The history of the United States Post Office in Watonga and the Fergusons are intertwined. Ellen Shaw in her book “ This Old House… in Watonga” recounts the history of the U.S. Post Office, apparently from a history written in the July 1, 1917, issue of The Watonga Republican.
Following some pre-Ferguson history, she writes “When Tom Ferguson arrived in Watonga (October 1892) with his printing press outfit which he had brought from Kansas in a covered wagon for the establishment of The Watonga Republican, he needed a temporary shelter for it and his family until he could get possession of the wooden building which he had rented for a printing office (remember Watonga was a tent city established six months earlier in April 1892).
“Mr. Dillon invited the editor to set up shop in the long room occupied by the post office” (Mr. Dillon was the first postmaster who had arrived in April 1892 with his commission and set up the post office on a lot next to Keller, now Wilkinson Funeral Home).
“Mr. Ferguson was sworn in as clerk to assist Mr. Dillon with the work in the post office in exchange for rent. For two months, The Republican was printed there and then moved to a new location in the block south of the place.”
“In the summer of 1897, with the election of Republican William McKinley as President, Tom Ferguson, editor, received the appointment as postmaster.
“A long wooden building on East Main Street, which had been built for a store, was bought by Ferguson, and the post office and the Watonga Republican moved into the front part, and the north half was prepared as a home for the family. Patrons sometimes complained that the post office had been moved out into the country, and indeed, there were very few houses of any kind near at that time” (Shaw says it is where the Morgan offices were at the time she wrote, which is at or near the northwestern corner of Main and Weigle. (In 1912, a brick building was built for The Watonga Republican. One of these buildings can be clearly seen in the photo of Native elders riding in a parade. The photo is on display at the library, the Ferguson Museum and the Watonga Republican offices of today.)
“The postmaster’s salary was derived from a percentage of the stamps cancelled, and this did not amount to a very large sum. As the Watonga office was a mail distribution point for many of the smaller rural offices, ten dollars per month was allowed for a clerk for this work (there have been 42 post offices established in Blaine County).
Mr. Ferguson resigned as postmaster considering (he had) a conflict of interest and Mrs. Ferguson became postmaster serving for less than a year when Mr. Ferguson was appointed Governor of Oklahoma Territory in Nov. 1901. ( To be continued).