Thomas B. Searcy Collection, 1889-2013

The core of the Thomas B. Searcy Collection consists of property records that reflect the ownership of land homesteaded by Thomas B. Searcy in 1883 in Sherman County and include mortages, warranty deeds, tax payment receipts, promissory notes, and materials documenting financial interactions between Searcy and the Pacific Co-operative Wool Growers Association and the Moro Grain Growers Association. The final property document is the lease of the land to Dean and Margaret Pinkerton in 1961.  Original property documents and photocopies of many of them, as well as a list of documents provided by the donors are part of the collection.

The collection also includes land patents issued in 1891-1904; family records and biographical information; and photographs.  The family records include wills, records of property sales and transfers, and obituaries.  A 1994 publication of the Sherman County Historical Society includes two articles about the Searcy family.

The photographs date from circa 1890 to circa 1940 and include snapshots of family members as well as formal studio portraits and group photographs.  The images depict members of the Searcy and Shelton famlies.  Photographs of basketball, baseball, and football teams taken in the 1910s may be of  Moro high school teams.  Ten of the photographs are snapshots (circa 1915) affixed to a scrapbook page.

An online exhibit, Searcy Ranch and Sherman County History, includes several items from the collection.