, in law enforcement, he earned the monikers; “Bloodhound Morgan” and "One Man Posse,” who always got his man.

Besides being a big man, Morgan was characterized by people who knew him as awkward, with a slow drawl when talking. And when facing a tense situation, he always seemed to exhibit a calm demeanor. One acquaintance talked about his exceptionally keen eyes that missed little when examining any case, and his retentive memory in the back of those eyes would often put a snag in the plans of would-be lawbreakers.

The name Oscar Morgan burst into the headlines in November 1935 when he shot and captured Chester Comer, a madman who had murdered his pregnant first wife, his pregnant second wife, and three other persons. But long before Chester Comer, Morgan had been involved in other high-profile cases, such as William Prewett, an Oklahoma City salesman who, in January 1923, had been missing and who was found in a canyon west of Blanchard with a bullet in his head. In June 1924, Deputy Sheriff Morgan shot and killed Claude Lee, one of three men who had robbed the First State Bank in Washington.

A former deputy sheriff in Pontotoc County said, “If they call Oscar and tell him to stop a certain car coming his way, that car is going to be stopped.”

The big Stetson hat that Morgan is wearing in the picture below was purportedly presented to him by E.W. Marland, Governor of Oklahoma after Morgan captured Comer.

The Blanchard papers didn’t record what Oscar did during his first three years in Blanchard, but in February 1911, Oscar and J.E. "Jess" Wiser purchased the Model Restaurant & Bakery from O.M. Brooks, and Morgan & Wiser promptly renamed their new business establishment “The City Cafe.”

The restaurant business was short-lived for Oscar Morgan. He sold his interest in the cafe to Mr. Wiser in May of the same year (1911) and entered law enforcement as the Blanchard town marshal, succeeding Tol Perry, when the town council accepted his application during the week of June 8.

At the end of August 1911, at the request of McClain County Sheriff Grant Vincent, Morgan resigned as town marshal to accept a position as guard at the county jail at Purcell. Fred Leon "F.L." Prigmore was appointed town marshal to fill the vacant position. At some point before August 1913, Morgan was promoted to McClain County Deputy Sheriff.

One Saturday evening in June 1912, Morgan was on duty at the county jail guarding it, and while sleeping, P. Swanson, alias Snowball, a trustee, relieved him of a $35.00 watch and chain and a revolver. Snowball melted away in the shades of night, and no trace of him could be found until the following Tuesday night when secret service men at Oklahoma City apprehended him.

Snowball and another man had been arrested some time ago on a charge of stealing. Later, Morgan was heard to say, "This last offense is of sufficient importance to remove him from being trustworthy."

On January 27, 1914, during the last days of Oscar’s tenure as Deputy Sheriff of McClain County, an absolute travesty of justice occurred, which was doubtless his greatest regret of all his years as a lawman.

Ben Dickerson, a black man who had allegedly held up, robbed, and then shot to death W.A. Chaffin, the local manager of the Kellogg Corn Flake Company in Oklahoma City, was moved to and was being held in the McClain County jail for his protection. The regular night jailer was off duty on this particular morning, and Oscar Morgan was in charge. At about 5:30 a.m., a mob from Oklahoma City showed up at the jail and, at gunpoint, demanded the prisoner. Oscar denied having the keys, but the keys were found under the jailer’s mattress, and Morgan was commanded to unlock the cell door, which he did. He also provided a pair of handcuffs as commanded. After placing a rope around the prisoner’s neck, he was put in one of the mob’s automobiles, and the vigilantes proceeded on their way and before daylight had enforced “the unwritten law."

Dickerson was found hanging from a tree, his body riddled with bullets, about two miles southeast of Noble.

After the ordeal, Morgan stated that he had never seen so many automatic pistols and that they were all full-grown ones, too.

After serving as a jail guard and deputy sheriff at Purcell for three years, Morgan returned to Blanchard in April 1914 to take his previous position as town marshal at a salary of $75 per month. At the time when he left Blanchard, the town marshal position paid $32.50 per month. On his last day as Deputy Sheriff, he walked out of the office at Purcell and said, "I'm going to Blanchard, a democratic town."

Between 1914 and when he died in 1948, the Oklahoma newspapers were replete with articles about Morgan and his illustrative career as a peace officer. Interestingly, many papers between 1920 and 1922 refer to Morgan as McClain County Sheriff, and some refer to him as both Blanchard City Marshal and County Sheriff. This begs the question: Did Morgan work out a deal with McClain County and the City of Blanchard, where he served concurrently as sheriff for the county and city marshal for the City of Blanchard?

Throughout his distinguished career, the “Bloodhound of Blanchard,” Oscar Morgan, faced countless law enforcement situations, ranging from petty to profoundly dangerous. He was busy with bootleggers and moonshiners in the early days, especially in the prohibition period. Horse and automobile thieves were a problem. He set the record in his time for recovering more stolen cars than any other Oklahoma officer. He dealt with bank robbers and murderers, and during the quiet times, it was marauding and unlicensed dogs, stolen chickens, and chickens running loose.

The Cross and Brady Pursuits

One of Morgan's first cases that brought him considerable acclaim and where gunplay was involved was in the pursuit of two outlaws, George “A.G.” Cross, and Robert “Bob” Brady, in 1922. If A.G. Cross sounds familiar, he is the same man who sold Morgan some real property shortly after he first came to Blanchard.

In 1900, A.G. Cross was a respectable farmer and real estate broker specializing in selling farms and arranging loans. He stopped being respected, though, when he was arrested on the charge of stealing horses, and after his arrest, Cross was taken to Purcell, where an indictment was returned against him. Cross made bond and, while awaiting trial, jumped bail and absconded to Colorado to escape punishment. Later, he was located in Salida, Colorado, and McClain County Sheriff Vincent was dispatched there to return him to Purcell.

Cross was convicted of stealing domestic animals and some additional charges for bootlegging. He was sentenced to six years in the state prison.

Cross was paroled in July 1916, and after being released from prison and returning to the Blanchard area, Cross resumed farming. After a few years, in 1920, he rented his farm to a Mr. Williams, who had a twelve-year-old daughter, Viola. Farming was hard for the Williams family, and they were poor. Viola was described as a pretty girl who delighted with nice things, but there was no money for the things she wanted, such as nice clothes.

Cross lived in a house not too far away and would come around the Williams farm, quickly becoming enamored with Viola. It wasn’t long before Cross brought her clothes from Bowser’s Dry Goods Store in Blanchard and other lovely things. One Friday night, Viola slipped out of a window and met with Cross, who took her to a Norman hotel.

During the week of November 25, 1920, Morgan arrested A.G. Cross in Oklahoma City and charged him with statutory rape and abduction of a twelve-year-old girl, Viola Williams. Cross was taken to Purcell, and his bond was set at $2,000.

By August 1921, Cross had made bail and immediately left McClain County, leaving his bondsmen “holding the sack.” It was not until February 1922 that Cross was apprehended in Florida, and Blanchard town marshal Morgan went there to return him to McClain County.

Robert Golston “Bob” "Big Boy" Brady was born in Oklahoma in 1902. He was an American bank robber and Depression-era outlaw. Brady, a well-known Oklahoma bandit during the 1920s and 1930s, was associated with the Bailey-Underhill gang. He was alleged to have been involved in the Union Station massacre in Kansas City in June 1933, but this was never proven as a matter of fact.

On October 24, 1922, George “A.G.” Cross and Bob Brady were held in the Nowata, Oklahoma, jail on a charge of conjoint robbery when they escaped, stole a car, and made their way to the Oklahoma City area. In El Reno, they stole another car, a Hudson.

Oscar Morgan was keenly aware of Brady; he had been pursuing him because Brady’s mother, who lived at Blanchard, had posted his bail on a previous check forgery charge. Morgan was trying to redeem her money.

Morgan received a tip from a Blanchard man while playing snooker with him at the Blanchard pool hall. The man told Morgan that Brady and Cross were staying at a garage on South Robinson in Oklahoma City and were planning to rob the Blanchard First State Bank. He said that they had already made a trip to Blanchard, a dry run, to acquaint them with the road, the shortcuts, and the timing so that there would be no slip-up.

On Monday afternoon, November 20, 1922, Oscar Morgan and two other officers went to Oklahoma City, where they found the garage on South Robinson. When they entered the building, they saw the stolen Hudson. Morgan found Brady lying on the floor and made the arrest. Cross had been outside but came in, saw Morgan, and opened fire on him, firing six times but missing. Morgan fired back and thought that he had hit Cross in the shoulder, but he got away, notwithstanding the other two officers with Morgan.

What happened to Cross regarding punishment is unclear, but he died in Oklahoma City in 1960. Bob Brady continued his life of crime and was killed in Paola, Kansas when he engaged police officers in a gunfight.

Interestingly, an article in the December 8, 1938 edition of The Purcell Register talks about Morgan staying with his friend A.G. Cross, a farmer 2 miles east of Blanchard when he (Morgan) first came to Blanchard.

The William H. Prewett Murder & The “Whiz-Bang-Red” Gang

William H. Prewett was a traveling shoe salesman who typically called on clients around central Oklahoma. He, his wife, and their fourteen-year-old daughter lived in Oklahoma City. On January 22, 1923, he was scheduled to call on stores at Newcastle and Blanchard. So, that morning, he said goodbye to his wife and daughter and, driving a new Dodge automobile, headed south for Newcastle, his first scheduled stop.

Mr. Prewett made his first stop in Newcastle before noon, where he conducted business with a merchant, and as he was leaving, he told the merchant that he was on his way to sell a bill of shoes to a client in Blanchard.

The so-called “Whiz-Bang-Red-Gang” was not so much a gang as a rag-tag group of ne’er-do-well relatives running around the country forging checks, selling mortgaged properties, trafficking stolen property, and other petty crimes.

Whiz-Bang-Red was a nickname given to Pearl Duffield. She was called Whiz-Bang-Red because of her fiery red hair and her complete vocabulary of profane words. The gang was called the Whiz-Bang-Red Gang, but it was led by Pearl Duffield’s sweetheart, Arthur L. Henderson, a more advanced and dangerous criminal than the rest. He was thought to be predisposed to serious violence, even taking a life if necessary.

The gang comprised the following individuals: Arthur L. "Jack" Henderson (21), Pearl Duffield "Whiz-Band-Red" (26), Glen Bond (21) (Brother of Ray), Ray Bond (19) (Brother of Glen), Glennie Bond (35) (Stepmother of Ray and Glen Bond and Sister of Orie Daniels and Mabel Johnson), Orie Daniels (17) (Brother of Glennie Bond and Mabel Johnson), Mabel Johnson (26) and I.H. "Ira" Bond (60) (Henderson's Uncle)

In early January 1923, Arthur Henderson, I.H. Bond, and Ray Bond were being held on various charges at Fredonia, Kansas. One afternoon, Whiz-Bang-Red got permission to see her sweetheart, Arthur Henderson, at the jail. After their visit, when she was getting ready to leave the jail, they were allowed to embrace, and when they did, she slipped him a couple of hacksaw blades under his shirt. Later, during the night, the prisoners sawed their way to freedom and made the jailbreak.

The original plan was for Henderson, I.H. Bond, Bond’s son Ray, and Whiz-Bang-Red to drive the Ford car, which was provided by Whiz-Bang-Red, to Breckenridge, Texas, but they failed to meet up after the jailbreak, so Bond, his son Ray, and Henderson set out on foot.

On January 22, for unknown reasons, Arthur L. Henderson was seen in the Newcastle area afoot. Orie Daniels and Glenn Bond were also identified by Newcastle citizens as idlers when seen in the vicinity of the Newcastle Bridge on the same day.

When William Prewett left home on the morning of January 22, he told his wife that he would return the next day, Tuesday. So when he didn’t come home, she became alarmed and began telephoning all the towns on his scheduled route. Failing to find any trace of him, she informed officers and newspapers of his disappearance.

On a farm one mile north and 3 miles west of Blanchard, Clay Bench had been cutting firewood in a ravine, hauling it out on January 27, discovered a body with a bullet in the head. Mr. Bench quickly notified Blanchard town marshal Oscar Morgan, who was soon on the scene.

Since the body was found in Grady County, Morgan immediately delegated a man to return to Blanchard to notify Grady County Sheriff Matt Sankey. When the man reached Blanchard, he encountered Mrs. Prewett and a party of friends searching for her husband, who had scoured the hills around Newcastle, where her husband was last seen. When she learned of the body found, Mrs. Prewett rushed to the scene, identifying the body as her husband's.

Blanchard Town Marshal Morgan declared that the Prewett’s assailants could be identified if captured. About 1 o’clock on the day that Prewett was killed, two suspicious characters driving a practically new Dodge touring car, the description of which coincides with the dead man’s car, purchased gasoline at Sam Foster’s filling station and garage in Blanchard.

“Prewett often purchased gasoline and supplies at Foster’s filling station and was a warm personal friend of Foster,” Morgan said. Foster stated that he was confident the car driven by the two men was Prewett’s, although he did not recognize it then.

Morgan and Sankey left on Monday, February 5, for Breckenridge, Texas, when word was received that the car taken from Prewett had been found at a farmhouse near there.

From the clues picked up in Breckenridge, the officers started a search for the men who had driven the car from Blanchard. They paid a “snitch” $100 for information that led to the arrest of the four men and three women who were brought back to Chickasha on Wednesday, February 7.

Ray Bond, Glen Bond, Orie Daniels, and Arthur L. Henderson were the names of the men, and Pearl Duffield, alias Whiz-Bang-Red, Glennie Bond, and Mabel Johnson were the names of the women who were brought from Breckenridge to Chickasha to face charges. Mable Johnson also had an 18-month-old baby girl with her. They were transported to Ninnekah by train and the rest of the way by automobile to the Grady County Sheriff's office.

When asked if they obtained extradition papers, Morgan replied, “We didn’t ask for requisition; we told them to come on and let’s go. They didn’t hesitate. Not a single one made any effort whatsoever to resist arrest. They did not attempt to escape from the train.”

During interviews with Grady County law enforcement officials, three Blanchard men, C.E. Clanton, proprietor of a grocery store; Sam Foster, owner of a filling station; and W.O. Sager, an employee of Foster, positively identified Arthur Henderson as one of the men seen in the Dodge car that belonged to Prewett on the streets of Blanchard on the day that Prewett was murdered. The men purchased five gallons of gasoline from Sager, and Henderson bought some apples from Clanton.

Mr. Clanton and Oscar Dodson, an employee of the Haskin department store in Blanchard, identified the older Bond as a man seen in Blanchard on the day of the murder. Dodson sold one of the men a pair of gloves. Mr. Clanton also said he saw the Daniels boy on the streets the same day. “I am positive that he is the man who purchased a loaf of bread from me,” Clanton said.

Clanton declared that a woman answering the description of Whiz-Bang-Red came into the store that day and, while there, said that there was a sick baby in the car. “The woman drove up to the front of the store in a Ford car,” Clanton said.

When Arthur Henderson was first questioned, he was not willing to talk, but after other members of the gang began to implicate him in the shooting, he ended his silence by assigning the blame to his uncle, I.H. Bond.

The following are some of the more salient parts of his statement:

“I was so near when Prewett was killed that I could hear the shot fired, but I did not see it fired or have any part in the murder.”

“I don’t know where the man is who did it, but he is my uncle, I.H. Bond,” Henderson said. “He went to Breckenridge with me and left me with the car to ditch after he lit out.”

He said Prewett picked him and his uncle up near the Newcastle Bridge. With a gun stuck in his ribs, Bond ordered him to drive them to Breckenridge, and when Prewett refused, they hijacked the vehicle and drove to the canyon on Clay Bench’s farm.

According to the story, his uncle took Prewett into the ravine and shot him in the head. “After he emerged from the canyon, we drove to Breckenridge.”

There were a couple of problems with Henderson’s statement, however. First, I.H. Bond was never seen by any of the gang members in Breckenridge, and second, Bond was not seen on the streets of Blanchard or Newcastle on the day of the murder, as other members of the gang were.

Oscar Morgan’s next order of business, after having helped bring the Henderson-Whiz-Bang-Red Gang back from Breckenridge to Chickasha, was to find I.H. Bond, who was wanted in Kansas in connection with the Fredonia jailbreak and other charges. But more pressingly, Grady County wanted him for questioning in connection with the Prewett case.

On February 28, Morgan ran Bond to ground in Tonkawa, Oklahoma, where he was living under the alias of Earl West. Morgan arrested Bond on a conspiracy charge and returned him to Grady County.

When interviewed, Bond denied that he knew anything about the murder. “The last I saw of Henderson was when he left me on the roadside, between Fredonia, Kansas, and Altoona,” he asserted.

Bond claimed that he was at Ninnekah and had dinner with a farmer there on January 22, the day of the Prewett shooting. The alibi eventually held up, and Bond was not charged with the murder.

Arthur Henderson eventually changed his story, confessed to the murder, and was sentenced to the electric chair at the state prison at McAlester, but under the “no executions” policy of Governor Walton, his sentence was commuted to life in prison.

Henderson escaped from “Big Mac” on May 13, 1924, and after robbing a general store at Hayward, was recaptured, with the help of a pair of bloodhounds, the next day and returned to the prison.

On April 6, 1934, Henderson escaped again, but this time, he eluded law enforcement officers for a year before being killed in May 1935 in a gunfight with officers near Parsons, Kansas.

The other gang members, including I.H. Bond, were returned to Kansas to resume sentences and face additional charges. Whiz-Bang-Red was also charged with facilitating the Fredonia, Kansas, jailbreak.

It is unclear who else was in the car with Henderson when he hijacked William Prewett, but it was probably Orie Daniels and maybe one of the Bond boys. It is also unclear why seven gang members met in Breckenridge, Texas.

Oscar Morgan's Run for McClain County Sheriff

On the strength of his new-found fame, after having helped round up the members of the Henderson/Whiz-Bang-Red gang in 1923, Oscar Morgan decided to run for the McClain County sheriff’s office. So, he announced his candidacy for that office in February 1924. But, notwithstanding the solid support received from the Blanchard people and the entire west side of McClain County, Morgan was soundly defeated in the primary election, held on August 5, 1924, by the incumbent sheriff, Johnie E. Ratliff.

After the election, Morgan stayed on as the Blanchard town marshal and was later involved in the shooting deaths of Claude Lee in 1924 and Alvin Arter in 1927, as well as the shooting and capture of Chester Comer in 1935.

First State Bank of Washington Robbed

Around 3:30 p.m. on June 11, 1924, a red sport Buick eased into Washington and pulled up to the First State Bank. The car had three occupants, two of whom entered the bank while the other, the driver, stayed behind with the engine running. Inside the bank, while brandishing their guns, the two bandits scooped up all the readily available money, which was later determined to be around $3,000. After the two men had sacked up the money, they forced the bank employees into the vault and locked them inside.

When the bandits left the bank, they made their way to the Iron Chapel area, five miles south of Cole, where their car was later found abandoned.

The following morning, Mrs. P.H. Irons noticed two strange men pass the Iron’s home in the Iron Chapel area. First, she tried to contact Sheriff Johnie Ratliff at Purcell, but to no avail. Then she called Oscar Morgan, Blanchard Town Marshal. Morgan and Jim Williams, a nightwatchman, left immediately, and upon arriving on the scene, they encountered the two men, later identified as Claude Lee, alias Claude Bishop, and Guy Wilkerson.

Approaching the two men, the officers drew up to within a few yards, thinking they were going to surrender, when suddenly Lee and Wilkerson separated, going on either side of the car and opening fire. Morgan dropped Lee with the first shot, killing him instantly. Wilkerson emptied his six-shooter and started to run when Morgan shouted to him to stop or get his. He immediately stopped and gave up.

The two officers loaded the dead man and Wilkerson into the car and took them to Blanchard. Later, they were both taken to Purcell.

Lee had the loot from the bank on his person, and most of it was recovered.

Morgan and Williams had a narrow escape; indeed, one of the bullets went through the car's door, striking Morgan’s leg. Fortunately, it turned out to be a superficial wound.

The third man, one of the men who went inside the bank and had gotten away, was later captured and identified as Joe McGraw.

The Fate of Alva Arter a Habitual Criminal

Other than his crimes, not much is known about Alva Arter. We do know that he was born on January 7, 1896, in Van Buren, Arkansas, and came to the Blanchard-Dibble area when he was a child. It’s not clear if he came with his parents if he came to live with a guardian, or some other scenario. We also know that he was serving a ten-year sentence at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in June 1917 when he registered for the WWI draft. Arter was married at Blanchard to Della Holmes of Naples on September 26, 1926. The Rev. Paul H. Swinney officiated.

Arter began his life of crime in February 1917 when he held up the Rock Island train depot ticket office at Chickasha, getting away with $119. He was quickly arrested and later pleaded guilty to the rash act. He was given a ten-year sentence to be served at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary at McAlester. He was released from prison in March 1923 after serving six years.

Arter’s next notable crime was committed at the Buffalo schoolhouse on the night of May 30, 1924, when he stole a horse and saddle from Smith Ragsdale. When Oscar Morgan was notified of the thief, his search began for Arter and the horse. Morgan found the horse and saddle 18 miles west of Apache in Caddo County, and a couple of days later, he ran Arter to ground at Lindsay and took him to the county jail at Purcell.

Arter remained in the county jail until October 1924. That’s when his offense of horse stealing was reduced to larceny, and he pleaded guilty to that charge. He was again sent to the Oklahoma State Penitentiary at McAlester for two years.

On March 5, 1927, Alva Arter, out of prison again, stole a Ford touring car from a Blanchard citizen, thought to be P.V. Baker. When Blanchard town marshal Oscar Morgan was notified, he and another peace officer, Jim William, began the pursuit. They caught up to Arter near Tabler and were in the process of making an arrest when Grady County officers from Chickasha arrived on the scene. Arter was ordered to get into Morgan’s car to return to Blanchard. He was standing by the car, lighting a cigarette, when he started to run; several shots were fired, and Arter was instantly killed. It was widely reported that it was Morgan’s bullet that killed Arter.

Chester Comer, A Demented and Sadistic Madman

He was harassed by the delusion that he was being persecuted,” said Dr. D.W. Griffin of Norman’s Central Oklahoma State Hospital, describing Chester Comer to reporters in 1935.

“It is a dangerous type of person—the type that kills presidents, the type that kills just because he cannot stand to have others around.”

CHESTER L. COMER WAS BORN ON July 7, 1910, near Center, Pennsylvania, in Indiana County. According to the US Census index, he was the fourth of seven children born to John William and Carrie Comer. By 1920, the family had moved to northern Arkansas, where they were known to live in Buford and later Buffalo, near the Missouri border. In 1926, the family moved again to Asher, Oklahoma, where John Comer worked as a night watchman. Before moving to Oklahoma City in 1933, they lived in the Seminole-Tecumseh area for a time.

Amid the Great Depression and with Oklahoma buried in the swirling gloom of the Dust Bowl, Comer was just another sad sack, a 24-year-old oil-field roustabout who rarely stayed in one place or one job for long.

Few people had heard of Chester Comer until he came under suspicion for the disappearance of Shawnee attorney and civic leader Ray Evans a few days before his shootout with Morgan.

Some who did know him didn’t know his real name. Sometimes, he liked to use the alias Jack Armstrong.

By November 27, 1935, when Comer died of injuries inflicted by Oscar Morgan, he was suspected of having taken the lives of five people: Elizabeth Childers, his first wife; Lucille Stevens, his second wife; Ray Evans, Shawnee attorney; Lester A. Simpson, a Piedmont farmer; and his son, Warren Simpson. But in reality, it was much more sinister than that; both of his wives were expectant mothers.

As outrageous as it seems, Chester Comer wasn't the only raving maniac in the family. Ten years before Chester Comer ran amuck, his brother, the 5th child of John and Carrie Comer, murdered three persons on a two-day killing spree and one other in 1933 while incarcerated at the Arkansas State Hospital for Nervous Diseases in Pine Bluff, Arkansas.

On December 12, 1925, the 14-year-old brother of Chester Comer, Arnold, ran away from his family's home near Buffalo, Arkansas. He later said he left home because of trouble with his father and because Chester and his other brother, Austin, tormented him.

Comer began pillaging farmhouses for money, firearms, and food that first night. And on this night, armed with a shotgun, he approached a house to ask for food. A dog barked, and he stopped at the gate. When the farmer, his wife, and child appeared in the open door, Arnold fired at them with his shotgun, hitting them with the pellets but not seriously injuring them.

Comer moved on, and the next day, he appeared at the home of Sarah Boyd and asked for food. She gave him a glass of water and, according to his own story, started back to the kitchen for food, and that's when he shot at her.

"I don't know why I missed her," Comer would later say, "but she picked up her baby (granddaughter) and ran from the house." Comer followed her a short distance and shot her down. The baby was on the ground crying, so he picked up a stone and struck the baby on the head. Both victims were dead.

Next, Comer met Charles Moore, a fur trader, on the road. After a short conversation, Comer shot him dead. He later told officers that he killed Moore because he feared Moore intended to turn him in for killing Mrs. Boyd and her baby.

A few days later, Comer was captured and lodged in the Marion County jail at Yellsville pending processing by the court.

Comer was tried and found guilty of the murder of Charles Moore. The court sentence read that the first four years of Comer's 21-year term would be spent in the Arkansas State Hospital for Nervous Diseases in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. The court ordered that the indictments for the killing of Sarah Boyd and her granddaughter remain open until Comer was released, and the court would reconsider the charges at that time.

In January 1933, Comer committed his 4th murder when he beat his roommate, Millard Stanley, to death with a window weight while asleep.

Authorities said he had been a model prisoner since being transferred to the hospital.

Emma Elizabeth Childers (Comer's First Wife) and Her Sad and Tragic End

In Kansas City, Missouri, on October 6, 1934, the body of a young pregnant woman was found in a patch of weeds along a road in Wyandotte County, Missouri. The woman had been shot five times in the head with a .38 caliber pistol.

The body lay for some 90 days in the county morgue, where thousands viewed it before it was buried in a potter’s field. The body had been “positively” identified 18 times, all proving erroneous.

On December 2, 1935, fourteen months after the body was found, Col. Charles Daley, superintendent of the state Crime Bureau, called his office to report that he had accompanied Mrs. James Childers, grandmother of the missing girl, and Mrs. Odessa Jones, a sister, to Kansas City in an attempt to identify the remains. After comparing descriptions in minute detail, officials were convinced the body was indeed that of Elizabeth Childers Comer.

The identification was based on four accurate descriptions that Mrs. Jones gave officials. She described the clothing worn by her sister when she disappeared, told about the particularities of her sister’s teeth, described a scar on her sister’s leg, and produced photographs that bore a striking resemblance.

In addition to the descriptions given by Mrs. Jones, ballistics experts compared bullets taken from the young woman’s body with those fired from a .38 caliber pistol found in Comer’s possession on the day (November 25, 1935) that Oscar Morgan near Blanchard shot him.

The girl was an expectant mother, and Mrs. Childers said her granddaughter was to have given birth to a child about Christmas of 1934.

Mrs. Childers asserted before going to Kansas City that family finances had been depleted because of illness and ill fortune and that she would be unable to exhume the body and return it to Oklahoma City for burial.

ELIZABETH CHILDERS, AN OKLAHOMA CITY NATIVE, WAS BORN circa 1917 to James Robert and Laura Jane Childers. Her father died on July 4, 1934. It’s not known what happened to her mother, but at some point, her grandparents became her next of kin.

When Mr. and Mrs. James Childers, grandparents of Elizabeth Childers, were interviewed for a story that ran in the November 27, 1935 (the day that Chester Comer died) edition of the Daily Oklahoman, they said they knew very little about Comer’s activities and had not heard from their granddaughter since August of 1934.

“They were married on February 16, 1934, and after living here for a month or more, they moved to Shidler, where Chester worked for about two months,” Mrs. Childers said.

Mrs. Childers went on to say, “They returned when Elizabeth’s father died (July 4, 1934) and left in August for Amarillo, where Chester said he had a job. Quite a bit later, Chester came back, and when we asked him where Elizabeth was, he said, "We have a fine big girl now, and she didn’t feel like coming with me."

In another interview for the same edition, Mr. and Mrs. J.W. Comer, Chester’s parents, said they had not heard from Elizabeth since August 1934.

“I never kept track of my son,” said the elder Comer. “All I asked him to do was act decent and be honest. He acted that way around me because he knew he’d better.”

Last Tuesday morning (November 19, 1935), as Mr. Comer returned from a night’s work as a janitor for the I.T.I.O. Company (Indian Territory Illuminating Oil Company), he found Chester in the house packing his grips (suitcase or duffel bag).

“He told me he’d rather be dead than out of work and on the dole and that he was going to Texas to look for work,” Comer continued. “I tried to argue him out of his blues by telling him he should take up farming, but he just frowned and left.”

Francis Lucille Stevens (Comer's Second Wife)

FRANCIS LUCILLE STEVENS WAS BORN December 19, 1919, in Maury County, Tennessee, to Charles H. Stevens (1898–1941) and Jennie Pearl (Fox) Stevens (1900–1955).

Lucille married Chester Comer on December 14, 1934, in Pauls Valley, two months after the body of his first wife, Elizabeth Childers Comer, was found in Kansas City. Because Lucille was just fifteen years old, the consent of a parent or guardian was required to obtain a marriage license, so her father agreed to sign the license application. Neither Lucille nor her parents knew at the time that Comer had previously been married.

After they were married, Comer gave his new wife a few articles of clothing and other possessions that had belonged to his first wife. He told Lucille they had belonged to his dead sister, but he didn’t have a dead sister.

Comer Strikes Out Hitchhiking - Picked Up by Ray Evans

On November 19, 1935, after arguing with his father about his future and the notion of farming, Chester Comer packed his bags, wrapping his .38 caliber revolver in his clothes and tucking his small .32 automatic pistol in his pocket. Then he left his parent’s home in Oklahoma City and headed, he said, for Texas to find work. Somehow, that day, he made his way to Shawnee and headed south, hitchhiking toward Ada.

On the same day that Comer left Oklahoma City, prominent Shawnee attorney and former Oklahoma University football player Ray Evans headed south from Shawnee in his tan-colored 1934 Ford sedan. His destination was the Fitts Oil Field near Fittstown, Pontotoc County, to confer with a legal client.

Mr. Evans was said to be an unfailing friend of the hitchhiker, often returning a mile or so to pick up one he had passed.

Evans was last seen at the Sunset filling station eight miles north of Ada on the evening of the 19th. The filling station attendant was unsure but believed another man was in the car. Later that evening, a farmer near Byars said he saw a man changing a tire on a car that looked a lot like the car that belonged to Evans. A second man was slumped down in the seat.

Comer Arrives at The Otis Fain Farm

On November 20, Chester Comer arrived at the Otis Fain farm on the Lindsay Highway, near the Oakhurst community, some ten miles south of Blanchard. He had worked on the Fain farm over a year ago, for a month, and had visited since, using the alias of Jack Armstrong.

Mr. Fain told the Daily Oklahoman that Comer drove to his home in a tan Ford sedan at about 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, the 20th.

All day Wednesday, Comer sat about the house, Fain said, while the farmer and his mother, Minnie Fain, went about their farm work. The Fains could see no difference in his appearance and actions from what they had observed when he worked for them or on his visits afterward.

On Thursday, Comer continued to loiter about the house during the morning. At noon, he carried Fain’s lunch to him in the field.

About 2 p.m. Thursday, Fain said, Comer took the farmer’s sister, Opal Fain, 16-year-old, and Odessa Childress, a 14-year-old neighbor girl who lived only 200 yards away, to Lindsay in the Ford sedan.

Fain said the ride ended at about 5:30 p.m. when the three returned home. After they returned, Mr. Fain asked Comer where he got the car. He said he had purchased it in Oklahoma City for $475.

After supper, Comer said he wanted to take the family group on a car ride. Opal remained at home, but the others went. In the car were Comer at the wheel, Fain, Odessa Childress, Mrs. Fain (Minnie), and Garlin Fain, the 8-year-old brother of the farmer.

After riding for about an hour, Mrs. Fain and Garlin were let out to visit the home of a farmer 13 miles south of Blanchard on the Lindsay Road.

Four miles on, Fain said; Comer turned to him with a snarl and ordered him from the car.

“We’re going on alone," he quoted Comer as saying.

“It was the first time he had ever spoken harshly to me,” said Fain.

Fain said he started to refuse, but Comer opened the car door, pushed him out, and sped on. Fain started down the road after the car, and within 20 minutes, he saw it returning.

Comer stopped. Fain said Comer’s face was flushed with anger, and the girl was obliviously frightened.

Fain said he exchanged no words with the girl until they reached the house at which his mother was visiting.

“There,” the farmer said, “the girl ran into the house, grabbed her mother, and refused to turn her loose. She said Comer, whom she called Armstrong, had tried to tie her with a rope.”

“The child told her mother,” Fain said, “that Comer threatened to kill her unless she did what he wanted her to do. She said she talked him out of his mood.”

“After a short time, the group piled into the car and started to my house,” Fain said.

About two miles down the road, Comer jammed on the brakes and stopped the car.

“Unless you do what I want you to,” he told Odessa, “I’m going to kill all of you.”

“Mrs. Fain began to beg Comer to drive them home and be on his way. After a few minutes of argument, Odessa told him to drive to our house, and she would go with him if only he wouldn’t kill us,” Fain said.

Mrs. Fain continued to beg Comer to take them home.

Finally, Comer said to her, “If you’ll give me $3, I’ll take you home.”

Mrs. Fain gave Comer $3 ($67.23 today), and he took us all home,” Fain said.

“Don’t you go into that house until I’m gone, and don’t you leave the house tonight,” Fain warned as he drove away (November 21, 1935).

Comer Goes to His In-laws, Charles and Jennie Stevens Near Maysville

The following day, November 22, around 11:00 a.m., Comer drove up to his in-laws' home, Charles and Jennie Stevens, some six miles north of Maysville. He was still driving the tan-colored 1934 Ford sedan.

When Comer arrived at the Stevens home, he called Mr. Stevens and said, “Look at the real automobile I’ve got now.”

“Where did you get it?” asked Mr. Stevens, who says he had learned to fear and distrust Comer.

"I bought it,” said Comer like a proud schoolboy.

“Where is Lucille?” asked Mr. Stevens.

“In Oklahoma City,” said Comer. “I’m going to get her and bring her back tomorrow.” (This was Friday before dinner.)

Comer took dinner at the Stevens’ home, where he remained until about 2:30 o’clock in the afternoon.

Then, on the pretext of going to a store at Story to get oranges for Mrs. Stevens, who was ill, he drove away from the home accompanied by Elizabeth, his 11-year-old sister-in-law.

He purchased oranges at Story, but instead of turning back toward the Stevens’ home, he drove north, according to the girl, who related to officials incidents leading up to the time the automobile was ditched.

Elizabeth says that she objected and asked Comer to stop the car and let her out, but he refused to stop the machine.

The girl then opened the door and started to jump. Comer grappled with her to restrain her.

“I fought back,” the girl said. “I had heard Mamma and Papa talk of him and knew he was bad; I was afraid of him. He had tried to put his arms around me.”

Comer, in his effort to pull the girl back into the seat, lost control of the car. While he was fighting the wheel to regain control of the machine, the girl jumped clear and started south. She was seen by those at the Story store as she passed, running toward Stevens’ house.

She told of turning to see the machine nose off down the steep bank and into the deep sandy wash at the roadside, where it stopped. Comer, in an effort to extricate the sedan from the ditch, buried the wheels to the axles.

Shortly after Comer’s auto mishap, a farmer from the Story community named Finley passed by in a wagon. Comer asked the farmer if he might pull the sedan out of the ditch, but Finley said he wouldn’t be able to with his team.

Then Comer got a brown briefcase and a mesh shopping bag out of the car and rode on with Finley. Oranges could be seen through the meshes of the bag, Finley later told officials.

Comer rode as far as the next section line, then left the wagon and struck off east toward Highway 77 on foot. He eventually caught two rides and reached Lexington, as officers later learned.

The next clue as to Comer’s course of travel was picked up by Oklahoma City detectives, who learned from a taxi driver in Capitol Hill that a man answering his description left a bus there Friday night. Comer asked the taxi cab driver to drive him to an address on Northwest Thirty-Ninth Street in Oklahoma City. The trip was in the fifty-cent zone. The taxi driver told officers that Comer, carrying the briefcase and mesh bag with oranges showing through the meshes, said he had only 35 cents. The driver refused to make the trip for this amount, and Comer departed on foot, disappearing into the night.

Back at the Stevens’ home, there were fears that the daughter, Lucille Comer, may be dead. The parents had not heard from her since September 16.

The following Saturday, November 23, a radio broadcast reported Chester Comer as a murder suspect in the disappearance of Ray Evans, a prominent Shawnee attorney.

This report came after officials had established positive identification of the overcoat, shoes, socks, and lodge receipts that bore Evans’ name and were discovered in the brown Ford sedan found abandoned a half mile north of Story on Friday evening.

Direct evidence of Comer’s knowledge of the ownership of the machine was thus established when officials linked Comer with the machine through identification by Mr. Stevens and his 11-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, as the vehicle driven to Stevens’ home by Comer on Friday.

Mrs. Eva McCune

About 10 a.m. on Saturday (Nov. 23), Mrs. Eva McCune, a Salvation Army field worker en route from Oklahoma City to Guthrie on business, said she missed her road and found herself on the Kingfisher-El Reno highways.

“When I stopped to turn around, a man jumped into my car,” Mrs. McCune said. “I never pick up hitchhikers, but he begged me to let him ride.”

En route to Guthrie, Mrs. McCune said, the man she later identified as Chester Comer asked her if she was going to the city. When she told him she was headed for Guthrie, he said he was from Iowa and would take a bus from Guthrie.

Mrs. McCune said she let Comer out near the bus station at Guthrie. That was about an hour after he jumped into her car.

Mrs. McCune said Comer did not attempt to molest her. She said she wore her Salvation Army uniform and had a tambourine containing almost $11 in the car.

“He moved the tambourine when he got into the car so he would have a place for his feet,” she said.

Near Guthrie, Mrs. McCune told officers that she noticed that her car swerved slightly from one side of the road to another. She asked Comer if he thought something was wrong with the car, and he told her that one of her tires was low.

Officers believe her Salvation Army uniform, and the fact that one of the tires on her car was almost flat may have saved Mrs. McCune from being another victim of Comer.

L.A. Simpson and His Son Reported Missing

Officers expressed belief that Comer made his way from Guthrie to Piedmont about an hour after he had been left at Guthrie by Mrs. McCune. Coincidentally, a Piedmont farmer, L.A. Simpson, and his 14-year-old son, Warren, were reported missing on the same day (November 23).

The farmer and his son had been missing since they started to drive to their home from the home of Simpson’s mother, who lived in the Piedmont neighborhood. Authorities advanced the theory that the two picked up a hitchhiker, who may have been Comer and who was seen on the road when Simpson and his son started home.

Simpson and his son rode in a 1935 dark-colored Chevrolet sports model sedan, license number 409-556.

A short time before the farmer and his son started to their home, Frank Lushen, a resident of the Piedmont neighborhood, said the hitchhiker alighted from his car. No one saw Simpson pick up the hitchhiker, but the general supposition was that he did. Lushen said the hitchhiker told him he was en route to Enid.

Lushen, who said he picked up the hitchhiker near Piedmont and let him out near the home of Simpson’s mother, furnished officers with a description of the man.

After viewing a picture of Comer Sunday night, Iris Baker, Piedmont filling station operator, declared it resembled the hitchhiker he had seen Saturday. Baker said there was a marked resemblance.

At this point five persons linked to Chester Comer were missing: Elizabeth Childer Comer, Lucille Stevens Comer, Ray Evans, L.A. Simpson, and 14-year-old son, Warren. It was feared that Comer had taken the lives of all five.

Comer Shot and Captured by Oscar Morgan

The pipe-smoking young man who was not particularly interested in detective stories yet who was instrumental in Comer’s undoing was J.E. Stanley, an oil operator who had recently moved to the Blanchard area from Chickasha.

The first time Stanley saw Comer, but of course, didn’t know it was him, was when he passed a dark-colored Chevrolet sedan near Blanchard on Sunday, November 24. As he passed the car, the man driving ducked his head and crouched down. Stanley said the Comer case flashed through his mind.

Then, on Monday morning (November 25), Stanley went out on business and said he saw the same man about two or three miles south of Blanchard. Stanley said I recognized the car right away as the one I had seen Sunday. This time, I looked at the license plate number, which I had seen in the newspaper, and knew it was the car missing from Piedmont.

He was headed south when I passed him, so I came north into Blanchard. There was no question of what to do, Stanley said. I saw J.L. Saunders, and we went to Oscar Morgan’s house, where Oscar was soaking his infected foot in a bucket of warm water.

The following is J.E. Stanley’s account of the events leading up to the shooting and capture of Chester Comer on November 25, 1935:

“We got into Morgan’s car; I was driving, and we went where I last saw Comer (southwest of Blanchard). About one-half mile north of where I had seen him, we found tracks where a car had turned around. That’s just a dirt road, and it's been raining. While looking around, we heard a car over the hill.”

“We gave chase and ran him nearly two miles before he seemed to know he was outclassed. Suddenly, he whipped over to the side of the road and stopped.”

“Oscar stepped out on the right side; Saunders was in the back seat. I stopped about six feet behind the sedan and in the middle of the road. Oscar stepped to the driver’s side and took hold of the door handle. Just then, I saw the guy move; I saw a gun, and he fired once, hitting Morgan in the shoulder.”

“Oscar frowned and staggered back. Then he took two steps toward the car, pulled his gun, and started firing.”

“Oh, it was just a blaze of fire. I remember four shots very clearly, but I am unsure how many shots were fired.”

“All at once, the shooting stopped, and I saw that fellow slump in the front seat. Morgan was standing there ready and just as calm as an old lady in church.”

“We got out of Morgan’s car. I took the police gun from Oscar and broke the back door window. Every door in the car was locked, tight as a drum. Comer’s brain was oozing out, and he was unconscious. I took the automatic out of his right hand.”

“The motor was running, and the radio was going full blast. Oh, it was gruesome, blood everywhere, and the radio blaring. The Mills Brothers were singing ‘Sweet Adeline’.”

“We took him out and put him in the back seat of the sedan. Saunders drove Morgan, and I drove the stolen car. We searched him first in a quick way.”

“After we started back, I kept watching the guy in the mirror. At one point, he sat up suddenly with a desperate look. I didn’t know until after we got back to town that he had another gun.”

“He mumbled something; I never could understand it, but he seemed to ‘come to’ in a hurry, but we got back without any trouble, and that’s all there was to it. Give Oscar Morgan all the credit; he is the one that deserves it,” concluded Stanley.

When Comer was brought to Blanchard, he was laid out on the floor of a local garage, where state operatives worked frantically over him to question him about the disappearances of Ray Evans, Shawnee attorney; L.A. Simpson, Piedmont farmer; and his son, Warren.

McClain County officers said a briefcase containing a pistol found in the car's back seat belonged to the missing Shawnee attorney and that the clothing Comer wore was similar in appearance to that worn by Evans.

A card in Comer’s pocket read, “If I am killed in this car, I have nothing to regret, for I’d rather be dead than a public slave.”

Near death, Comer was transferred to an Oklahoma City hospital.

Comer's Last Days

Before being transferred to the hospital, J.L. Saunders, a relative of Evans, asked Comer, “Where is Ray Evans?” A mumbled reply came: "Fittstown... east of Fittstown... in a creek... pipeline... ditch.”

At the hospital, Comer was questioned by a bevy of officials, among them Col. Charles W. Daley, OSBI Director, and McClain County Attorney E. Smith Hester.

Hester said Comer admitted he “did away with” Ray Evans, L.A. Simpson, and his son, Warren. “I did away with three... dumped their bodies in a pile under a pipeline near Ada,” Comer said. Hester said his confession came through pain-clinched lips.

Continued questioning of Comer was prevented when he sank into a coma shortly before 10 p.m. (Nov. 25). Doctors said they held little hope for his recovery. Peace officers clustered about his hospital room, hoping he might regain consciousness and shed light on the whereabouts of his victims.

On the following day, November 26, it was decided to administer a blood transfusion, hoping it would instill sufficient strength to permit him to answer questions concerning the disposition of the bodies of the three people he told Hester he killed and “dumped in a pile.”

State operatives at his bedside insisted Comer was conscious and able to talk but holding back.

Meanwhile, searches for Comer’s victims intensified throughout Oklahoma following his incoherent confession that he had slain three of those missing.

National Guard units from Wewoka, Konawa, and Ada were ordered to be mobilized to search the areas around Ada, Fittstown, and points north. Legions of volunteers joined the search. Units from Chickasha and Norman were instructed to mobilize at Blanchard under the direction of Marshal Oscar Morgan.

The guardsmen were ordered to proceed without weapons but were issued shovels to search for bodies.

On Wednesday, November 27, death came to Chester Comer. The following is the text of an article that ran in The Daily Oklahoman on November 28, 1935:

Death Wednesday night threw into the hands of fate the hope of finding five missing persons whose disappearances were connected with Chester Comer.

Shot through the head Monday in a pistol battle with Oscar Morgan, Blanchard Marshal, 25-year-old Comer died at 11:05 p.m. Wednesday at Oklahoma City General Hospital.

Officers, who had hung on his mumblings since he was brought here from Blanchard Monday, were at his bedside when nurses removed the oxygen tent that had helped him draw painful breaths since 3 p.m. Wednesday after he developed pneumonia.

Hundreds of searchers in more than a week have failed to uncover the secrets that officers insist Comer carries to his grave. While they know more of Comer’s movements than they did Monday when the veteran Blanchard marshal ended a state-wide search for the former Oklahoma City oil field worker, they do not have the answers to the critical questions.

Where is Ray Evans, Shawnee attorney, who disappeared on November 19 and whose car was abandoned by Comer six miles northwest of Maysville?

Where is L.A. Simpson, a Piedmont farmer with his son, Warren, 14 years old, disappeared Saturday after giving Comer, a hitchhiker, a ride near their home?

Where has Comer’s first wife, Elizabeth Childers Comer, been missing since August 1934, and whose clothing did he give his second wife?

Where is the second Mrs. Comer (Lucille), missing since last September by her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Stevens, Maysville?

From bits of information, tips, and chance rumors, officers have been trying unsuccessfully to answer these questions. While Comer lived, there was always the chance he would come out of the valley of death and tell.

Now he is dead. The misery-stricken families of those who disappeared after contact with him are not comforted. The law is not satisfied, but the hunt will be a desperate, routine thing from now on.

Comer covered hundreds of square miles of territory the week before he was shot. Manhunters now must go over every inch of the ground, and even then, the cunning of this crazed madman may have been sufficient to protect his secret.

The body of Comer was taken to the Watt and McAtee funeral home to await burial arrangements.

Chester Comer was buried at the Rose Hill Burial Park in Oklahoma City.

Officials Turned Their Full Attention to Finding the Bodies

With the death of Comer, officials across central Oklahoma turned their full attention to finding the bodies of his victims, Ray Evans, L.A. Simpson, and his 14-year-old son, first wife, Elizabeth Childers Comer, and second wife, Lucille Stevens Comer. Elizabeth Childers Comer's body was found on October 6, 1934, near Kansas City, Missouri, but it wasn't identified until December 2, 1935.

Body of Ray Evans Found

On Wednesday, December 11, 1935, a body found near Lindsay was positively identified as that of Ray Evans, a missing Shawnee attorney. The identification was made based on the teeth description given by a Shawnee dentist and other factors. The dentist said that Evans had two upper right front teeth missing. The body also had the two teeth described as missing.

Deputy Sheriff J.P. Mitchell of Garvin County was alerted by farmers W.N. Massey and C.M. Hopkins about dogs gathered about what they thought was a dead animal until they got a closer look. When the sheriff came out to investigate, he found Evans' body.

It was in a canyon about a quarter of a mile north of Liberty Hall School, located three miles north of Lindsay on the J.D. Harnsberger farm, across the county line in McClain County. The body lay in a high growth of Johnson grass and was completely unclothed and badly decomposed. It should be remembered that when Chester Comer was captured, he wore clothes like those Evans wore when he left home on November 19th.

Evans had been missing since November 19. His abandoned car was found on November 22, near Maysville, less than ten miles from the canyon where the remains were found.

Evans was born in Parsons, Kansas, on Sept. 27, 1895. He moved to Shawnee with his parents in 1900. He starred in football while attending the University of Oklahoma.

He spent a year in France with a field artillery unit during the World War, completing his law studies after the armistice.

He was married in 1921. His wife, Anna, and small daughter, Betsy Ann, survive.

In 1936, almost a year after Ray Evan’s body was found, a marker was erected in memory of “A Martyr to Hitchhiking.” It was placed in a field 3.5 miles north of Lindsay, in the precise location where his body was discovered. Over 100 people attended the ceremony, including his widow.

Ray Evan’s widow, Anna (Head) Evans, never remarried. She passed away in 1969 and was laid beside her husband in the Fairview cemetery at Shawnee.

Their daughter, Betsy Ann (Evans) Gollaher, who was nine years old when her father was murdered, died in 2007, and interment occurred at Memorial Park Cemetery in Oklahoma City.

The Body of Lucille (Stevens) Comer Found

In the early hours of December 14, 1935, O.H. Hastings, a farmer living some three miles northeast of Edmond, and his son were cutting wood in a ravine on their property when they discovered the skeletal remains of what looked to be a young girl.

Mr. Hastings called the authorities immediately, and when they arrived at the scene, they found that the body had been burned. They searched through the charred sticks and leaves and discovered a woman’s belt buckle, safety pins, fragments of burned polka-dotted cloth, and wisps of reddish brown hair.

When Col. Charles W. Dailey, superintendent of the state crime bureau, analyzed the evidence, he said he believed the woman had been dead for about six months.

Among the bones discovered in the ravine was a skull with all the teeth still intact. According to her father, Charles Stevens, Lucille Comer had nearly perfect teeth, and the teeth in the skull were the same. Another point of identification was the scrap of polka-dotted cloth, which was apparently from a dress. Mr. Stevens said that Lucille had such a dress. Mrs. Stevens identified the belt buckle as one from a belt belonging to her daughter. After the hair from the pyre was analyzed, it was determined conclusively that the remains were those of Lucille Comer.

The Bodies of L.A. and Warren Simpson Found

On December 23, 1935, a trio of boys, Ike Brown, George Chambers, and Robert Arthur, were out in a cornfield 8 miles west of Sapulpa, near the Bluebell school house, hunting rabbits, when their two beagles, Diana and Spot, came upon the bodies that appeared to be the remains of a young man and a boy.

Brown, one of the boys, immediately went to the Renfro farmhouse, about a mile from where the bodies were found, and told Mrs. John Renfro of their finding. She then called Sheriff Lew Wilder, who arrived at the scene and immediately began an investigation along with other officials.

A report was sent out from the sheriff’s office with a complete description of the bodies, their clothing, and items found in their pockets. A list of items found consisted of a General Motors Corporation car key, which bore the number 9072, which matched the number of L.A. Simpson’s car, bought from an El Reno Chevrolet dealer. A Buck Rogers watch was found on the boy, which Warren Simpson was known to have. Mr. Simpson was wearing blue overalls and a brown leather jacket; his shoes were missing. The boy was in striped overalls. The taking of shoes seemed to be Comer’s modus operandi, as his wives and Ray Evans' shoes were also taken.

Royce T. Simpson, brother of the slain man, identified the hat near the man’s body as belonging to his missing brother. John Turner, a Yukon undertaker acquainted with Simpson and his son for years, positively identified the pair earlier, piecing out the last missing link in the search for victims of the late hitchhiking-murdering-madman, Chester Comer and thus closing the book on one of the most hideous one-man slaying cycles Oklahoma has ever known.

The bodies were huddled together in tall grass among short jack oaks about 75 feet off the south side of the Drumright road, between Drumright and Sapulpa. The elder Simpson had been shot twice in the head, and before being shot once, it was thought the boy had been choked, as his neck was severely bruised.

It appeared the bodies had been dragged across the stout barbed wire fence, across a waterless stream bed, and dumped in the grass at the edge of the old cornfield, almost within view from the highway.

The state had offered a $125 reward for information leading to the whereabouts of the Simpsons. The sum was awarded to the three boys who found the bodies. In keeping with a promise made when the Simpsons first went missing, R.L. Simpson gave the trio an additional $250 reward.

Newspaper Article Reprints

To finally complete the Oscar Morgan story, rather than piecing together a narrative on his life after the Chester Comer ordeal, the following are a few reprints of several newspaper articles from various papers around the state, including The Blanchard News:

The Dailey Oklahoman, December 5, 1935: MORGAN GETS REWARD-SHAWNEE, Dec. 4. The Shawnee Bar Association and civic leaders Wednesday forwarded a $100 cash reward and gold medal to Oscar Morgan, Blanchard marshal, for his gunfight capture of Chester Comer, suspected of slaying Ray Evans, a prominent Shawnee attorney.

The association also sent a citation for Morgan’s bravery and a letter of appreciation from Rosco Arrington, a law partner of Evans.

Morgan shot Comer fatally when the latter opened fire in an attempt to resist arrest. Morgan was shot through the shoulder.

The Dailey Oklahoman, December 15, 1935: NEVER A DULL DAY FOR HIM—Oscar Morgan Again Aids in Capture: Proudly wearing the large, impressive badge presented to him for the capture of Chester Comer less than three weeks ago, Oscar Morgan, Blanchard Marshal, was right back in the big middle of things on Saturday.

This time, he was in on the race, exciting as an old-time bucket-of-blood melodrama, which resulted in the capture of two of the five convicts who escaped from the federal reformatory at El Reno Thursday night.

There’s seldom a dull moment for this Morgan fellow.

Here he was, trying to catch a little well-earned rest after his strenuous part in the Comer case when he got called out of bed early Saturday morning and told to look around for a car that had been stolen from Chickasha.

With other constables, it might have been just a stolen car, but not for Oscar. He spots the license numbers and takes in after the car, and what does it contain? Two escaped convicts, Jimmie Lee Burns and Roy Henry Lowery.

After chasing down the fleeing car on this side of the Cleveland County Line, Oscar made the arrest and found himself once again the hero.

The Madill Dailey Tribune, January 6, 1936: APPOINTED ON STAFF AS COLONEL BY GOVERNOR - Oscar Morgan Is Honored for His Efficiency - Following other honors bestowed upon him for his efficiency as a law enforcement officer, Oscar Morgan, Blanchard marshal, is in receipt of a beautifully engraved document bearing the seal of the State of Oklahoma, in which Gov. E.W. Marland appoints him as a Colonel on his staff.

A letter from the Governor accompanying the document reads as follows: “State of Oklahoma, Executive Chamber, Oklahoma City, Dec. 19, 1935. Oscar Morgan, Marshal, Blanchard, Okla. Dear Mr. Morgan: I am enclosing you a commission as Colonel on my staff. I want to express to you my admiration for the manner in which you have been enforcing the law in your vicinity. The people of Oklahoma are to be congratulated on the fact that they have officers such as you in the state. Sincerely yours, E.W. Marland, Governor of the State of Oklahoma.”

The Dailey Oklahoman, March 29, 1936: ‘BLOODHOUND’ OF BLANCHARD STILL BATTLING CRIME - Constable Oscar Morgan, the “bloodhound” of Blanchard, is still functioning, the radio log of the sheriff’s office here revealed Saturday.

The log read: "At 10 p.m. Friday, look for a larceny suspect in a two-door sedan. 9 a.m. Saturday, cancel pick-up for larceny suspect Oscar Morgan, Blanchard, has just put him in the Chickasha jail—8:58 a.m. Saturday, look for a 13-year-old juvenile wanted by Norman officers—9:51 a.m. Saturday, cancel pick-up on Norman juvenile. He has been put in the Blanchard jail by Oscar Morgan.”

Morgan is the constable who shot and captured Chester Comer, an oil field worker wanted for the murder of five people. Admirers of Blanchard presented him with a new police radio for his car, and after that, Blanchard has become more unsafe than ever for those outside the law.

The Chickasha Dailey Express, September 27, 1936: BLANCHARD IS MORE THAN HOME OF WELL-KNOWN OSCAR MORGAN”

Blanchard, Sept 26 (Special)—Blanchard is more than “the home of Col. Oscar Morgan.”

Mr. Morgan, an officer at Blanchard for many years with a reputation that means disaster for criminals, bears the admiration and support of every citizen in the community, but they can also point with pride to a $100,000 public works program as well as other improvement that have been added during the last two years.

A new $40,000 school building, graveled streets and a $55,000 sewer system with disposal plant that will be completed around the first of the year, a good supply of soft water from a deep well, and many other municipal improvements are making the town an even more attractive place in which to live.

The town serves a productive agricultural area and has long been recognized as a trade and marketing center for the area with its three gins, two elevators, produce houses, and retail stores.

George Brazil is now serving his second term as mayor and president of the town board. M.G. Starry is superintendent of the Blanchard school, while W.O. Potter is president of the Lions Club.

The Blanchard News, a weekly newspaper, is published by P.F. Henderson.

The Miami Daily News Record, December 23, 1936: NEMESIS OF MAD KILLER BATTLES AGAIN FOR LIFE- Chickasha, Okla., Dec.22 - Oscar Morgan, nemesis of Chester Comer, mad hitchhiking slayer of five persons (seven if you count the two unborn children), battled with death once more today—this time from a hospital bed.

From beneath as oxygen tent here, Blanchard town marshal, who coolly faced Comer’s blazing guns and shot him to death, fought pneumonia.

Morgan took ill with a cold last week and double pneumonia developed.

Little more than a year ago Morgan wounded Comer fatally after the crazed killer had slain Ray Evans, prominent Shawnee attorney, and four other persons. Morgan chased a stolen automobile driven by Comer down a lonely side road, pulled alongside and ordered Comer to stop.

As Morgan stepped from his machine, the crazed fugitive, slumped behind the front seat, fired nine times. One bullet struck the heavy-set marshal in the shoulder. Unable to get a shot at the killer, Morgan withheld his fire.

“I saw I couldn’t do any good from the side,” Morgan explained later, “so I walked around to the front of his car and shot him right between the eyes.”

For his bravery, Morgan was presented with a gold medal by Shawnee peace officers.

The shoulder wound caused a partial paralysis from which Morgan never fully recovered.

The Oklahoma News, January 1, 1937: PROUD BLANCHARD CHEERS AS OSCAR MORGAN LIVES - PEACE OFFICER WHO WON FAME WITH SLAYING OF CHESTER COMER NOW WINNING BATTLE AGAINST DEATH FROM DOUBLE PNEUMONIA - Oscar Morgan, fearless Blanchard marshal, was miraculously winning his most desperate struggle against death today and will be released from the Chickasha Hospital within the next week, his physician announced.

Under an oxygen tent with double pneumonia for five days, the colorful marshal who killed Chester Comer showed a remarkable reserve when little hope was held for his life.

“I’m happy to say that the worst is past and Mr. Morgan should recover unless something unforeseen arises.” Dr. D.S. Downey, Chickasha, declared.

It was hailed as the biggest news in weeks at Blanchard where the jovial marshal is the favorite citizen.

A Main Street cafe in Blanchard, which daily gets a report on Morgan’s condition, broke the news to his friends and many of them went to Chickasha today to be among the first visitors at his bedside.

The big peace officer flashed a smile at those first admitted. His teeth were white behind a five-day stubble of beard.

“There were some pretty black days for him,” Supervisor Eva Sutherland told his friends, “But he fought it out and is going to win.”

The Chickasha Daily Express, January 22, 1937: TRIBUTE TO OSCAR MORGAN- The bulletin issued last week by the State Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation, Col. Charles w. Daley, superintendent, paid a fine tribute to Blanchard’s “Old Oscar.” It said:

“We are glad to announce the recovery of Oscar Morgan, who has recently been released from the hospital at Chickasha, where he had been confined with a serious case of pneumonia. We feel sure that all the officers throughout the state will be gratified to know that all danger is past and that Oscar will once more be available to all officers in their fight against the criminal element.

“Oklahoma has had many officers of sterling quality, but none who has won the love and friendship that he has. His unquestionable courage, his willingness to assist, and his desire to be of service, has perpetuated his name upon the scroll of honor as Oklahoma’s most beloved peace officer.

“Not only has Oscar Morgan endeared himself to the officers of Oklahoma, but to the citizenship of Oklahoma as well. A man can be best judged by the opinion of those who know him best, and in Blanchard, the home of this man, every man, woman and child loves and respects him for they know that his breast encloses a heart that beats in sympathy with those who are suffering or unfortunate, that he is always ready to aid and assist them either financially or by doing some act which will help alleviate their pain or sorrow.

“Oklahoma peace officers should be proud to number among their ranks a man who has done so much to gain the confidence and respect of the citizenship of this commonwealth. We want to join with the other officers in expressing our pleasure for his recovery.”

The Daily Oklahoman, November 27, 1938: TIME AND OSCAR MORGAN MOVE ALONG AT BLANCHARD - RETIREMENT MOTION DOESN’T GET ANYWHERE- Retiring Oscar Morgan from his job as Blanchard’s one-man police force is turning out to be something like trying to count all the thorns in a blackberry patch. It might be done, but it takes a whale of a long time.

It was in May, 1937, that the citizens of Blanchard, just 30 miles southwest of Oklahoma City, got to thinking about how Oscar perhaps had served long enough. “We’ll retire him, give him a pension sometime, and let him have a long rest,” they said.

But today the 53-year-old Morgan is sitting in one of Blanchard’s numerous cafes, or checking a license number on a passing car. Oscar still is the No. 1 policeman of Blanchard.

For 27 years Oscar Morgan has been the nemesis of criminals. Although he is town marshal of Blanchard, he takes as a personal affront any lawlessness within 25 miles or more of his town. Oscar’s name has been blazed across the newspapers for his daring deeds; he has been written up in magazines as the “one-man posse;” he has been offered crime detection jobs in bigger cities; but he likes the life at Blanchard.

As you approach Blanchard a sign says: “This is Blanchard—Oscar Morgan’s Home Town.”

The Daily Oklahoman, December 8, 1938 - OSCAR MORGAN WILL RELATE COMER SLAYING FOR RADIO: Oscar Morgan, the famed town marshal of Blanchard, is going to fight the battle with Chester Comer all over again with America’s radio public as an audience.

He disclosed Wednesday he has signed a contract to appear on the “We the People” hour at 8 p.m. December 20. He will leave by airplane either December 14 or 15 and will have all expenses paid. He will spend five days in New York City.

Morgan said Wednesday he had asked James C. Nance, Purcell senator-elect, to go with him because of ill health. He said however, that Nance will pay his own expenses.

Morgan said he received a long-distance call from New York November 28 wanting him to leave immediately for New York. However, he was forced to postpone the trip because of a severe cold. A few days later a formal contract came in the mail setting the date for December 20.

While the veteran police officer has done pretty well at getting over the country chasing criminals, this will be his first airplane ride, he said. He expects it to be great sport.

In 27 years of chasing notorious criminals, Morgan has had many close calls but none closer than the slaying of the mad Comer, wanted for murder of two (pregnant) wives; Ray Evans, Shawnee attorney; L.A. Simpson, Piedmont farmer and his son Warren, 14 years old.

Morgan doesn’t know just what he will say on the radio.

“They just told me to come up there and talk on the radio, so I guess I’ll just go and tell them anything they want to know,” he said.

The program will be broadcast over the Columbia Broadcasting System.

The Blanchard News, December 29, 1938 - NEW YORK IS SWELL, BUT OSCAR PREFERS BLANCHARD: The following story of Oscar Morgan’s trip to New York City and other points of interest in the east, written by Ray Parr, appeared in last Thursday's Daily Oklahoman:

Oscar Morgan came back a conquering hero from the bright lights of New York and other points east Wednesday, and gosh, old Blanchard certainly did look good.

Morgan the famed marshal who killed Chester comer and other bad men of the southwest, went on the radio in New York Tuesday night to tell of the Comer shooting as a guest of the “We the People” hour.

About half of Blanchard came up to meet their hero at the Oklahoma City municipal airport Wednesday and he was escorted home in triumph.

Oscar climbed out of the plane just one big beam. He admitted he had certainly had a time of it the last week. He told the fellows he would have some tall tales to tell them the rest of the winter.

After the radio program Mrs. Roosevelt came over and shook hands with Morgan and they had quite a visit. She invited him to come to the White House and visit during the holidays but he said he had to get back to Blanchard.

While in New York, Oscar went to a show every night. He ate in Jack Dempsey’s restaurant, went through Radio City and climbed up on top of the Al Smith’s building. It’s quite a town, all right, he admitted.

In Washington, he spent half a day in Edgar Hoover’s department, and got a big wallop out of those finger-print machines that can pick the right card out of thousands that run through it.

He went to a church which George Washington used to attend and sat in a chair which Washington once sat in. He came back with the names of two plane stewardesses. They sure were nice to him. They sure were pretty, too, he said.

“That’s Oscar for you,” said C.C. Hester, Blanchard oil man.

It was a great experience, but New York can’t compare with Blanchard as a place to live.

“You sure would have to have a bank account to live up there,” he declared. “I went into one of those places and ordered a little chicken breast and broth and they charged me $2.90. Whew, you can get the same thing at Blanchard for 25 cents.”

The pride of Blanchard said he didn’t make much of a speech over the radio. The killing of Comer was put on in a little play and them Morgan was introduced. The announcer said they could use a man like Morgan in New York.

But Oscar said, “No, I’m not smart enough for that. I’m just a farmer’s cop and I’m going to stay one.”

The Blanchard News, July 8, 1948 - DEATH CLAIMS LOCAL PIONEER OFFICER: Oscar Morgan, one of Blanchard’s pioneers and colorful figure in the building of Blanchard, is dead.

Death came Thursday afternoon at 5:35 in Norman hospital where he has been receiving treatment for the past year. He was 63 years old.

The name Oscar Morgan is synonymous with the name of Blanchard. It was his zeal to build a good town that constantly dogged Oscar and many town improvements were made from his own purse. His years as city marshal will be remembered in history for the capture of state-wide hunted criminals and shooting frays. He will always be remembered for his manner of bringing to trial and justice quickly many criminals seeking refuge in canyons around here while the arm of the law was hunting them out.

Oscar came to Blanchard in 1908 from Ravia, Oklahoma. He served as deputy sheriff under County Sheriff Grant Vinson in 1909-10 and spent 30 years as city marshal of Blanchard. Not until 1941 did he lay down his guns and badge. His brother, Otis, took up the job for him at that time.

He was a member of the Baptist church here where funeral services will be held.

The Blanchard News, July 15, 1948 - OSCAR MORGAN’S FRIENDS PAY HOMAGE AT FUNERAL: Blanchard stopped Saturday afternoon to pay homage to it’s best-known citizen, Oscar Morgan, one-time town marshal.

An overflow crowd of friends and fellow peace officers filled the Baptist church for the 2:30 services conducted by Rev. Easterwood, former Blanchard pastor.

Six officials of the state highway patrol served with the honorary pallbearers. Music, sung by the choir, included “When the Roll is Called Up Yonder” and “Near to Thee.”

It was in 1935 that Morgan jumped into the nations’ headlines when he spotted Chester Comer one bullet in a gunfight, and it could have been that slug that claimed his life Thursday in a Norman hospital bed.

Although he faced blazing guns at least half a dozen times in his long activity as a law officer, it was pneumonia that almost got him in 1936.

Survivors include five brothers Lee, Chickasha; Otis, Blanchard; W.F., Madill; J.A., Bakersfield, Calif., and Walter, Washington, D.C., and four sisters, Mrs. L.t. Ford, Blanchard; and Mrs. E.A. Kitchens, Mrs. George Kimsey and Mrs. Dora Lane, all of Los Angeles.

Conclusion

When I decided to write about the life and times of Oscar Morgan, I didn’t realize how big the story was and certainly didn’t anticipate that it would take sixty-plus single-spaced pages to tell it. Although it took over sixty pages, much more could have been written about this extraordinary man and his life.

After researching and putting the story to paper, this writer is left with a couple of questions. First, why hasn’t the City of Blanchard done more to keep the memory of this remarkable man alive, and second, why is there not a major street or a building in the town of Blanchard named for the “Bloodhound of Blanchard,” Oscar William Morgan, who, in the 1920s and 30s, brought national fame to our splendid little city?

About Some of the Characters:

Henry Madison “Matt” Sankey (1877-1931): Grady County's legendary sheriff. Served nine years in the 1920s. Worked closely with Oscar Morgan on many cases.

Sam Foster (1876-1956): Besides owning the filling station mentioned in this story, Sam, along with his brother, owned and operated a pool hall in the early years of Blanchard, which they sold to W.C. Francis, and later he and W.C. Francis owned the Modern Garage where they sold new Ford automobiles. He also served as Mayor. A relative of Joy Foster, a 1960 graduate of Blanchard High School, and her brother Bill Foster who graduated with the Class of ‘66.

Henry Clay Bench (1889-1972): Grandfather of Major League Baseball Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench. Buried in the Blanchard cemetery. Johnny Bench’s father, Theodore William Bench, is also buried in the Blanchard cemetery.

William H. Prewett (1876-1923): Buried at the Rose Hill Burial Park in Oklahoma City.

Mrs. William H. Prewett (Estella) (1886-1959): Estella remarried, passed away in 1959, and was buried in Knox County, IN.

Wanda Prewett (Keplinger) (1908-1993): Daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William H. Prewett, passed away in 1993 and buried in Jacksonville, FL.

Charles E. (C.E.) Clanton (1881-1928): Relative of Danny Clanton a 1961 Blanchard graduate and all-state football player.

J.L. (Junius) Saunders (1915-1982) was the son of J.R. Saunders who was the depot agent for the Santa Fe Railroad, in Blanchard, when it closed in 1942. J.L. Saunders was a 1932 graduate of Blanchard High School and a nephew of Ray Evans, the missing attorney from Shawnee. He was also a career army Chief Warrant Officer who served in both WWII and the Korean conflict.

E. Smith Hester (1907-1993) was a 1925 graduate of Blanchard High School, served as McClain County Attorney, was Oklahoma State Highway Commissioner, served as Chairman of the Oklahoma Democratic party, and was an FBI agent. He was also a rancher and was interested in the Golden Trend Ranch at Dibble.

Royce Thompson (1897-1939) & Boyd Harvey Simpson (1903-1939): The Simpsons were a prominent and well-respected family of Piedmont. Royce was the owner and operator of a grain elevator and mill there, and Boyd was the superintendent of Piedmont schools. Sadly, in 1939, four years after their brother, Lester, was murdered by Chester Comer, they were visiting relatives in Quebec, Canada, when they were both killed in an auto-truck accident. Another brother, Earl, died at age 14 years in 1899.

Daisy Irene (Snyder) Simpson (1901-1979): Daisy never remarried. She passed away in 1979 after a lengthy illness and was laid beside her husband in the Mathewson cemetery at Piedmont.

Geraldine Irene Simpson Knox (1927-2020): Sister of Warren Simpson, died in 2020, and interment was in the Mathewson cemetery at Piedmont.