Malcom was born in 1869 in eastern Tennessee, the fourth of ten children. When he was turning two years old, his family moved to Arkansas. After arriving in Newport and staying in Oil Trough for a while, they traveled 110 miles went up the White River and settled in the Bennetts Bayou region of the Ozark mountains. Most of what is known of Malcom’s life there is described in some detail in the biographies of his parents, to which there are links below. In 1891 they moved to Chickasaw Nation in Indian Territory and settled on farm land east of Johnsonville (then called Johnson). Malcom’s sister Mary Florence and her husband W.T. Mantooth had moved to Johnsonville the previous year and had prepared the way for them. There they could rent farm land owned by members of Chickasaw Nation or buy a lot in a town.
Life on the Runyan Farm is described in his mother’s biography. Malcom no doubt helped on the stock farm, but his specialty was barbering. In that capacity he met many people, including James Nichols and his sister Shirlotta, children of James Fletcher and Charlotte (Stinnett) Nichols. They had been born in Arkansas but their mother died after the birth of Shirlotta, and their father died six years later. The children moved to Texas, where Shirlotta lived in an orphanage in Gainesville. They had come to the Johnsonville area 1890, where James worked as a mechanic in a cotton gin. Around 1892 Malcom and Lottie were married and started a family on the Runyan Farm. Meanwhile James became a merchant in Johnsonville, then in 1903 he managed a newspaper in Johnsonville, the Johnson Journal. Around that time Malcom and Shirlotta moved to Johnsonville, where Malcom opened his “Model Barber Shop.” Judging from the census records, they moved into the house in which Make’s cousin had been living, Dr. J.R. Runyan. JR moved in late 1900 or early 1901, so that is probably the time when Make and his family moved to Johnsonville. His widowed father might have moved with him at the same time, but it appears that by 1903 his father and siblings had all moved to Johnsonville, because their land, fields, and houses had been allotted by the government to a man who could claim he was one eighth Chickasaw.
In 1903, the Byars family decided to turn their property south of Johnsonville into town lots, to take advantage of a railway being built through there and a planned rail stop. The people of Johnsonville resisted this development stridently, but when they could not stop it, the merchants and craftsmen realized that the business opportunities would be in the new town on the railroad, so most of them moved there. In 1904 Malcom moved his barber business to the Byars town square, where it was called the “City Barber Shop.” Lottie’s brother James moved to Byars as well that year and started a newspaper, the Byars Banner, later called the News and Advertiser.
Malcom had a number of different partners over the years, but he is said to have involved his younger brothers in the work as well, Alonzo “Lon” and Hodge. Hodge is said to have been crippled but jovial; sadly, he passed away before 1910. Later in 1911, Malcom and Lon became partners as the “Runyan Bros. Barbers.” Later they took in a number of third partners: Tomlinson, Pate, and Tinsley. The News and Advertiser issue of April 18, 1913, says, “Runyan Brothers have moved their barber shop from the Pool Hall into the Postoffice building, where you can find them when in need of anything in their line. They say that they are better prepared than ever before to give a man a good easy shave and an up-to-date haircut.” Eventually they moved back to the pool hall. According to family traditions, the Runyan women operated a bathhouse in the back and did sewing repairs. That would be their sister Oma, and perhaps Malcom’s wife Lottie.
Whether the barbers sang is unknown, but Malcom, Oma, and Lon formed a barbershop string band that presumably played for fun in the evenings and at social events. (See photo.)
Seven children were born to Malcom and Lottie:
John Runyan (1894 – )
Lillie Mae Runyan (1895 – 1975)
William D. Runyan (1898 – )
Annie Belle Runyan (1902 – 1996)
Martha Runyan (1906 – )
Robert Benjamin Runyan (1907 – 1941)
Dallas Runyan (1910 – )
In May, 1914, Malcom died by his own hand. After his death his widow Lottie and family moved to Maysville, 30 miles to the west. Then in February, 1917, she was married to Marion Mullican, and they moved to Anadarko, another 56 miles to the west. Seventy miles south of there, her brother James was now editor of The American.
After Malcom’s death, a barber named Joe Parks leased his “City Barber Shop” from the pool hall. As for Malcom’s brother Alonzo and sister Oma, they started a new business that offered haircuts, tailoring, and perhaps a hot bath.
Malcom’s remains were no doubt buried in the Runyan family plot in the Old Johnsonville Cemetery, but the inscription is worn away from both his own gravestone and those of his brothers Alonzo and Hodge, so it is uncertain which one is which.
Life on the Runyan Farm is described in his mother’s biography. Malcom no doubt helped on the stock farm, but his specialty was barbering. In that capacity he met many people, including James Nichols and his sister Shirlotta, children of James Fletcher and Charlotte (Stinnett) Nichols. They had been born in Arkansas but their mother died after the birth of Shirlotta, and their father died six years later. The children moved to Texas, where Shirlotta lived in an orphanage in Gainesville. They had come to the Johnsonville area 1890, where James worked as a mechanic in a cotton gin. Around 1892 Malcom and Lottie were married and started a family on the Runyan Farm. Meanwhile James became a merchant in Johnsonville, then in 1903 he managed a newspaper in Johnsonville, the Johnson Journal. Around that time Malcom and Shirlotta moved to Johnsonville, where Malcom opened his “Model Barber Shop.” Judging from the census records, they moved into the house in which Make’s cousin had been living, Dr. J.R. Runyan. JR moved in late 1900 or early 1901, so that is probably the time when Make and his family moved to Johnsonville. His widowed father might have moved with him at the same time, but it appears that by 1903 his father and siblings had all moved to Johnsonville, because their land, fields, and houses had been allotted by the government to a man who could claim he was one eighth Chickasaw.
In 1903, the Byars family decided to turn their property south of Johnsonville into town lots, to take advantage of a railway being built through there and a planned rail stop. The people of Johnsonville resisted this development stridently, but when they could not stop it, the merchants and craftsmen realized that the business opportunities would be in the new town on the railroad, so most of them moved there. In 1904 Malcom moved his barber business to the Byars town square, where it was called the “City Barber Shop.” Lottie’s brother James moved to Byars as well that year and started a newspaper, the Byars Banner, later called the News and Advertiser.
Malcom had a number of different partners over the years, but he is said to have involved his younger brothers in the work as well, Alonzo “Lon” and Hodge. Hodge is said to have been crippled but jovial; sadly, he passed away before 1910. Later in 1911, Malcom and Lon became partners as the “Runyan Bros. Barbers.” Later they took in a number of third partners: Tomlinson, Pate, and Tinsley. The News and Advertiser issue of April 18, 1913, says, “Runyan Brothers have moved their barber shop from the Pool Hall into the Postoffice building, where you can find them when in need of anything in their line. They say that they are better prepared than ever before to give a man a good easy shave and an up-to-date haircut.” Eventually they moved back to the pool hall. According to family traditions, the Runyan women operated a bathhouse in the back and did sewing repairs. That would be their sister Oma, and perhaps Malcom’s wife Lottie.
Whether the barbers sang is unknown, but Malcom, Oma, and Lon formed a barbershop string band that presumably played for fun in the evenings and at social events. (See photo.)
Seven children were born to Malcom and Lottie:
John Runyan (1894 – )
Lillie Mae Runyan (1895 – 1975)
William D. Runyan (1898 – )
Annie Belle Runyan (1902 – 1996)
Martha Runyan (1906 – )
Robert Benjamin Runyan (1907 – 1941)
Dallas Runyan (1910 – )
In May, 1914, Malcom died by his own hand. After his death his widow Lottie and family moved to Maysville, 30 miles to the west. Then in February, 1917, she was married to Marion Mullican, and they moved to Anadarko, another 56 miles to the west. Seventy miles south of there, her brother James was now editor of The American.
After Malcom’s death, a barber named Joe Parks leased his “City Barber Shop” from the pool hall. As for Malcom’s brother Alonzo and sister Oma, they started a new business that offered haircuts, tailoring, and perhaps a hot bath.
Malcom’s remains were no doubt buried in the Runyan family plot in the Old Johnsonville Cemetery, but the inscription is worn away from both his own gravestone and those of his brothers Alonzo and Hodge, so it is uncertain which one is which.
Malcom was born in 1869 in eastern Tennessee, the fourth of ten children. When he was turning two years old, his family moved to Arkansas. After arriving in Newport and staying in Oil Trough for a while, they traveled 110 miles went up the White River and settled in the Bennetts Bayou region of the Ozark mountains. Most of what is known of Malcom’s life there is described in some detail in the biographies of his parents, to which there are links below. In 1891 they moved to Chickasaw Nation in Indian Territory and settled on farm land east of Johnsonville (then called Johnson). Malcom’s sister Mary Florence and her husband W.T. Mantooth had moved to Johnsonville the previous year and had prepared the way for them. There they could rent farm land owned by members of Chickasaw Nation or buy a lot in a town.
Life on the Runyan Farm is described in his mother’s biography. Malcom no doubt helped on the stock farm, but his specialty was barbering. In that capacity he met many people, including James Nichols and his sister Shirlotta, children of James Fletcher and Charlotte (Stinnett) Nichols. They had been born in Arkansas but their mother died after the birth of Shirlotta, and their father died six years later. The children moved to Texas, where Shirlotta lived in an orphanage in Gainesville. They had come to the Johnsonville area 1890, where James worked as a mechanic in a cotton gin. Around 1892 Malcom and Lottie were married and started a family on the Runyan Farm. Meanwhile James became a merchant in Johnsonville, then in 1903 he managed a newspaper in Johnsonville, the Johnson Journal. Around that time Malcom and Shirlotta moved to Johnsonville, where Malcom opened his “Model Barber Shop.” Judging from the census records, they moved into the house in which Make’s cousin had been living, Dr. J.R. Runyan. JR moved in late 1900 or early 1901, so that is probably the time when Make and his family moved to Johnsonville. His widowed father might have moved with him at the same time, but it appears that by 1903 his father and siblings had all moved to Johnsonville, because their land, fields, and houses had been allotted by the government to a man who could claim he was one eighth Chickasaw.
In 1903, the Byars family decided to turn their property south of Johnsonville into town lots, to take advantage of a railway being built through there and a planned rail stop. The people of Johnsonville resisted this development stridently, but when they could not stop it, the merchants and craftsmen realized that the business opportunities would be in the new town on the railroad, so most of them moved there. In 1904 Malcom moved his barber business to the Byars town square, where it was called the “City Barber Shop.” Lottie’s brother James moved to Byars as well that year and started a newspaper, the Byars Banner, later called the News and Advertiser.
Malcom had a number of different partners over the years, but he is said to have involved his younger brothers in the work as well, Alonzo “Lon” and Hodge. Hodge is said to have been crippled but jovial; sadly, he passed away before 1910. Later in 1911, Malcom and Lon became partners as the “Runyan Bros. Barbers.” Later they took in a number of third partners: Tomlinson, Pate, and Tinsley. The News and Advertiser issue of April 18, 1913, says, “Runyan Brothers have moved their barber shop from the Pool Hall into the Postoffice building, where you can find them when in need of anything in their line. They say that they are better prepared than ever before to give a man a good easy shave and an up-to-date haircut.” Eventually they moved back to the pool hall. According to family traditions, the Runyan women operated a bathhouse in the back and did sewing repairs. That would be their sister Oma, and perhaps Malcom’s wife Lottie.
Whether the barbers sang is unknown, but Malcom, Oma, and Lon formed a barbershop string band that presumably played for fun in the evenings and at social events. (See photo.)
Seven children were born to Malcom and Lottie:
John Runyan (1894 – )
Lillie Mae Runyan (1895 – 1975)
William D. Runyan (1898 – )
Annie Belle Runyan (1902 – 1996)
Martha Runyan (1906 – )
Robert Benjamin Runyan (1907 – 1941)
Dallas Runyan (1910 – )
In May, 1914, Malcom died by his own hand. After his death his widow Lottie and family moved to Maysville, 30 miles to the west. Then in February, 1917, she was married to Marion Mullican, and they moved to Anadarko, another 56 miles to the west. Seventy miles south of there, her brother James was now editor of The American.
After Malcom’s death, a barber named Joe Parks leased his “City Barber Shop” from the pool hall. As for Malcom’s brother Alonzo and sister Oma, they started a new business that offered haircuts, tailoring, and perhaps a hot bath.
Malcom’s remains were no doubt buried in the Runyan family plot in the Old Johnsonville Cemetery, but the inscription is worn away from both his own gravestone and those of his brothers Alonzo and Hodge, so it is uncertain which one is which.
Life on the Runyan Farm is described in his mother’s biography. Malcom no doubt helped on the stock farm, but his specialty was barbering. In that capacity he met many people, including James Nichols and his sister Shirlotta, children of James Fletcher and Charlotte (Stinnett) Nichols. They had been born in Arkansas but their mother died after the birth of Shirlotta, and their father died six years later. The children moved to Texas, where Shirlotta lived in an orphanage in Gainesville. They had come to the Johnsonville area 1890, where James worked as a mechanic in a cotton gin. Around 1892 Malcom and Lottie were married and started a family on the Runyan Farm. Meanwhile James became a merchant in Johnsonville, then in 1903 he managed a newspaper in Johnsonville, the Johnson Journal. Around that time Malcom and Shirlotta moved to Johnsonville, where Malcom opened his “Model Barber Shop.” Judging from the census records, they moved into the house in which Make’s cousin had been living, Dr. J.R. Runyan. JR moved in late 1900 or early 1901, so that is probably the time when Make and his family moved to Johnsonville. His widowed father might have moved with him at the same time, but it appears that by 1903 his father and siblings had all moved to Johnsonville, because their land, fields, and houses had been allotted by the government to a man who could claim he was one eighth Chickasaw.
In 1903, the Byars family decided to turn their property south of Johnsonville into town lots, to take advantage of a railway being built through there and a planned rail stop. The people of Johnsonville resisted this development stridently, but when they could not stop it, the merchants and craftsmen realized that the business opportunities would be in the new town on the railroad, so most of them moved there. In 1904 Malcom moved his barber business to the Byars town square, where it was called the “City Barber Shop.” Lottie’s brother James moved to Byars as well that year and started a newspaper, the Byars Banner, later called the News and Advertiser.
Malcom had a number of different partners over the years, but he is said to have involved his younger brothers in the work as well, Alonzo “Lon” and Hodge. Hodge is said to have been crippled but jovial; sadly, he passed away before 1910. Later in 1911, Malcom and Lon became partners as the “Runyan Bros. Barbers.” Later they took in a number of third partners: Tomlinson, Pate, and Tinsley. The News and Advertiser issue of April 18, 1913, says, “Runyan Brothers have moved their barber shop from the Pool Hall into the Postoffice building, where you can find them when in need of anything in their line. They say that they are better prepared than ever before to give a man a good easy shave and an up-to-date haircut.” Eventually they moved back to the pool hall. According to family traditions, the Runyan women operated a bathhouse in the back and did sewing repairs. That would be their sister Oma, and perhaps Malcom’s wife Lottie.
Whether the barbers sang is unknown, but Malcom, Oma, and Lon formed a barbershop string band that presumably played for fun in the evenings and at social events. (See photo.)
Seven children were born to Malcom and Lottie:
John Runyan (1894 – )
Lillie Mae Runyan (1895 – 1975)
William D. Runyan (1898 – )
Annie Belle Runyan (1902 – 1996)
Martha Runyan (1906 – )
Robert Benjamin Runyan (1907 – 1941)
Dallas Runyan (1910 – )
In May, 1914, Malcom died by his own hand. After his death his widow Lottie and family moved to Maysville, 30 miles to the west. Then in February, 1917, she was married to Marion Mullican, and they moved to Anadarko, another 56 miles to the west. Seventy miles south of there, her brother James was now editor of The American.
After Malcom’s death, a barber named Joe Parks leased his “City Barber Shop” from the pool hall. As for Malcom’s brother Alonzo and sister Oma, they started a new business that offered haircuts, tailoring, and perhaps a hot bath.
Malcom’s remains were no doubt buried in the Runyan family plot in the Old Johnsonville Cemetery, but the inscription is worn away from both his own gravestone and those of his brothers Alonzo and Hodge, so it is uncertain which one is which.
Family Members
Siblings
