CON. 8 PIONEERS
(Jack Culvahouse note: This list published in the August 1951 “Golden Jubilee” edition of the Star-Review is a result of a major effort by Georgia Smith and is very valuable for sorting out early people. The dates of arrival are sometimes from offhand family memories and even those of neighbors. I have found some to be off by as much as seven years, but usually only one year or so at which point it is of little importance. Those listed as arriving in 1901 are probably candidates for the people who won their claim in the “Drawing”. Their greatest value is the listing of the names of children which are not in the land records.”
Newspaper article “MANY PIONEERS TO CON. 8 AT OPENING IN ’01”
(Editor’s note: The following list of pioneers of the Consolidated 8 community was compiled by Mrs. Georgia Smith, Stat-Review correspondent. An effort was made to get the names of as many people who lived in the community from 1901 to 1907 as possible, whether now living or dead, but the list does not purport to be complete.)
1901: Mr. and Mrs. George Helwer, Amelia and Marie; Mr. and Mr. J. N. Brown, Wallace, Guy, Herbert, Ernest, Roger, Mike, Julia, Lou and Jim; Mr. M. A. Woods; Mr. and Mrs. Luther Burton, Opal, Coy, Don and Ruby; Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Bright, Ray and Roy; Mr. and Mrs. W. P. Sims, Velma, Cecil, Opal and Ola; Mr. and Mrs. Dave Schrader, Robert, Brice and Delia; Mr. and Mrs. L. E. McFarland, Roy, Paul and Mark; Mr. and Mrs. Lee Riley, Betty, Audrey and Georgia; Mr. and Mrs. C. H. Lacy, Rosco, John, Viola, George, Katie and Walter; Mr. and Mrs. J. E. Atchley and daughter who is now Mrs. Lee Battles of Con. 8; Mr. Bob Hamilton; Mr. and Mrs. C. H. Vestel, James, Carrie, Leo, Louis and Kemp; Mr. Lee Poindexter; Mr. and Mrs. W. M. Mayberry, Liffa, Vella, Daisy, Alta and Lula; Mr. and Mrs. Warren Dempsey, Ruben, Charlie, Clark, Wallace, Walter and Grant; Mr. and Mrs. George Penn, Fern, Lyndia, Gertrude, Myrdith; Miss Anna Reynolds, Lena Reynolds and Arthur Reynolds; Mr. and Mrs. J. C. McCaul.
1902: Mr. and Mrs. J.T.F. Duke, Otis, Ola, Myrtis, Alden, Luther, Clyde, Pearl, Dewey and Gladys; Mr. and Mrs. R. C. Snow, Lander, Billie, Davie, Other, Cleve, Bobby, Deila and Bryan; Mr. and Mrs. A. R. Singer, Bill, Grafton, Clifton, Charlie, Oliver, Arthur and Tee; Mr. and Mrs. J. T. Nichols, Bill and Orbie; Mr. and Mrs. Oming (Omer) Nichols.
1903: Mr. F. P. Kemerling; Mr. and Mrs. Frank Baker, Carl, Earl and Shirrel.
1904: Mr. and Mrs. Joe Tarpley, Otis, Mabel, Mann, Marie; Mr. and Mrs. Harry Tarpley, Leo and Everett; Mrs. F. P. Kemerling; Mr. and Mrs. Bob Penn.
1906: George Penn, Minnie Penn; Miss Olivia Patton (Mrs. J.T. Nichols); Mr. and Mrs. Robert Sockwell, Ernest, Zola and Irene; Mr. and Mrs. Jim McNutt, Luther, Adolphas and Cleophas; Mr. and Mrs. Will Knox, brothers Johnathan, Luch, Julian and Dudley; Mr. and Mrs. J. R. McAnn, Lottie, Rowens and Vernon; Mr. and Mrs. F. B. Brown, Edith, J.J., Lela, Willie and Francis; Emmet Short, Cecil Short, Elmont Short and Willie Short.
1907: Mr. and Mrs. M.A. Speights, Gertrude, Velma and Lee; Mr. C. R. Smith; Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Denham, C. H., May, Wallace, Veda, George, Dave, Joe, Zelma and John; Mr. and Mrs. G. E. Ankney, George, Walter and Zelma.
Dates unknown: Mr. and Mrs. George Messick, Leon and Vernon; Mr. and Mrs. Frank Cassida, Charlie, Harry, Leon and Madison; Mr. and Mrs. Stogdill, Jim, Arthur, Ross, Zola and Eva; Mr. and Mrs. Will Burton, Roy, Jewel and Dutch; Mr. and Mrs. S. E. Hoosier, C. D., Clemmie, Howard and Cyle; Mr. and Mrs. J. C. David, Jim, George, Mary and Ophelia; Mr. and Mrs. A. J. Holder, Eddie, Earl, Horace, Leon and Mollie; Mr. and Mrs. W. W. Hazelwood; Mr. Tom Griffin; Mrs. Mattie Cook; Mrs. Dora Redman; Mr. Lee Gamble; Maymie, Roger and Etta Dean; Mr. and Mrs. George
Williams, Inez and Jazzy; Lynn Metherton; Mr. and Mrs. M. Leddy, Marie and Zelma; Mr. and Mrs. J. F. Faucett and Clyde; Mr. Riley Watson; Mr. and Mrs. Frank Griggs, Josie, John and Annie Mae; Elmer Combs; Mr. and Mrs. Elick Combs; Golda Leach; Dora and Mattie Griffin; Mabel and Charlie Mouser, Allie Fish; Elizabeth Gentry; John Gentry; Ernest Strain; Edward Mouser; Stella Wiliams Penn; Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Fields and Marion, Mac, McKaffie; Mr. and Mrs. R. F. Sanford, Ethel, Floyd, Lynn, Vera and Carol; Mr. and Mrs. Charlie Pinkney; Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Bearden; Mr. and Mrs. J. N. Jasper and Neta; Mr. and Mrs. J. N. Jiles, Jessie, Salllie, Montgomery and Fannie; Mr. and Mrs. George Wilkerson, Ross, Maymie and Maude; Lumb Combs. (End of newspaper article.)
OTHER OPPORTUNITIES THROUGH THE FIRST DECADE
As the list above shows, many long-time Con. 8 residents arrived in the first decade after the opening. Most of those coming in the first few year were able to buy
relinquishments or find abandoned claims or unclaimed parcels on which they could file.
The latter was the case for Gracie McCelland and that was in 1910. She claimed the quarter section on the east part of the Twin Mountains and the quarter just north of the home place of L. E. McFarland, father of Mark McFarland. Gracie obtained this claim because her husband-to-be, Ray D. Manchester, bought the quarter section adjoining on the north as a relinquishment, and apparently noted at this late date the claim was abandoned. (In 1903 a Mr. M. J. Davis held the claim.) She made her claim a few months before they were married. The Manchester’s daughter Marie attended Con. 8 in the early twenties.
After 1906, some claims began to be “proved up” and their owners could sell, rent or lease those lands or plan for sharecropping. In this way many old-time Con. 8 families were able to make a beginning in the new country.
NEW COUNTRY BECOMES FUNCTIONING FARMS
There was much to be done in this new country. They needed shelter from the elements. Oklahoma weather can be very inclement oat on the open prairie. Many lived in tents or their wagons until they built a dugout or that first house.
The sod had to be broken with a plow pulled by oxen or mules and guided by a strong man. In many places the native grass was several feet high (up to a horse’s belly, according to many old-timers).
Farming in the early decades of the 20th century was a difficult and ever-changing way to make your living. It was also a wonderful way to live. Farm families had a fresher and greater variety of food than in the cities. There was no factory smoke in the air. Rural families did not live in crowded apartments or tenements. Farm families had the advantage of living on the wide-open plains, working outdoors, and the help of good neighbors when needed in times of need. Children, when not working with the parents, were allowed to explore the open range and the mountains which were scattered over our community.
What freedom we enjoyed. What are your memories of life on the farm? Learning to drive the tractor when you were still too young to legally drive. We all wanted to be able to drive, after all, that was a very grown-up thing to do. Plowing under the wheat stubble or the cotton stalks. Were you the one who drove the tractor when the cotton was planted or did your dad do that because your rows were not straight enough? Before going to the field be sure to check the oil, gas, lug nuts, etc. Putting on a straw hat, sharpening the hoe blade and going to the field to “chop cotton” each summer. Dumping the seed wheat into the drill bins. When you were small did you enjoy riding or the wooden plank on the back of the drill? Was one of your chores, to do the milking each morning or evening or both?
Remember those evenings of soft breezes, summer smells, going to the far corners of the pasture to bring in the cows? Who in your family battled with the setting hens to gather the eggs each day.
Of course, we all remember when school recessed for several weeks in the fall so that the entire family could “pull bolls”. Still feel the burr points going through your gloves.
When you thought your gloves were worn out, you turned them wrong-side-out, put them on the opposite hand and had an almost-as-good-as-new pair of gloves.
Does the memory of that cotton sack strap still feel heavy on your shoulder? The cotton sacks were turned, reversed and patched as needed to ensure that all parts were used.
Who got to take a break from the field and pull the trailer, loaded with cotton, to the gin? If you were still pulling cotton on Thanksgiving, did your parents remind you to ‘Just be thankful that we still have cotton to be pulled.’
Let us not forget the laundry that had to be done for a large family. If you were lucky enough to have a gasoline powered washing machine “the Maytag”, it made the job much easier.
Before that, it was a strong hands-on experience, with the bar of lye soap, a rub board and tab of hot water. The water was heated in the old wash pot on a wood fire. Be sure to do the cleanest clothes (whites) first because you will likely wash most or all the loads in the same water. Careful, don’t get your hand in the wringer. Wipe the clothesline with an old rag to remove the dirt so it does not get on your clean clothes. And the next day, it may have been your chore to do the ironing. There was no wash-and-wear or permanent press. Of course, mom and sister also had to cook three meals a day for that big family.
Did your mother have a certain day of the week to do her baking, making bread, cakes and pies? Didn’t you just love the taste of fresh butter just out of the chum and served on a slice of warn homemade bread. Especially if you were the one who had dipped off the cream, poured it into the chum and then spent some time in close company with that churn. We, the children, might get in a hurry at mealtime, but the parents and grandparents always reminded us to say, “Grace and thank God for all our blessings and bounty”.
Of course, it was not all hard work. At night, after supper, and ready for bed, but mom had to read the stories to us before turning out the lamps. The large family-get-togethers are on Saturday or Sunday afternoon for dinner, visiting, singing and playing. Siblings and cousins made wonderful play mates. The sweet taste of homemade ice cream sliding over your tongue and melting down your throat. The anticipation of that first bite made the turning and freezing time seem like hours.
Sleeping outside when it was too hot to sleep inside and hoping there was enough breeze to keep the bugs away. That sure did make studying the stars much more interesting.
Those oh-so-hot and lazy days when you had finished the second round of cotton chopping and the crop was laid by until time to start ‘pulling bolls’.
Entering a hand-raised animal or a sample of a particularly bountiful crop in the County Fair. Or maybe it was some of mom’s jars of beautifully canned veggies or fruit or preserves, or maybe a garment you and mom had made. Being sent to the cellar to bring up a few jars of Mom’s wonderfully canned veggies and fruit. Also being taken to the cellar when a storm was coming up. (Lajuan ‘s note: In addition to all the canned goods on shelves, we had a bed, table, lantern and a few books in our cellar. Again, Mom would read to us while the storm raged overhead, often reading us to sleep even amid the tempest.)
There are more memories that l can list and you, of course, will have your own. Good and bad. For me, and I hope for you, that you have forgotten the worst ones, and remember all the good ones. If you have not told them to your children and grandchildren lately, do not forget to do so.
About 40% of Americans were living and working on farms in the early 1900’s. Most of the families in Kiowa County started out with 160 acres which was slightly more than the national average of I 50 acres. Once a homesteader had “proved up” his claim, he could legally sell part or all the claim, thereby increasing the number of acres held by some and decreasing the amount for others.
Farming tools and machinery underwent many improvements during this time and new developments were being introduced to increase efficiency and production while reducing the hours of backbreaking labor.
Hand powered tools were very common but they too, were being improved, due to the growth of the steel industry. Farmers were still using hammers, saws, hoes, rakes, shovels, sickles. These were tougher and studier and kept a sharper edge that cut through dense brush and thick roots.
At the same time, the use of oxen and mules was decreasing as the use of draft horses increased. These large horses weigh an average of 800 pounds and were bred specifically for heavy labor. The Industrial Revolution brought forth machinery that utilized horses for cultivating land, planting, cutting hay, binding oats, and bringing in crops.
Dramatic changes came with further development of steam powered tractors used for plowing and threshing. About 5,000 had been manufactured in the United States at the turn-of-the century and 30 different companies were striving for a piece of the pie.
Even while steam driven tractors were being used, tractors with internal combustion engines fueled by gasoline were being developed and creating a lot of excitement within the agricultural community. Henry Ford experimented by producing his company’s first gasoline powered “automobile plow” in 1907. After becoming smaller and more affordable in 1910, gasoline powered tractors grew in popularity and the first mass marketed one, the Fordson, was introduced by Ford in 1917. By the 1920’s, tractors built with gasoline-powered internal combustion engines were used extensively. Even though all these developments and improvements were available, they did not all come to every Con. 8 farmer immediately. Every range of machinery could be found in the community at any one time.