Ditmore3

John Henry Ditmore was born on December 4th, 1866 in North Carolina. He was the son of Henry M. and Elizabeth (Hampton) Ditmore. After his marriage, he and his wife, Malora Jane Ayers Ditmore, traveled by train from North Carolina to a small farming community in western Oklahoma . They first stepped foot on the red clay at 11:00am on October 15th, 1907, with 8 children in tow. Malora was pregnant at the time with child number 9. They were met at the depot in Bridgeport, Oklahoma, by John Henry's brother and brother-in-law, who had ventured west two years before. Unfortunately, all their belongings went to Bridgeport, TX. The wagons were hitched and a few of the men went to retrieve their possessions. John Henry purchased a farm, 2 miles north of the town of Hydro, that he farmed for many years. He was a 32nd degree Mason and Malora was a member of the Eastern Star. They had 12 children, however, two sons died at an early age. With 10 surviving children, the family multiplied rather quickly. My uncle Joe told me that he didn't much care to visit his grandpa and grandma Ditmore because they had so many grandchildren, they couldn't remember all their names. They are buried in the Hydro Masonic Cemetery.