Hap Haggard

Hap Haggard, who wrote several Tulsa World news articles about Mrs. Smith, was born as Marion Stanley Haggard in Joplin, Missouri on the 23rd of November 1904.

Hap was the oldest of four children. He had two brothers and one sister. His parents moved the family to Dallas, Texas around 1910. Hap attended public schools and graduated from high school in 1922.

After graduation he moved to Miami, Oklahoma where he worked in public relations at the Grand River Dam Authority (GRDA). He developed his journalism skills during that time and he had articles published in the GRDA newsletter and The Miami News Record. He married his girlfriend, Gladys Marie Feaster, in 1925. They had one child: a daughter named Marcia.

On August 23, 1941 Hap along with some of his colleagues at the GRDA resigned as a protest to the Oklahoma Governor Leon Phillips's "purge" against the agency. Governor Phillips, who was in a dispute with the GRDA, fired three of the directors by forcing them to resign. Hap went to work as a police reporter for the Tulsa World.

In March of 1944 one of the biggest, and certainly most bizarre scandals occurred in Tulsa, Oklahoma: a high society widow had hexed young women to commit crimes. Hap interviewed the victims, law enforcement officers, attorneys, and others about the strange case and kept citizens updated with his news articles in the Tulsa World.

Hap developed an interest in radio news and took a job in May of 1944 as a news editor for a radio station in Fresno, California. He also hosted a radio show titled "Inside Fresno." He continued to write news articles that were published in The Fresno Bee.

In 1955 Hap and his wife purchased a nursery in Fresno and named it the "Hap Haggard Nursery." In 1957 he retired from the news industry and devoted himself full-time to running the nursery with his wife. In 1959 after five months of health issues with his heart he died of a heart attack at home on the 16th of October 1959. He would have been 54 years old in November of 1959.

Note to readers: We have made our best effort to provide the most accurate information about the history of the Hex House of Tulsa. We collected newspaper articles, researched genealogy, and historical documents like marriage licenses, census information, city directories, and draft cards. However, there may be errors in the information provided. Nevertheless, the arc of the story is true and documented history even if some details may be incorrect.