Lydia Augusta (Carr) Hightower Moore
Lydia Augusta (Carr) Hightower Moore
(1/29/1870-11/24/1959)
Muscogee (Creek) Nation
Ketchapataka (Keco Pvtake) Tribal Town
By Reagan Shull, (TU, BA Class of 2025)
Early History
Lydia Augusta Carr was born in Eufala, on January 29th, 1870, to David Carr (c. 1841-1894) and Caroline Grayson (c. 1839-1890).1 Dave Carr was devoted to politics, serving as a politician in the House of Warriors and as a supreme court justice for two years in the Creek Nation.2 An interview from the Indian Pioneer Papers suggests that Dave Carr was also a farmer, owning a ranch in Deep Fork Creek, Oklahoma.3 According to Lydia’s Dawes Enrollment card, she sometimes went by “Liddie,” and her parents were both members of the Tribal Town of Ketchapataka, located near modern day Beggs, Oklahoma.4 Lydia had two siblings, Israel Carr (c. 1869-1893) and Emma House Thompson (c.1875-1966).5
Lydia (Carr) Hightower’s Muscogee (Creek) Nation Census Card.
Image Credit: National Archives.
School
According to Alice Robertson’s autograph book found in the McFarlin Library Special Collections, Lydia attended PSIG in January of 1887, when she was around 17 years old, and was still attending the school in 1889 with her sister, Emma.6 No other documentation of her attendance has been found, but there is reason to believe that she may have attended earlier than this as well. Lydia and her sister Emma were talented singers, often performing recitations and musical pieces at church and school.7 The sisters went on to attend the very first class at the University of North Texas, originally called Texas Normal College, majoring in the music program from 1890-1891, when Lydia was 20 years old.8
Caption: An image from Alice Robertson’s Autograph Book displaying Lydia Carr’s signature, location, and date of signing.
Image Credit: Alice Robertson Papers, TU Department of Special Collections and University Archives ID: 1903.001.5.1.5
Caption: An image from the University of North Texas Libraries Special Collections Catalog of North Texas Normal College: 1890-1891. The names of Lydia and her sister Emma are on the UNT class roll for the school year 1890-1891. The roll lists the sisters’ names and hometown of Eufaula, I.T.
Image Credit: UNT Libraries Special Collections Catalog of North Texas Normal College
Adult Life
After her time at PSIG and The Texas Normal College, she began her life as a wife and mother. On December 19th, 1891, when Lydia was 21 years old, she married John Thomas Hightower (c. 1864-1901).9 John was born in March of 1864 in Johnson Co., Texas, to James Hightower (c. 1837) and Lucinda A. Hightower (c. 1837), who were both white.10 John had 4 siblings: William, Martha, Peter, and Sanford.11 John was a cattle dealer and worked on his father’s farm located within the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, Indian Territory.12 In 1897, Lydia and John had a child, William “Willie” S. Hightower, but he sadly passed shortly after his birth, in 1899, at the age of 2.13 In June of 1900, Lydia lived with John and his parents in Indian Territory, Township 14, which is east of modern-day Bristow, Oklahoma.14 In 1901, when Lydia was 31, her husband John passed due to an unknown cause, and not much is known about his death date.15
According to a 1937 oral history interview with a woman named Ada M. Roach, stepdaughter of Susan Tiger, another attendee of PSIG, Lydia managed a hotel called the Hightower Hotel circa 1896, when she was around 26 years old.16 Not much is known about the hotel, but according to Ms. Roach, the hotel was near the Creek Capital Hotel and a saddle shop.17 Lydia is reported to have managed the hotel until she married her second husband, Mark R. Moore.18
In 1904, Lydia married Mark Rufus Moore (c. 1861-1938) in Okmulgee, Oklahoma.19 Mark was born in Missouri to George Anson Moore (c. 1830-1885) and Catharine Annete Moore (c. 1842).20 Mark’s father was a merchant, farmer, and sheriff.21 Mark had two siblings: Walter (c. 1863) and William (c. 1869).22 Mark had always been a farmer, starting as a farm hand in 1880.23 At the time of their marriage, Mark owned a farm in Severs Town, Okmulgee County, Oklahoma.24 Lydia and Mark had four children: Carr (c. 1906-1949), Mark , Jr., (c. 1907-1959), Lydia (c. 1910-1976), and Emma (c. 1911-1995).25 Mark and Lydia moved around quite a bit during their marriage. They began in Okmulgee in 1910, and then in 1920 were recorded to be living in Spring Valley, Kansas, where Mark worked in the mines.26 In 1930 they were back in Choctaw, OK, then they finally settled in Jones, Oklahoma, around 1935.27 Mark passed away from a kidney infection on July 26th, 1938, in Jones City, Oklahoma, leaving Lydia as head of house.28
In Lydia’s widowhood, she was a busy woman. In all the newspaper mentions of Lydia, she is reported to be visiting friends, throwing parties, and being a model wife and socialite.29 After Mark’s passing, she was mentioned in 1951 in The Oklahoma County News, in a “Tribute to Widows,” by Anna Finley. Finley reports that, “Mrs. Moore was 81 years old the 29th day of January but says she doesn’t feel that old.”30
Newspaper clipping from Newspapers.com detailing some information about Lydia’s life as a widow
Image Credit: The Oklahoma County News, February 16, 1951. Newspapers.com
After her husband’s death, she remained the rest of her life in Jones, OK, attending church at First Christian Church and attending to her recently widowed daughter, Emma, and her two granddaughters, Mary Louise and Verna Loretta, who lived with her till she died.31
Death and Legacy
On November 25, 1959, at age 81, she died at Hillcrest Hospital in Oklahoma City, just two days after her son, Mark Moore, Jr., was found dead on his front lawn from a gunshot wound. It was determined he died by suicide. Dual funeral services were held in Jones for Mark and Lydia at the American Legion Hut, and Lydia was buried in Jones IOOF Cemetery.32 At the time of her death, she was survived by her two daughters Emma and Lydia, her sister Emma, 10 grandchildren, and 11 great-grandchildren.33
Tribal Enrollment Information:
Creek Nation (Dawes Roll) Enrollment Card
Enrollment Number: 1033
Card Number: 309
Enrollment Date: 1890
Acknowledgement
The PSIG project would like to acknowledge Mr. Darrel Lewis, Okmulgee County Genealogical Society Correspondence Secretary, for his efforts in locating information about Lydia and her family during the progress of this biography. His willingness to help was an integral part of the research process and in creating a fully formed biography.
Endnotes
1 Alison Land, “Lydia Augusta Carr Moore.” Findagrave.com, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/119915448/lydia_augusta-moore (accessed September 23, 2024).
2 O’Beirne, H.F. and E.S. “David Carr,” The Indian Territory: Its Chiefs, Legislators, and Leading Men. (C.B. Woodward Company, 1892), 335-336, https://sites.rootsweb.com/~oktttp/stuff/leadersleadingme02obei.pdf
3 Loney Hardridge, Interview by L.W. Wilson, n.d. Kellyville, The Indian Pioneer Papers Collection, The University of Oklahoma Digital Collections. https://repository.ou.edu/islandora/object/oku%3A9526. [Hereafter cited as Hardridge, IPP Interview], p. 7.
4 Native American Enrollment Cards for the Five Civilized Tribes, 1898-1914, NARA Microfilm, Publication M***, ** rolls**; NAID: 251747; Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Record Group 75; National Archives in Ft. Worth, TX. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/263124 (accessed October 23, 2024).
5 O’Beirne, H.F. and E.S. “David Carr,” The Indian Territory: Its Chiefs, Legislators, and Leading Men. (C.B. Woodward Company, 1892), 335-336, https://sites.rootsweb.com/~oktttp/stuff/leadersleadingme02obei.pdf
6 Alice Robertson Autograph Book, page 4, 4, January, 1887, 1931.001.5.2.1. McFarlin Library Special Collections, Tulsa, Oklahoma. Carter, Edna; Locke, Fannie, “Harrel Institute Locals,” Our Brother in Red, April 6, 1889, p. 5. https://www.newspapers.com/image/658952098 (accessed October 23, 2024).
7Author unknown, “Closing Exercises,” The Indian Journal, June 17, 1886, p. 5. https://www.newspapers.com/image/589639014/?match=1&terms=%22Lydia%20Carr%22 (accessed October 23, 2024).
8 “Early History,” University of North Texas, Jill King, accessed October 23, 2024, https://northtexan.unt.edu/issues/2020-spring/early-diversity. “Department of Music,” University of North Texas Libraries, accessed December 4, 2024, (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2178523/m1/38/?q=Lydia%20Carr.
9 J.T. Hightower, and Lidia A. Carr, Marriage Record, Indian Territory, Oklahoma, Number 786, U.S County Marriage Records, 1890-1995, https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/61379/images/TH-1-159393-964445-66?pId=63473736 (accessed October 24, 2024)
10 U.S. Census Bureau, Ancestry, 1870 United States Federal Census, Hood County, TX, Roll M593_1592, Page 19A. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7163/images/4267883_00041?pId=7721830
11 U.S. Census Bureau, Ancestry, 1880 United States Federal Census, Hood County, TX, Page 10, Enumeration District 143. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/6742/images/4244731-00435?pId=11045898
12 U.S. Census Bureau, Ancestry, 1900 United States Federal Census, Township 14, Creek Nation, Indian Territory, Roll 1853, Page 7, Enumeration District 56. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/75132259:7602?ssrc=pt&tid=199778895&pid=392614971540
13 There is no existing record of William’s death, according to this source from ancestry, https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/199778895/person/392615075906/story, William died at age 2 in December of 1899, but there are no records to be found online.
14 https://sites.rootsweb.com/~itgenweb/itprojects/census/sketches/creek-co-eds.jpg, U.S. Census Bureau, Ancestry, 1900 United States Federal Census, Township 14, Creek Nation, Indian Territory, Roll 1853, Page 7, Enumeration District 56. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/75132259:7602?ssrc=pt&tid=199778895&pid=392614971540
15 There is no existing record of John’s death online, and the cause is unknown. All information has been cited from a descendant. If contact is made, updates will be made.
16 Ada M. Roach, Second Interview by Jerome Emmons, June 28, 1937, Schulter, The Indian Pioneer Papers Collection, The University of Oklahoma Digital Collections. https://repository.ou.edu/islandora/object/oku%3A11956?solr_nav%5Bid%5D=faf7c5a7572ec2b416d6&solr_nav%5Bpage%5D=0&solr_nav%5Boffset%5D=1&search=ada%2527m%2520%2527seconi. [Hereafter cited as Roach, IPP Interview], p. 2.
17 Roach, IPP Interview.
18 Roach, IPP Interview.
19 Mark R. Moore, and Lida A. Hightower, Marriage Record, Okmulgee, Creek Nation, Indian Territory, Number Not Found, Arkansas, County Marriages, 1837-1957, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939Z-YX99-1J?view=index&action=view&cc=1417439 (accessed November 8. 2024, U.S. Census Bureau, Ancestry, 1910 United States Federal Census, Severs Township, Okmulgee, Oklahoma, Roll T624_1267, Page 26A, Enumeration District 156. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/23082071%3A7884
20 U.S. Census Bureau, Ancestry, 1870 United States Federal Census, Township of Saint Aubert, Callaway, Missouri, Roll M593_764, Page 460A. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7163/images/4273843_00477?pId=1910258
U.S. Census Bureau, Ancestry, 1860 United States Federal Census, Callaway, Missouri, Roll M593-764, Page 460A. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7667/images/4233394_00229?pId=40053079
U.S. Census Bureau, Ancestry, 1860 United States Federal Census, Callaway, Missouri, Roll M653-610, Page 804, Enumeration District 18. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/40053107:7667?ssrc=pt&tid=36726464&pid=19005997909
21 U.S. Census Bureau, Ancestry, 1870 United States Federal Census, Township of Saint Aubert, Callaway, Missouri, Roll M593_764, Page 460A. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/1910258:7163?ssrc=pt&tid=199778895&pid=392615077889
U.S. Census Bureau, Ancestry, 1860 United States Federal Census, Callaway, Missouri, Roll M653-610, Page 804, Enumeration District 18. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/40053107:7667?tid=&pid=&queryid=595bf84c-bb36-453b-8979-db1576531e72&_phsrc=rsC951&_phstart=successSource
22 U.S. Census Bureau, Ancestry, 1870 United States Federal Census, Township of Saint Aubert, Callaway, Missouri, Roll M593_764, Page 460A. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7163/images/4273843_00477?pId=4744846
23 U.S. Census Bureau, Ancestry, 1880 United Stated Federal Census, Township of Saint Aubert, Callaway, Missouri, Roll 667, Page 667, Enumeration District 37. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/33733984:6742?ssrc=pt&tid=199778895&pid=392615077889
24 U.S. Census Bureau, Ancestry, 1910 United States Federal Census, Severs Township, Okmulgee, Oklahoma, Roll T624_1267, Page 26A, Enumeration District 156.
25 “Find a Grave.” Memorial page for Carr Orlando Moore, Find a grave Memorial ID 119916673, citing Jones IOOF Cemetery, Jones, Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, USA; Created by Alison Land (contributor 46846463). https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/119916673/carr-orlando-moore (accessed November 7, 2024).
Author Unknown “Mark Moore’s Funeral Friday,” The Daily Oklahoman. November 25, 1959. P. 5. https://www.newspapers.com/image/449683288/ (accessed October 28, 2024).
Bill Eisenhour, “Deaths and Funerals: Johnson,” The Daily Oklahoman. September 9, 1995. P. 112. https://www.newspapers.com/image/453905729/ (Accessed October 28, 2024).
“Find a Grave.” Memorial page for Lydia A. Thompson, Find a grave Memorial ID 82129641, citing Odd Fellows Cemetery, Ponca City, Kay County, Oklahoma, USA; Created by Judy Mayfield (contributor 46636512) https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/82129641/lydia_a-thompson/flower (accessed October 28, 2024).
26 U.S. Census Bureau, Ancestry, 1910 United States Federal Census, Severs Township, Okmulgee, Oklahoma, Roll T624_1267, Page 26A, Enumeration District 156. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7884/images/4449840_00704?pId=153412682 U.S. Census Bureau, Ancestry, 1920 United States Federal Census, Spring Valley, Cherokee, Kansas, Roll T625_526, Page 11A, Enumeration District 40. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/6061/images/4300843_00672?pId=113571240
27 U.S. Census Bureau, Ancestry, 1930 United States Federal Census, Choctaw Township, Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, Roll number not found, Page 9A, Enumeration District 0007. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/6224/images/4661233_00792?pId=94439906
U.S. Census Bureau, Ancestry, 1940 United States Federal Census, Springer Township, Jones Town, Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, Roll M-T0627-03317, Page 3A, Enumeration District 55-29. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2442/images/m-t0627-03317-00893?pId=90156563
28 Chester A. Keyes, “Mark R. Moore, 77, Has Passed Away,” The Oklahoma County News. July 29, 1938. P. 1. https://www.newspapers.com/image/836720277/ (accessed October 28, 2024).
29 Author Unknown, “Trio Celebrate Birthdays,” The Oklahoma County News. October 15, 1943. P. 8. https://www.newspapers.com/image/836719779/ (accessed October 28, 2024). Author Unknown, “Pastime Club Organized in 1916 As a Social Embroidery Group,” Blackwell Journal-Tribune. March 4, 1928. P. 5. https://www.newspapers.com/image/603516624/ (accessed October 28, 2024).
30 Anna Finley, “Tribute To Widows,” The Oklahoma County News. February 16, 1951. P. 4. https://www.newspapers.com/image/836761143/ (accessed October 28, 2024).
31 Anna Finley, “Tribute To Widows,” The Oklahoma County News. February 16, 1951. P. 4. https://www.newspapers.com/image/836761143/ (accessed October 28, 2024).
32 Author Unknown, “Double Funeral: Services Friday for ‘Buck’ Moore and His Mother,” The Oklahoma County News, November 26, 1959, P. 1. https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-oklahoma-county-news-mark-moore-deat/157616537/ (accessed October 28, 2024). “Find a Grave.” Memorial page for Lydia Augusta Carr Moore, Find a grave Memorial ID 119915448, citing Jones IOOF Cemetery, Jones, Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, USA; Created by Alison Land (contributor 46846463) https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/119915448/lydia_augusta-moore (accessed October 28, 2024). *author here* “Mrs. Lydia Moore,” The Daily Oklahoman. November 26, 1959. P. 14. https://www.newspapers.com/image/449683841/ (accessed October 28, 2024).
33 Author Unknown,“Mrs. Lydia Moore,” The Daily Oklahoman. November 26, 1959. P. 14. https://www.newspapers.com/image/449683841/ (accessed October 28, 2024).
Bibliography
“Closing Exercises.” The Indian Journal. June 17, 1886. https://www.newspapers.com/image/589639014/
“Deaths and Funerals: Johnson” The Daily Oklahoman. September 9, 1995. https://www.newspapers.com/image/453906397/
Hardridge, Loney, Interview by L. W. Wilson, *date*, Kellyville, Oklahoma. Transcripts. Indian-Pioneer Oral History Project, The University of Oklahoma, Western History Collection, Norman, OK.
“Harrell Institute Locals.” Our Brother in Red. April 6, 1889. https://www.newspapers.com/article/our-brother-in-red/156118269/
Land, Alison. “Carr Orlando Moore.” November 6, 2013. Findagrave.com.
Land, Alison. “Lydia Augusta Carr Moore.” November 6, 2013. Findagrave.com.
“Mark R. Moore, 77, Has Passed Away.” The Oklahoma County News. July 29, 1938. https://www.newspapers.com/image/836720277/
Mayfield, Judy. “Lydia A. Thompson.” December 18, 2011. Findagrave.com.
Carr, Lydia, 4 January 1887. Autograph in Alice Robertson’s Autograph Book. Alice M. Robertson Papers, McFarlin Library Special Collections, University of Tulsa, Tulsa, Oklahoma.
“Mrs. Lydia Moore.” The Daily Oklahoman. November 26, 1959. https://www.newspapers.com/image/449683841/
National Archives. Ancestry, Native American Enrollment Cards for the Five Civilized Tribes, 1898-1914. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/263124
O’Beirne, H.F. and E.S. “David Carr,” The Indian Territory: Its Chiefs, Legislators, and Leading Men. C.B. Woodward Company, 1892. https://sites.rootsweb.com/~oktttp/stuff/leadersleadingme02obei.pdf
“Pastime Club Organized In 1916 As a Social Embroidery Group.” Blackwell Journal-Tribune. March 4, 1928.
Roach, Ada M, Interview by Jerome Emmons, June 28, 1937, Schulter, Oklahoma. Transcript. Indian-Pioneer Oral History Project, The University of Oklahoma, Western History Collection, Norman, OK.
“Services Friday for ‘Buck’ Moore and His Mother.” The Oklahoma County News. November 26, 1959. https://www.newspapers.com/image/594560046/
“Society: Trio Celebrate Birthdays.” The Oklahoma County News. October, 15, 1943. https://www.newspapers.com/image/836719779/
Texas Normal College and Teacher Training Institute. Catalog of North Texas Normal College: 1890-1891, book, 1890; Denton, Texas. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2178523/m1/38/?q=Lydia%20Carr: accessed December 4, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.
“Tribute to Widows.” The Oklahoma County News. February 16, 1951. https://www.newspapers.com/image/836761143/?fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjgzNjc2MTE0MywiaWF0IjoxNzI5NjEzNDM2LCJleHAiOjE3Mjk2OTk4MzZ9.J9ykMCHzwfF7yfaOGJ7hRtXPiRcRZS1HI9whZIe_nhU
University of North Texas. “Early Diversity.” Accessed October 21, 2024. https://northtexan.unt.edu/issues/2020-spring/early-diversity
United States of America, Indian Territory, First Judicial Division, Oklahoma. “Marriage License December 1891.” Ancestry.com.
United States of America, Indian Territory, “Arkansas, County Marriages, 1904.” FamilySearch.org.
U.S. Census Bureau, Mark R. Moore; Ancestry, 1860 United States Federal Census, Callaway, Missouri Roll M593-764, Page 804, Enumeration District 18 Ancestry.com
U.S. Census Bureau, Mark R. Moore; Ancestry, 1860 United States Federal Census, Callaway, Missouri Roll M593-764, Page 460A. Ancestry.com
U.S. Census Bureau, John T. Hightower; Ancestry, 1870 United States Federal Census, Hood County, Texas, Roll M593_1592, Page 19A. Ancestry.com.
U.S. Census Bureau, Mark R. Moore; Ancestry, 1870 United States Federal Census, Township of Saint Aubert, Callaway, Missouri, Roll M593_764, Page 460A. Ancestry .com
U.S Census Bureau, John T. Hightower; Ancestry, 1880 United States Federal Census, Hood County, Texas, Page 10, Enumeration District 143. Ancestry.com.
U.S. Census Bureau; Lydia A. Hightower; Ancestry, 1900 United States Federal Census, Creek Nation, Indian Territory, Roll 1853, Page 7, Enumeration District 56. Ancestry.com.
U.S Census Bureau, Lydia A. Moore; Ancestry, 1910 United States Federal Census, Severs Township, Okmulgee, Oklahoma, Roll T624_1267, Page 26a, Enumeration District 156. Ancestry.com.
U.S. Census Bureau, Lydia A. Moore; Ancestry, 1920 United States Federal Census, Spring Valley, Cherokee, Kansas, Roll T625_526, Page 11A, Enumeration District 40. Ancestry.com.
U.S. Census Bureau, Lydia A. Moore; Ancestry, 1930 United States Federal Census, Choctaw Township, Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, Roll number not found, Page 9A, Enumeration District 0007. Ancestry.com.
U.S. Census Bureau, Lydia A. Moore; Ancestry, 1940 United States Federal Census, Jones Town, Springer County, Oklahoma, Roll M-T0627-03317, Page 3A, Enumeration District 55-29. Ancestry.com.