Am looking for any information about Bushnell Johnson. He was my great grandfather.

Family legend has it that he disappeared in 1903 and returned in 1906. The story is that he and a brother in law with the last name of Dunn were playing poker, got into a fight, and thought they killed a man, so they ran away. After they heard the man was not dead, they returned. They were living in Enid, OK at the time he disappeared.

However, this was never spoken of while my grandmother was alive. We are thinking that there may be more to this story and he may have been in jail for some reason. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I would go about researching this?

Thanks.

Don't know anything on his personal story but did locate some Census record information on Ancestry.com.

1900 Census, Bushnell H. Johnson living in Seger Township, Washita Co., OT, born about 1867 in Missouri

1910 Census, Bushnell H. Johnson living in Osborn, Garfield Co., OK

1920 Census, Bushnell H. Johnson living in Seger, Washita Co., OK

1930 Census, Bushnell H. Johnson living in Seger, Washita Co., OK

Hope this is of some help.
On the Trail
Diron L. Ahlquist
Secretary/Editor Oklahombres Journal

Thank you so much for taking the time to give me this information. I appreciate it.

Do you have any tips about where I could look if I suspect my relative was in jail in Oklahoma around 1903-1906?

County Courthouse records might be the way to go if you know the county in which the crime was committed. This is of course assuming that the crime was local in nature. Given the years 1903-1906 the crime very well may have been federal and would therefore have resulted in the prisoner being held in a facility that held federal prisoners (ie the U.S. Jail at Guthrie, Muskogee, Leavenworth[Kansas], etc.). I don't believe the prison at McAlester came into being until after statehood in 1907. Your next best bet would probably be local newspapers. The Oklahoma Historical Society has a large collection of newspapers and if you know the timeframe (ie 1903-1906) you might have some luck there.

Good luck!
On the Trail
Diron Ahlquist
Secretary/Editor Oklahombres Journal