Dela, Oklahoma

Dela is a community in Pushmataha County, Oklahoma six miles southeast of Antlers, Oklahoma.

A United States Post Office operated here from May 12, 1920 to October 31, 1954. It was named for Dela M. Whitaker, local schoolteacher. ^[1]

Dela was originally known as White Church, or Itissa Busha in the Choctaw language, after a Methodist congregation built there by a white settler for use by Choctaw Indians. The date of its construction is unknown but predated the settlement of nearby Antlers, Oklahoma in 1886; the earliest grave in its cemetery is dated 1883. When built it was located in Cedar County, Choctaw Nation. ^[2]

Colonel Victor M. Locke established a prosperous store, grist mill and cotton gin at White Church on White Creek in the early 1870s, causing the Choctaw National Council to name the settlement “Lockestown,” at least for use in identifying it as an official Choctaw electoral precinct. Locke moved from White Church to Beaver, as Antlers was then known, in 1875. ^[3]

White Church was whitewashed with lime, giving it its name. Its logs had been hauled from Fort Towson for construction. By the late 1930s historical accounts say the Choctaws who formerly lived nearby and worshipped at the church were deceased and the church was defunct. The church property had been purchased by a white farmer, who razed the structure. Its cemetery survives as Dela Cemetery. ^[4]

More information on Dela, White Church, and the Locke family may be found in the Pushmataha County Historical Society.

References

1. ^ George H. Shirk, Oklahoma Place Names, p. 61
2. ^ The grave is that of Japhie Locke, who died in 1886. Pushmataha County Cemeteries, p. 143
3. ^ “Colonel Victor M. Locke, Jr.”, Indian-Pioneer Papers, Western History Collections, University of Oklahoma Libraries.
4. ^ “Bud Boyd”, Indian-Pioneer Papers, Western History Collections, University of Oklahoma Libraries

Coordinates: 34°12′01″N 95°31′20″W / 34.20028°N 95.52222°W / 34.20028; -95.52222