Hoard, John Henry [Hoardsville, Oklahoma]
(born: June 2, 1862 - died: May 13, 1937)Reverend John Henry Hoard was born in Hopkinsville, KY, June 2, 1862. In 1899, he moved to Okmulgee, OK, to become pastor of the First Baptist Church. Okmulgee is 30 miles from Tulsa. Rev. Hoard was also pastor of the Union Baptist Church in Grayson, OK.
Hoard farmed his land next to the Henryetta gas and oil fields. He was chair of the Educational Board of the Oklahoma Baptist Convention, a member and moderator of the Southwest Creek and Seminole District Association, and he was the Hoardsville postmaster. He also owned a grocery store.
John H. Hoard had come to Oklahoma during the period author M. C. Hill describes as the "Great Black March Westward" that began in 1890 and peaked in 1910. Most came from eight southern states, including Kentucky. This was also the period when small all-Negro communities were developed, and there was an attempt to make Oklahoma an all Negro state. Hoardsville is usually not mentioned as one of the better known all-Negro communities. Hundreds of Negroes were arriving in Oklahoma each day, looking for utopia but finding that there were ongoing clashes between Negroes, Native Americans, and Whites.
Reverend John Henry Hoard died in Paris, MO, May 13, 1937 [source: Find A Grave]. He was the husband of Clara Locke Hoard, with whom he had 11 children.
For more see "Reverend J. H. Hoard" in Who's Who Among the Colored Baptists of the United States, by S. W. Bacote; and M. C. Hill, "The All Negro Communities of Oklahoma," The Journal of Negro History, vol. 31, issue 3 (July 1946), pp. 254-268.