1
10
61
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https://bristoworalhistory.org/files/original/48853fe23390fca3475b7f00b848da41.png
4aa32e6e4b9b30faaa5da0527bf4aeda
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Family Histories
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Oral History
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral accounts of various family histories
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Bristow Historical Society, oral history collection
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview
Robert L. “Bob” McCarty
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed
Floyd Luther Blythe
OHMS Object
This field contains the OHMS Hyperlink (link to the XML file within the OHMS
Viewer)
https://bristoworalhistory.org/ohms/viewer.php?cachefile=OHP-00010-01_Floyd_Blythe.xml
Interview Keyword
This field adds keywords to the Omeka Oral History item type. Keywords are
included in the OHMS XML, this field in Omeka will allow for full data migration
between OHMS XML and the Omeka Record. This field does not impact the
OHMS / Omeka integration and is optional if you do not need to map the
“keywords” field in the OHMS XML to the corresponding Omeka record.
Cato
moving
OHMS Object Text
This field contains the OHMS Index and / or Transcript and is what makes the
contents of the OHMS object searchable in Omeka
5.4 OHP-0010-01 Floyd Luther Blythe OHP-0010-01 Bristow Historical Society - Oral History Archive Pinehill Community Bristow Historical Society, Inc. Cato Cato moving Floyd Luther Blythe Robert L. “Bob” McCarty MP3 1:|19(14)|38(3)|64(12) 0 https://bristoworalhistory.org/interviews/OHP-0010-01 Blythe, Floyd.mp3 Other audio 0 Camping on the creek FB: --and of course he helped the baby up and put out the fire, and they said they sold every hog and every [indecipherable] they had and every hog and everything they had. You know, they camped on the creek there for a few days. I don’t know how long, now. But they killed every living thing they had. He kept one horse that he traveled a little on. He took it out to the middle of the cornfield and tied it up. Corn was big and tall, you know, old horse was [inaudible] and they didn’t tie their hogs. Discussion of camping near a creek in Missouri camping ; Cato ; creek ; hogs ; Missouri Camping ; creek 68 Finding a Cemetery BM: Now then, how, how did you find the cemetery? MM: What was you doing— FB: Oh— BM: What was you doing? Memories of finding a cemetery Blythe ; cemetery ; Georgie ; Mary cemetery 150 A Broken Hip BM: This is Floyd telling as much as he can remember on how Aunt Sis or Mary Jane got her hip broke. FB: Well, the Johns (ph) were on their way to the reunion and she somehow or another, Aunt Sis broke her hip. And they brought her back to the house and left her and went on to the reunion. And that’s about all I can say on that. Floyd telling of a broken hip hip ; reunion broken hip In this 1976 interview, Floyd Luther Blythe (1911-1994) briefly discusses some early family history outside Cato, Missouri. FB: --and of course he helped the baby up and put out the fire, and they said they sold every hog and every [indecipherable] they had and every hog and everything they had. You know, they camped on the creek there for a few days. I don' ; t know how long, now. But they killed every living thing they had. He kept one horse that he traveled a little on. He took it out to the middle of the cornfield and tied it up. Corn was big and tall, you know, old horse was [inaudible] and they didn' ; t tie their hogs. MM: About whereabout was that, that happened? Whereabouts did that happen? FB: That happened two miles from here, it' ; s two miles east. BM: Two miles east from here. FB: Uh-huh. MM: Could you hear, were they screaming, everybody-- BM: [inaudible] could you give a pretty good description of where, where it' ; s at-- FB: Well, it' ; s two miles east of Cato (ph), Missouri [indecipherable] MM: Okay, now about this-- BM: Now then, how, how did you find the cemetery? MM: What was you doing-- FB: Oh-- BM: What was you doing? FB: Well, I--I don' ; t know, I was over there one day haying, I think, and this cemetery was growed up in sprouts and bushes pretty thick, all in it, and I got out in there, I don' ; t remember why, but I did. I got out in the brush. I found this marker, this stone that said Blythe on it. And I looked after some questions about it and found out on the [indecipherable] side of the creek there and my grandfather and grandmother. MM: I thought this was back when--I bet Georgie' ; s (ph) buried there, and Mary (ph). FB: Well that, that' ; s dad' ; s brother. MM: Your dad' ; s brother? FB: Uh-huh. MM: There' ; s two Georgie' ; s! (ph) FB: Oh, there is two there. MM: There' ; s two of them. FB: But I don' ; t know that thing was--it may have been Uncle George' ; s [indecipherable]. They had about three, I think, buried there. MM: [Inaudible.] pause in tape BM: This is Floyd telling as much as he can remember on how Aunt Sis or Mary Jane got her hip broke. FB: Well, the Johns (ph) were on their way to the reunion and she somehow or another, Aunt Sis broke her hip. And they brought her back to the house and left her and went on to the reunion. And that' ; s about all I can say on that. BM: Okay, that' ; s--that' ; s good enough. end of interview audio 0 https://bristoworalhistory.org/ohms/viewer.php?cachefile=OHP-00010-01_Floyd_Blythe.xml OHP-00010-01_Floyd_Blythe.xml
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1600
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Floyd Luther Blythe
Description
An account of the resource
In this 1976 interview, Floyd Luther Blythe (1911-1994) briefly discusses some early family history outside Cato, Missouri.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
OHP-0010-01
Subject
The topic of the resource
Cato
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1989-09-21
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
audio
-
https://bristoworalhistory.org/files/original/af3f7521ef02b10c14ecf1acd9e83a9a.jpg
2f8d03aa1f5fc1487b1e7799d32770ba
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Family Histories
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Oral History
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral accounts of various family histories
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Bristow Historical Society, oral history collection
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview
Robert L. “Bob” McCarty
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed
Ruth Vermont (Hailey) Stumpff
OHMS Object
This field contains the OHMS Hyperlink (link to the XML file within the OHMS
Viewer)
https://bristoworalhistory.org/ohms/viewer.php?cachefile=OHP-0010-02_Ruth_Stumpff.xml
Interview Keyword
This field adds keywords to the Omeka Oral History item type. Keywords are
included in the OHMS XML, this field in Omeka will allow for full data migration
between OHMS XML and the Omeka Record. This field does not impact the
OHMS / Omeka integration and is optional if you do not need to map the
“keywords” field in the OHMS XML to the corresponding Omeka record.
Cato
OHMS Object Text
This field contains the OHMS Index and / or Transcript and is what makes the
contents of the OHMS object searchable in Omeka
5.4 OHP-0010-02 Ruth Vermont (Hailey) Stumpff OHP-00010-02 Bristow Historical Society - Oral History Archive Family Histories Bristow Historical Society, Inc. Family Histories Cato Ruth Vermont (Hailey) Stumpff Robert L. “Bob” McCarty MP3 1:|22(10)|33(3)|44(14)|74(8)|84(6)|96(3)|109(6) 0 https://bristoworalhistory.org/interviews/OHP-0010-02 Stumpff, Ruth Hailey.mp3 Other audio 0 Blythe Family BM: This is a history affair with Mrs. Dewey MM: Her name is-- RS: Well, I think you look like Gary Hall! MM: --Ruth Stumpff. Go on, say Ruth Stumpff. This is Ruth Stumpff. RS: Ruth Hailey Stumpff! (ph) BM: Okay, this is an interview with Ruth Hailey Stumpff (ph) here in Cato, Missouri on the morning of the 20th—21st day of September 1989. Memories of the Blythe family buggy ; Cato, Missouri ; fence ; horse back ; Ruth Stumpff ; William Blythe ; wood fence Blythe ; rail fence 207 Boyfriends, marriage, and children BM: What about, did you flirt with the boys? RS: And count— BM: Did you flirt with the boys? RS: We, we claimed ‘em! BM: Oh, you claimed the boys! Memories of boyfriends and flirting boys ; flirt ; Ozark Hills ; Sam Blythe Boyfriends ; Ozark Hills 349 Mary Jane Wilson MM: What about Aunt Sis (ph)? RS: Oh yeah, I’m—Aunt Sis Wilson, she was a neighbor of ours and she was a tall, hands—tall, beautiful lady and in her elderly days she lived alone right about a mile and a half from us and she—the way I remember her best is when I would kick along to school when I was near the eighth grade, Sis would come along now, what was her other name? Sis, or? Memories of a neighbor, Mary Jane Wilson Absalom Stubblefield ; cuff sleeves ; Sis Wilson Sis Wilson In this 1976 interview, Ruth Vermont (Hailey) Stumpff (1896-1990) briefly discusses the Blythe family history outside Cato, Missouri. BM: This is a history affair with Mrs. Dewey MM: Her name is-- RS: Well, I think you look like Gary Hall! MM: --Ruth Stumpff. Go on, say Ruth Stumpff. This is Ruth Stumpff. RS: Ruth Hailey Stumpff! (ph) BM: Okay, this is an interview with Ruth Hailey Stumpff (ph) here in Cato, Missouri on the morning of the 20th--21st day of September 1989. MM: Seven! BM: Or ' ; 87. We' ; ll get this right, here directly. Now, Ruth, you said that you have some history on William J. Whit Blythe (ph) family. So at this time will you repeat the history that you have for me. RS: Oh, they lived about this--Whit Blythe' ; s (ph) family lived about two miles from my home at Cato, Missouri. Now, then, we were together a lot in those days because families visited then. And the girls and we--how many, let' ; s see, how many were, there were seven--seven of those children who lived with us. Well, so we were together quite often, we had good times. And we were country girls and we knew what the country was like and we liked to do things that the country did, so those girls' ; d come over to our house and we' ; d go down to their house and we had to cross a creek and we' ; d ride a horse back down there or either go in a buggy. And those girls' ; d come up here on horseback. Alright. And we would get out and play and romp around in the woods a little, pastures. And one girl that--we had real fences then, made out of trees that were split--and this one girl, Emma Blythe, could--could jump over a rail fence without ever touching it. That was, that was one of my best things of remembering the Blythe girls, is that she jumped over the fence without touching it. And now then, MM: On that [inaudible] BM: Now then, Mrs. Hailey, what was all those kids' ; names? What was all of Whit Blythe' ; s (ph) kids' ; names to the best that you remember? RS: They were Martha, let' ; s see, Martha, Emma, and Molly May (ph), and Mary Ellen, Charles H. (ph), Laura I. (ph), James Bryce (ph), Carl B. (ph), and Bertha E. (ph). That was the name of the Whit Blythe (ph) family. Now those girls and the Hailey, I was a Hailey before I married [indecipherable], and those girls and we were together just any time, oh, every Sunday or every other Sunday. Or more often than that. So we would go out into the wild woods and enough wildflowers and listen to the birds sing and we had real fences then-- BM: What about, did you flirt with the boys? RS: And count-- BM: Did you flirt with the boys? RS: We, we claimed ' ; em! BM: Oh, you claimed the boys! RS: We just claimed ' ; em. BM: Which one of the Blythe boys was your boyfriend? RS: Cliff. BM: Oh, Cliff. Cliff' ; s a good one. RS: I [indecipherable] about Cliff. BM: Oh, okay. RS: (laughs) And he was my boyfriend and my sister, younger than me, my baby sister, she and Dewey (ph) went together. They were real sweet on each other. And then my sister Celie (ph), older, married Whit Blythe' ; s (ph) brother, Sam Blythe' ; s son, oldest son, Clete (ph) Blythe. So the Blythes and the Haileys are connected. And I now, my sister, Celie (ph) that married the Blythe is dead and her husband Clete (ph) is dead. But they had three children and--two girls and a boy that the girls are yet living, one lives in Haskell (ph), Missouri and her name is Helen Blythe Neely (ph) and the other girl lives in Republic, Missouri close to Springfield and her name is--well--Colleen (ph). I named her Haddock (ph). Colleen Blythe Haddock (ph). She married a Haddock. And I named her Colleen because I had a girlfriend in school that I liked and I called her--I named this girl Colleen. Now then, the two girls are alive and the little boy died in infancy. And now, that' ; s the--Sam Blythe, he' ; s a relative to Whit (ph) Blythe. And now then, Whit Blythe (ph)--these girls and the Hailey girls were all very intimate. We, we loved each other well. And so then they, they finally left the Ozark Hills and went down into Oklahoma country. And now then, I have some of the offspring that are here today in my house in Cato, Missouri and in the house I was born in. And this house here is, is 91 years old and it was built by a Chicago carpenter and it' ; s built like the houses down in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. MM: What about Aunt Sis (ph)? RS: Oh yeah, I' ; m--Aunt Sis Wilson, she was a neighbor of ours and she was a tall, hands--tall, beautiful lady and in her elderly days she lived alone right about a mile and a half from us and she--the way I remember her best is when I would kick along to school when I was near the eighth grade, Sis would come along now, what was her other name? Sis, or? MM: Mary Jane. RS: Or Mary Jane, but her--we kind of named her Sis and I just never did--Sis Wilson. She married a Wilson and she lived there alone and I' ; d meet her on the road and she had on a beautiful dress with cuff sleeves and long sleeves and the way I remember most about her dressing--instead of having buttons down the front of her dress she had just straight pins about an inch apart all along down the front of her dress and that always attracted me. When I think of her I think of those pins. And finally, she died and her son came and got her and took her to Oklahoma and gave her a very wonderful burial--a over $600 burial. And so that' ; s my way of remembering. And then they are tied up with one of our neighbors who was called Absalom (ph) Stubblefield. And this is, this is the record as much as I can tell about the [indecipherable] went to Oklahoma. end interview audio 0 https://bristoworalhistory.org/ohms/viewer.php?cachefile=OHP-0010-02_Ruth_Stumpff.xml OHP-0010-02_Ruth_Stumpff.xml
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6100
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Ruth Vermont (Hailey) Stumpff
Description
An account of the resource
In this 1976 interview, Ruth Vermont (Hailey) Stumpff (1896-1990) briefly discusses the Blythe family history outside Cato, Missouri.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
OHP-00010-02
Subject
The topic of the resource
Family Histories
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1989-09-21
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
audio
-
https://bristoworalhistory.org/files/original/b9b162ca35b379d0a3afc46cbba8606c.png
31a3089548c2c51aa26e93db1d6c1f73
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Family Histories
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Oral History
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral accounts of various family histories
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Bristow Historical Society, oral history collection
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview
Robert L. “Bob” McCarty
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed
Harry Britt McCarty
OHMS Object
This field contains the OHMS Hyperlink (link to the XML file within the OHMS
Viewer)
https://bristoworalhistory.org/ohms/viewer.php?cachefile=OHP-0013-01_Harry_McCarty.xml
Interview Keyword
This field adds keywords to the Omeka Oral History item type. Keywords are
included in the OHMS XML, this field in Omeka will allow for full data migration
between OHMS XML and the Omeka Record. This field does not impact the
OHMS / Omeka integration and is optional if you do not need to map the
“keywords” field in the OHMS XML to the corresponding Omeka record.
genealogy
family
OHMS Object Text
This field contains the OHMS Index and / or Transcript and is what makes the
contents of the OHMS object searchable in Omeka
5.4 OHP-0013-01 Harry Britt McCarty OHP-0013-01 Bristow Historical Society - Oral History Archive Family Histories Bristow Historical Society, Inc. McCarty Family History genealogy family Harry Britt McCarty Robert L. “Bob” McCarty MP3 1:|26(1)|38(8)|59(8)|74(10)|96(12)|109(14)|125(5)|139(7)|170(5)|194(12)|216(2)|240(9)|260(13)|274(8)|283(6)|295(13)|303(13)|319(1)|339(14)|366(2)|380(10)|406(2)|421(6)|443(14)|456(11)|466(2)|489(12)|527(8)|551(7)|562(7)|586(2)|598(11)|606(6) 0 https://bristoworalhistory.org/interviews/OHP-0013-01 McCarty, Harry.mp3 Other audio 0 Locations of McCarty Family Graves BM: This is July 16, 1986 in Harry McCarty’s living room. MM: Okay— BM: Now, Harry, you said a while ago the two girls was buried where? HM: Lola (ph) was buried at Port Acana (ph) and Bea (ph) was buried down there close to Houston in a Catholic cemetery but we didn’t go to the cemetery. Discussion of the locations of McCarty family members graves. Bea ; Bryant Fassmore ; Colorado River ; diptheria ; Harry McCarty ; Lola ; Marble Falls ; Old Man Holloway ; Port Acana ; Sam Holland ; Wash Crosson cemeteries ; graves 285 Family Members and Genealogy MM: Ask him how many of—if he could tell all the names of papa’s half-brothers and -sisters and all them. All of them kids, we’ve heard so many tales of the half-brothers and -sisters and stepbrothers and -sisters and all that, how many of them can you name? HM: [Inaudible] Them Hollands, Uncle Tom Holland was dad’s half-brother. And when he was here I asked him about them other Hollands down there and he said that I thought they was all Grandpa’s Holland’s brothers. He said they was his brothers and half-brothers or something. And I don’t know. Discussion of the Family Genealogy of Harry McCarty Alex ; Bryant McCarty ; Charlie Edwards ; Ferrell Blythe ; Laura ; Port Lavaca ; Tom Holland ; Wiley Thompson family ; genealogy 728 Traveling to Houston for Bea's Funeral HM: [Indecipherable] Flossie (ph) and Paula (ph) and you and me went to La Porte, that’s where they lived, in La Porte, but she was in a funeral home there in Houston. And we went back there the next day, it was foggy and raining. We went down through there and they don’t have water ditches there, they just have kind of bar (ph) ditches, flattened out. And the next morning we went back to that funeral home and if was twenty-four miles, they was twenty-six cars in that, that’d missed that that night in that fog and there wasn’t anybody in ‘em, they was just bogged down out in there and if it was the other way around they was twenty-four miles and twenty-six cars and if it’s twenty-six miles well there’s twenty-four cars, I don’t remember. And we’d went right down between ‘em that night and (laughs) [indecipherable] to the road. Stories of the trip to Houston when Bea died fog light ; Paul Stephens ; travel funeral ; travel 1023 Move to Oklahoma MM: What year did your daddy come out to Oklahoma? HM: Well, he come here in—I guess it was the early part of ’18. MM: What time, when did you come out? Discussion of moving to Oklahoma in 1918 Baker ; Bert Burnett ; Bristow ; Ed Barnfield ; Lawton ; Mina Phipps ; Wichita Falls Moving ; Oklahoma 1100 Family Names ZM: Your mother died in ’68. HM: Yeah. ZM: And Bea (ph) must’ve died about two years before, didn’t she? Discussion of family genealogy Audry Simmons ; Betty Lee ; Betty Simmons ; La Porte ; Marble Falls ; Vivian King family ; genealogy 1342 Old Family Pictures BM: I was gonna say, we’re gonna leave—try to get away about the last of September or the— ZM: This is the key to that [indecipherable]— BM: The last of September or the first of October. HM: That’s Bryant’s (ph) dad. Discussion recorded while looking through family pictures Bea ; Jack Higgins ; Keeg ; Lannow ; Lorreine ; Marble Falls ; Pictures genealogy ; pictures 1688 Butchering a Boar Hog BM: --That was the same day that I had him to come out there and we cut that old boar hog. I went in that morning after him— MM: No that was the next spring. BM: --I went in after him to— Memories of butchering a hog butcher ; hog butcher ; hog 1821 Location of Family Graves ZM: Would you all drink something, coffee or something? BM: Oh, I’d have a cup of coffee, sis. MM: You can turn that off if you want to. pause in recording HM: Marble Falls and buried her there at the Marble Falls but they wasn’t buried together. And Nina (ph), the oldest girl, she—her husband’s buried out there at Toby (ph) and she got it in her head she wanted her mother and dad to be put out there at Toby (ph) and she had them taken up, and they’d been there for a long time. I guess there’s nothing there. But anyhow she— Discussion of location of family graves Marble Falls ; Nina ; Toby gravesites In this 1986 interview, Harry Britt McCarty (1903-1987) discusses the locations of different McCarty family cemeteries in Texas and the names/genealogy and deaths of relatives. BM: This is July 16, 1986 in Harry McCarty' ; s living room. MM: Okay-- BM: Now, Harry, you said a while ago the two girls was buried where? HM: Lola (ph) was buried at Port Acana (ph) and Bea (ph) was buried down there close to Houston in a Catholic cemetery but we didn' ; t go to the cemetery. BM: Do you know-- HM: I don' ; t know the name of it-- BM: Don' ; t even know the name of it? HM: No, I don' ; t. BM: Who could--where could a person find out? HM: I don' ; t know. I don' ; t have any idea. MM: What year was she buried, do you know that? HM: I don' ; t know that either. I don' ; t know [indecipherable] remember. But Lola died when we lived down there at Port Acana (ph) with the diphtheria. And she was the--she was the third one that was ever put in that Port Ac--that cemetery out there. They might' ; ve had another cemetery there around Port Acana (ph) but I didn' ; t know it. And there was a Shell Road run right along down, going down from Evercorn (ph) down toward Port Acana (ph) and there was a gate went into that cemetery right along there and Old Man Holloway (ph) was buried there first, and Bryant Fassmore (ph) was buried there second and she was buried there third. And they took Old Man Holloway (ph) up and sent him back to--I don' ; t know whether he was buried in that Fairland Cemetery (ph) or Toby (ph), over there. And after we left there I never went back to her grave. MM: Where did his grandpa [indecipherable]? Where was-- BM: Do you have any idea where your grandpa was buried? HM: Grandpa who? BM: Grandpa McCarty. HM: No, I don' ; t. BM: Well, I--Grandma Holland, where was she buried at? HM: She' ; s buried there at Toby (ph), I think. I' ; m pretty sure she was. BM: Well there' ; s somebody told me there was something--where I got this I don' ; t know. They said there was also a McCarty Cemetery right around Toby (ph). HM: No, I never did know of any McCarty Cemetery. BM: That the Toby (ph) cemetery was their--this other one, it wasn' ; t even close to--it was close to this Toby (ph) cemetery, alright, but it wasn' ; t right in this Toby (ph) cemetery. HM: I don' ; t think there' ; s anything to that. That Toby (ph) cemetery sat right along like that, and there was a schoolhouse out here, and right off down in this pasture here just a little ways was where the old homeplace was, where dad was raised. BM: Yep. HM: The old Holland place. Grandma Holland--grandma married Sam Holland after dad' ; s father was shot. MM: He lived right there at Toby when grandpa was shot? HM: I don' ; t know where they lived then. I think dad was--I think he said he was eleven years old, I believe. BM: Yeah, six--seven makes five. I believe he said five. I believe I remember hearing him say five. I may be wrong there. MM: I heard him a Corey (ph) talk about it [inaudible]. BM: And I' ; ve always wondered where that he was buried. HM: Well, I don' ; t know that he could' ; ve been buried around that Toby cemetery (ph) if they lived there, I' ; m satisfied they lived around [inaudible]. BM: They had to live right in there-- HM: Somewhere. BM: --in there around Marble Falls or somewhere in that neighborhood, anyway. HM: He' ; s buried there in one of them--well there was a Wash Crosson (ph) cemetery back up on the Colorado River that there was several--I don' ; t know if there' ; s any McCartys ever buried up there but there' ; s several people buried up there. MM: Ask him how many of--if he could tell all the names of papa' ; s half-brothers and -sisters and all them. All of them kids, we' ; ve heard so many tales of the half-brothers and -sisters and stepbrothers and -sisters and all that, how many of them can you name? HM: [Inaudible] Them Hollands, Uncle Tom Holland was dad' ; s half-brother. And when he was here I asked him about them other Hollands down there and he said that I thought they was all Grandpa' ; s Holland' ; s brothers. He said they was his brothers and half-brothers or something. And I don' ; t know. MM: Someone told me, maybe it was Uncle Tom, of all of them, the step-brothers and --sisters and half-brothers and --sisters and all the [indecipherable] there was thirty-five kids in that generation. HM: Well, it could' ; ve been. Had a lot of them Hollands that' ; s scattered around over them hills there that had families that was old enough that I thought that they was Grandpa Holland' ; s brothers. But Uncle Tom said that they was his brothers and half-brothers. MM: Well, now, Grandpa McCarty was married before he married papa' ; s mother. He had kids before them. HM: Yeah. He had, he had Keeg (ph) and Epp (ph). MM: Where did Alvin (ph) come in? HM: And he had Miney (ph) and he had that that I was talking about a while ago, McCourse (ph). BM: Mac horses. HM: Ida, I think was her name. Wasn' ; t there some of them down there at that reunion? BM: No, there wasn' ; t none of this down there so I tried to-- MM: They' ; ve mostly died, so, on that-- BM: --that is the reason I wanted to run this down myself and I can go from there with it. But we intend to take off either about the last of September or the first of October after it goes to cooling down, run this all down, and we' ; re going to try to find a place where it' ; ll be a little bit warmer for winter. HM: Well that, there name was McCourse (ph), and Ida (ph) was a sister to Miney (ph) and Epp (ph) and Keeg (ph) and they was my grandpa' ; s first marriage, I guess. MM: And how many was--papa and Ari (ph) and how many of those kids was there? HM: Well there was just three. MM: Three? HM: Alex (ph) and dad and Ari (ph). MM: Where' ; d Alex (ph) die? HM: I think there around Port Lavaca somewhere. BM: I believe I remember hearing something about this, but I wasn' ; t sure on that. HM: They lived down there when dad and Laura and Ferrell (ph) Blythe out when the calvary went-- BM: Yeah, yeah, I remember hearing them talk going to Port Lavaca to see Keeg (ph) I believe what it was. HM: No, see Alex (ph). BM: Alex (ph)! Yeah, that' ; s the way it was, Alex (ph). MM: Okay, now, did grandma McCarty have a family before her and grandpa married? HM: Yeah. MM: Who did she have? HM: Well, she had--she married (pause) I don' ; t know whether she was married before she married to Thompson but she had Wiley Thompson (ph) and Charlie Edwards' ; (ph) mother, Mary by Thompson, but I don' ; t know what his name was. MM: Do you remember what year Bea (ph) died? BM: Well, I remember hearing about it. HM: He died when we lived out there in the oil field. BM: Yeah. When we lived out there on the hill. MM: About what year? BM: And, see, Bea (ph) and her old man and them two girls come back when you lived out there in the field. ZM: When we lived out there [inaudible]. BM: On the old-- MM: Sunrise. BM: Yeah, Sunrise. They come back-- ZM: First time we went up there, went out there, was in 1930 and ' ; 40, wasn' ; t it? HM: Thirty-nine. ZM: Thirty-nine. Nineteen-and-thirty-nine and forty. Christmas, you know. And come back about New Year' ; s. HM: Yeah, but she hadn' ; t-- ZM: And then we made another trip, we made about three or four trips down to the Port. We went [inaudible]. HM: [Indecipherable] come down there to the house. MM: What was their last name? ZM: Simmons. MM: Simmons? S-I-M-M-O-N-S? ZM: S-I-M-M-O-N-S. We moved up there in [indecipherable] what year, 1940? Yeah. HM: No, we moved up there in ' ; 41. BM: Forty, ' ; 41, somewhere in there, that was when Amelia (ph) was--when Laura Ina (ph) had the first, first-- ZM: Amelia (ph). BM: Amelia (ph), wasn' ; t it? Oh, that big [indecipherable] was rough to carry down them steps-- MM: Forty-four or ' ; 45, isn' ; t that about where Bea (ph) died? BM: --that old hospital. ZM: I don' ; t know, I don' ; t have any idea. HM: Well, let' ; s see. BM: I believe it was later than that. ZM: Yeah, I believe it was, too. BM: It was--I know you were still up here, but it was later than that. ZM: Well was we here when Bea (ph) died? Yeah, yeah, we lived in here when Bea (ph) died. We moved in here in ' ; 67. Might be-- HM: No, we didn' ; t. BM: No, you hadn' ; t moved to town whenever Bea (ph) died. [all talking] HM: We lived out there in the oilfield. BM: You lived out there on oilfield, out there in the oilfield, out there on thirty-three. (pause) But I-- HM: [Indecipherable] Flossie (ph) and Paula (ph) and you and me went to La Porte, that' ; s where they lived, in La Porte, but she was in a funeral home there in Houston. And we went back there the next day, it was foggy and raining. We went down through there and they don' ; t have water ditches there, they just have kind of bar (ph) ditches, flattened out. And the next morning we went back to that funeral home and if was twenty-four miles, they was twenty-six cars in that, that' ; d missed that that night in that fog and there wasn' ; t anybody in ' ; em, they was just bogged down out in there and if it was the other way around they was twenty-four miles and twenty-six cars and if it' ; s twenty-six miles well there' ; s twenty-four cars, I don' ; t remember. And we' ; d went right down between ' ; em that night and (laughs) [indecipherable] to the road. ZM: --he said, Well I wish they' ; d get over there! Said, Right over here in my lane! I wish they' ; d get a four-lane drive! And he was over in the third lane! And he said, I wish they' ; d get over there! And Flossie (ph) said, well, Raymond! Said, Why don' ; t you look where you' ; re driving! Said, Maybe you' ; re in the wrong--maybe you' ; re driving wrong. I' ; m not driving wrong! he said. They' ; re just a' ; crowd, trying to crowd me off! [Inaudible.] HM: Across that--we went through that Columbus and stopped ate supper and I saw a lot of driving then it wasn' ; t quite dark, and I saw some of them cedar bricks afire. It looked like smoke just roll out ahead of you, and then it kind of clear up and then here it' ; d come again. And we got on down there and eat supper in Columbus and went on down and had to cross that Colorado River between there and Houston twice, and boy I never did see--I drove fifty miles an hour that night watching, without a fog light, the car went around it had a fog light, and all I could see was two little lights just (laughs). And I drove fifty miles an hour trying to see where I could see them, and every once in a while you could tell you passed something on the shoulder. And went on down and had to stop and get gasoline and that old boy there running that station, he said, Where' ; d you come from? I told him, and he said, Man I don' ; t see how you made it though that, down through there crossing that river up there, that. He said, I been in there a few times when it was just like it is tonight, and he said, I don' ; t know how you made it without a fog light. ZM: --letters that I had the other day, I could tell you about what-- HM: But we went on down there and we went to the funeral the next day but we didn' ; t go on to the cemetery. But that night went in there to La Porte, I don' ; t know what time it was, it was late. Saw a cab stand there and three or four men standing around it, we didn' ; t know where we was going. And I said, I' ; m gonna ask these guys here at this cab stand if they happen to know Paul Stephens (ph), and went out there and one of them said, Is that the man that lost his wife? And I said, Yeah, I guess it is. And he said, Well, I don' ; t believe I could tell you to where you could find it, but he said, Just follow me and I' ; ll take you down there. It was plum across town, and got down there, why, he turned around and he told us that' ; s where it was. And I got out and went out there and I said, How much I owe you? He said, You don' ; t owe me anything. I said, Well I don' ; t want you to do it for nothing, I said, I want you, I' ; m gonna give you something. He said, Well, it won' ; t be anything, it' ; d just be the cab fare for coming down here, and he didn' ; t want to take that. Wasn' ; t much, I don' ; t know what it was, it wasn' ; t much and I thought that was pretty nice of him. BM: Yeah, it was. MM: What year did your daddy come out to Oklahoma? HM: Well, he come here in--I guess it was the early part of ' ; 18. MM: What time, when did you come out? HM: I come later on. I come in the fall. September. And he had worked over there at Lawton, and we was over at Wichita Falls, Bert Burnett (ph), and I went back and lived with grandma Holland for a while. And he come on out here--he started to Wyoming, and that Mina Phipps (ph), his half-sister, was living down there below Bristow. He hadn' ; t seen her in a long time and he was up there to see her. And they talked him into the notion of staying. He went to work for Ed Barnfield (ph) out there on the old Baker place and worked for him a while, then he went to work for Baker, then he rented the place. ZM: Your mother died in ' ; 68. HM: Yeah. ZM: And Bea (ph) must' ; ve died about two years before, didn' ; t she? BM: That' ; s what I was thinking. I thought--it was just before I bought that place out there, or right about the same time I bought that place out there. HM: Well, I don' ; t think Bea (ph) died after we moved in here. I know she didn' ; t. ZM: No, I know she didn' ; t either, because I-- HM: We moved in here in ' ; 57. ZM: --I couldn' ; t hardly make up my mind whether I wanted to go or not and right at the last I did, and we went up by the mailbox and we found the letter from someone, I don' ; t know who it was from, that Bea (ph) was real bad, and we went on down there-- HM: Went on to Marble Falls. ZM: And stayed all night, and you and Red (ph) got up the next morning and called Houston, went down and called Houston and-- HM: Called La Porte. ZM: She was just as bad as she could be, they said. And we decided we' ; d go on down there but she was gone when we got there. MM: What was her kids names? ZM: Betty and Vivian and [inaudible]. MM: All girls. ZM: Uh-huh. MM: Do you know their names now? ZM: Well, Betty' ; s is Simmons (ph), and-- HM: Betty' ; s is what? ZM: Simmons (ph)? No, not Simmons (ph). Her maiden name was Simmons. I don' ; t know, maybe it' ; s in here. I forgot all of their names so maybe it' ; s in here. Mack (ph) is--Mack (ph) Betty' ; s husband' ; s name [inaudible]. BM: Their daughter killed herself. MM: Wow. BM: Betty' ; s and Mack (ph). ZM: I don' ; t know. I' ; ve got the others here, Vivian [inaudible]. BM: Well, her name is not what it was then. ZM: [Inaudible.] MM: What about [inaudible]. ZM: Betty Lee and Vivian King (ph) and Audrey Lola Simmons. That was before they was married. This is her picture. Betty, Vivian, and Audrey, this was ' ; 44. HM: Aubrey Simmons (ph) and Bea (ph) separated and she married Paul Stephens (ph), wasn' ; t it? MM: Her name, then, when she died was Stephens (ph). HM: I never did see him but one time, that fall. ZM: Yeah, when she died it was Stephens. HM: I saw him, we went to Austin. ZM: There' ; s Betty--uh, Bea, and that' ; s her three girls and that' ; s her. MM: Ain' ; t nothing worse than picking up a tape you' ; ve made [indecipherable] date and where we at and say, We were somewhere and sometime we made this tape. (laughs) We make-- ZM: [Inaudible.] These are just pictures. BM: I was gonna say, we' ; re gonna leave--try to get away about the last of September or the-- ZM: This is the key to that [indecipherable]-- BM: The last of September or the first of October. HM: That' ; s Bryant' ; s (ph) dad. BM: Yeah. HM: And mother. BM: I think--I know, I think Valerie got one of these. Pretty sure she does have. Well I' ; ve seen this one before. ZM: You have. HM: Well, you' ; ve seen them too, I think. BM: Yeah, I' ; ve seen--I remember Bea. HM: I mean, Uncle Keeg (ph) and-- BM: Yeah, yeah. HM: They come to Bryant' ; s (ph) when we lived up there on the [indecipherable] up there. BM: Now, Keeg (ph) and them should be in there somewhere, buried in there somewhere around Marble Falls. HM: I think they, they lived up there around Lannow (ph). BM: Lannow (ph) and Marble Falls, in there some dang place. HM: I imagine, I' ; d have to imagine they was buried around Lannow (ph). They lived up in there for, for quite a while. Well, the last two times we went to seem them they lived up in there. And I don' ; t know--they could' ; ve been brought back down there to Toby (ph), that' ; s where he was raised. BM: Well, that-- ZM: This picture was taken when you and her were--Lorreine (ph) went, and I was sick and didn' ; t get to go in to my favorite [indecipherable] and Lorreine (ph), and this picture was made in March 1955. It' ; s you all at your momma' ; s. That was before Bea (ph) died, I' ; m sure it was. HM: I don' ; t know. We left out there in ' ; 57, I know that. And I think Bea (ph) died--Herbert and Lorreine (ph) lived over there on that hill there from Jack Higgins' ; (ph) because of Audrey (ph) and Neely (ph) lived over in Tulsa and they found out about Bea (ph) faster than we did, and they called Herbert to find out if any of us was a' ; going, they wanted them girls to go. And we had already gone. But we didn' ; t know she was dead. Well, she wasn' ; t dead, I don' ; t guess then, when we left. And Herbert and Lorreine (ph) left off of that hill there and went to New Mexico. Right over in New Mexico, and lived out there for a good while after that. MM: That' ; s a good picture of [inaudible]. ZM: Yeah. [Inaudible.] (talking in background, inaudible) ZM: --Sixty-one, was it? HM: Yeah. BM: I was thinking it was ' ; 60, but it was ' ; 61. HM: It was ' ; 61. BM: ' ; 61. MM: Yeah, he died in May. Buddy died one May and he died the last day of April--I don' ; t know if it was March or April the next year. BM: Yeah. April the next year. MM: I know that he come out there when Buddy-- ZM: This was taken was on Easter Sunday and we was out at Herbert' ; s. And mother was there and she had, she told me several times after, after dad passed away, I wanted my picture taken with him, with dad, and I said why didn' ; t you tell us? She said, Oh, I don' ; t know, I didn' ; t know whether Laura would like it or not. BM: Doesn' ; t make a damn bit of difference anyways. (laughs) make a damn bit of difference! ZM: --near the same age, she said, and she sure just--she told me that I don' ; t know how many times, I wanted my picture taken with Frank. MM: Well, we got a big picture of him on a horse just about a year before he died. We had one-- BM: Did you get one of them? MM: My sister took a snapshot HM? Hmm? BM: Of dad on that horse. HM: No. BM: Just, oh, probably-- MM: --took a snapshot and the boy went across it and-- BM: --oh, I think it was November. HM: Mmm-hmm. BM: I think it was November. MM: I know it was the summer Buddy was killed. BM: Well it was after Buddy was killed. He' ; d had--it was cold. MM: Anyway, my sister had this, one of them little pictures just something, and Loyd (ph) blowed it up like that and [indecipherable] and hang on the wall. BM: It was cold, but--it was cold enough that it' ; s the same day that-- MM: That' ; s what you ought to do with them four generations, have it blowed up. BM: --That was the same day that I had him to come out there and we cut that old boar hog. I went in that morning after him-- MM: No that was the next spring. BM: --I went in after him to-- MM: [Inaudible.] BM: No. MM: I know it wasn' ; t in the fall. BM: It was in the fall. I went in after him to see how he felt and I said, How you feel dad, and he said, Oh I don' ; t feel very good. MM: I think ' ; cause that hog [indecipherable]. BM: Well, I got to cut that old boar hog, go to getting everybody so I can knock him down. He said, Son I' ; ll go out with you but I just don' ; t know whether I can do anything with him or not. Well, come on, you tell me what--you just stand back and tell me what to do and I' ; ll do the rest. ZM: You' ; s a cutting, huh? BM: Man, well, I can do that. I got out there and got that old boar hog all stretched out and come over in that pen. He said, Go and let me do that. I think my knife is pretty sharp, let me do that. (laughs) He felt of his knife a little bit, Well, now, I believe it needs to be whitted (ph) just a little bit. Okay. He whitted (ph) his knife up a little bit. I still had that old hog stretched out. Well he got one of ' ; em out and he just throwed it over the fence and said, Well somebody sure make some good dinner. MM: Have a hog [inaudible]. BM: Went back after the other, got the other one, went over to pick the first one up and the old dog had done run off with it. Damned old bitches, run off with my dinner now I' ; ll just give you both of ' ; em. MM: [Inaudible.] ZM: Would you all drink something, coffee or something? BM: Oh, I' ; d have a cup of coffee, sis. MM: You can turn that off if you want to. pause in recording HM: Marble Falls and buried her there at the Marble Falls but they wasn' ; t buried together. And Nina (ph), the oldest girl, she--her husband' ; s buried out there at Toby (ph) and she got it in her head she wanted her mother and dad to be put out there at Toby (ph) and she had them taken up, and they' ; d been there for a long time. I guess there' ; s nothing there. But anyhow she-- BM: She moved ' ; em out to Toby. HM: Out to Toby and buried them out there side by side and they was separated, and one of them was buried in one part of the cemetery there at Marble Falls and another in another part. She put ' ; em side by side up out there in Toby but there wasn' ; t nothing to it, I don' ; t guess, anything much left. They' ; d been buried so long. Anyhow, but-- BM: There' ; d be a few bones but that' ; d be about it. Doubt whether there' ; d be that or not. HM: I don' ; t--she had a gold band ring and they left it on her when she was buried. And I don' ; t know what part was left of her or anything about it, but Red told me that Nina (ph) said that they couldn' ; t find that ring. She made that old boy keep a' ; digging in there until he did find it. That, that looked like foolishness to me. But one thing she did do, my mother' ; s father was named Britt (ph). And he was buried way off down in that Colorado River somewhere down there in a cemetery, I don' ; t know what the name of it was. He didn' ; t have any tombstone and she went off down there after John died and looked his grave, found where he was buried and she put a tombstone to his grave. And he' ; d been dead for no telling how long. (talking in background) end of recording audio 0 https://bristoworalhistory.org/ohms/viewer.php?cachefile=OHP-0013-01_Harry_McCarty.xml OHP-0013-01_Harry_McCarty.xml
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Harry Britt McCarty
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In this 1986 interview, Harry Britt McCarty (1903-1987) discusses the locations of different McCarty family cemeteries in Texas and the names/genealogy and deaths of relatives.
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OHP-0013-01
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McCarty Family History
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1986-07-16
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audio
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Family Histories
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Oral History
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Oral accounts of various family histories
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Bristow Historical Society, oral history collection
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Robert L. “Bob” McCarty
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Anderson Bigpond
Elwood Bigpond
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Pinehill
cemeteries
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5.4 OHP-0014-01 Anderson and Elwood Bigpond OHP-0014-01 Bristow Historical Society - Oral History Archive Family Histories Bristow Historical Society, Inc. Family Histories Pinehill cemeteries Anderson Bigpond Elwood Bigpond Robert L. “Bob” McCarty MP3 1:|13(4)|51(6)|87(2)|108(9)|117(11)|141(9)|174(1)|199(13)|228(11)|269(3)|302(8)|319(11)|350(2)|377(14)|395(8)|434(16)|463(3)|480(1)|501(11)|531(11)|559(10)|585(7)|606(1)|619(9)|632(3)|660(1)|669(11)|702(5)|741(9)|750(1)|755(6)|781(9)|797(11)|808(1)|854(3)|868(8)|896(7)|906(2)|939(8)|955(10)|983(7)|1014(9)|1050(8)|1082(2) 0 https://bristoworalhistory.org/interviews/OHP-0014-01 Bigpond, Elwood & ; Anderson.mp3 Other audio 0 Elwood Bigpond Family Plot BM: (tape recording fumbling sounds) Now we’ll start all over again. This is an interview with Anderson Bigpond and Elwood Bigpond on the family cemeteries that they know about as well as any other cemeteries that they might know about here in Creek County. Okay, Mr. Bigpond was telling about where your father was buried. That is over about two miles east and about a quarter to a half a mile north of the Mills Chapel schoolhouse. Is that right? EB: Ehh, let’s see— BM: Right there by Little Deep Fork Creek—on the south side of Little Deep Fork Creek but it’d be on the east side of that road. [refers to map] Discussion of the location of the Elwood Bigpond Family Plot Anderson Bigpond ; Bigpond Family Cemetery ; Clinton Cemetery ; Dub Bolin ; Elwood Bigpond ; Elwood Bigpond Family Plot ; Elwood Family Plot ; family burial plot ; Little Deep Fork Creek ; Mills Chapel Schoolhouse cemeteries ; family 243 Kellyville Area Cemeteries AB: Now, how about the one north of you, where grandma lived, on the east there? Several graves in [indecipherable]? EB: Two babies there. Two babies there but that’s—that’s been sold, too. Discussion of cemeteries located near Kellyville, Oklahoma Amos Felix ; Indian Nations Council ; Kellyville ; Kenny Felix ; Little Bucktrot ; Pat Barnett ; Winnie Cahwey cemeteries ; Kellyville 414 Geneaology Society of Bristow BM: Well alright, I’ll probably—when we get this done, they’re talking about they want me to take Okfuskee and also Okmulgee County and do the same thing with a bunch in there. UM: Yeah. There’s also one in Seminole County. BM: Yeah? We have found eighty-five here in the Creek County area. Discussion of the how and why they began the project of locating the cemeteries. Bigpond Family Cemetery ; Cawhey Cemetery ; Depew ; Gene Connolly ; Geneaology Society of Bristow ; Ofuskee County ; Okmulgee County ; Seminole County cemetery ; Creek County ; Genealogy Society of Bristow 573 Barnett Family Cemetery AB: Now, Jack Tiger—what was, don’t they have a— EB: Jack Tiger’s buried south of Depew kind of off in the woods there somewhere. It’s an old cemetery right in there. BM: South of Depew? EB: Yeah. BM: Okay, how far south? Discussion of the location of the Barnett Family Cemetery Barnett Cemetery ; Barnett Family Cemetery ; Jack Tiger ; Jake Barnett ; Lodie Barnett ; Lodie Tiger ; Patsy Barnett ; Patti Tiger ; William Barnett Barnett Family Cemetery 818 Poor Farm Cemetery AB: Now I’ve got one here I’d like to ask you about. BM: Alright. AB: Since I, I usually save all these all the time. Okay. Now— [papers rustling] BM: Robert Biggs! Discussion of the Poor Farm Cemetery near Bristow Barney Harjo ; Bristow ; Bristow Cemetery ; Bristow City Cemetery ; Deep Rock Camp ; Oakcrest ; Oakcrest Memorial Park ; pauper's cemetery ; Poor Farm Cemetery ; Robert Biggs Poor Farm Cemetery 926 Magnolia Cemetery Lease BM: All them little crosses there. Now just up about 200, two- or three-hundred yards right west of that on the south side of the road, in them trees, there is another cemetery. EB: I’ve been by there but I wouldn’t know. Discussion of Magnolia Cemetery and an old lease agreement Bristow ; Harjo ; Magnolia Cemetery ; Oakcrest Memorial ; Ron Schumaker ; Roy Dunaway lease ; Magnolia Cemetery 1150 Oak Hill and Bristow Cemetery BM: Wait a min-- Oak Hill. Okay now, we’ve got—I don’t know whether you knew it—know it or not, now that would be out there at this new—that’d be out the new cemetery. Now there in Bristow they’ve got another cemetery that was the original Bristow cemetery. I didn’t know whether you knew that or not. AB: No. BM: Now they, they’ve got another one, you go out east of Bristow on sixteen -- AB: Yeah. BM: And you start down the hill there to cross Sand Creek? Discussion of the Oak Hill and the original Bristow Cemetery Arthur Foster ; Bristow Cemetery ; Foster Cemetery ; Oak Hill ; Sand Creek Bristow Cemetery ; Oak Hill 1341 Pinehill Cemetery AB: What did, did, oh—Pinehill. Did they have a cemetery? BM: Yep. Sure did. EB: Yeah, they cut one. BM: They built one a way up here. And Sally Pinehill, she’s buried way south of the old, the original. The one—the original cemetery, it’s right up on the bank of Polecat. Remember where Pinehill schoolhouse used to be? Discussion of Pinehill Cemetery Cemetery ; Pinehill ; Pinehill Schoolhouse ; Polecat ; Sally Pinehill Pinehill Cemetery 1426 Watashe Cemetery BM: They buried her back south of there about a quarter to a half a mile up on the side of the hill on her allotment up there. And you got the old Artie (ph) Skeeters (ph)--Artie Mosquito, do you remember him? Then you’ve got the old Artie (ph) Mosquito cemetery back over there on Mosquito Creek. pause Okay, now then, there’s another question that been a’rubbin’ me: I was called late yesterday evening about a cemetery. You go to Kellyville, go west out of Kellyville, to the first road that goes north. And that road goes all the way through to 33 Highway up there, and you come out up there at Bluebell. When you turn north up there—it’s just about a mile north, just before you cross the turnpike up there. On the west side of the road there’s supposed to be a cemetery sitting in there behind—according to this party that called me—there’s supposed to be a cemetery in there. There’s five or six graves in it. Do you know any of this? EB: You get more information on that if you just talk to Joe Watashe right in there, he-- BM: Okay. Alright. Well now see, Watashe’s got on up the road, on up the road, then, to the next mile section. Discussion of the Watashe Cemetery Artie Mosquito ; Bluebell ; Joe Watashe ; Kelly ; Kellyville ; Watashe Cemetery Watashe Cemetery 1644 Harry Cemetery EB: The only one I know was buried in there in the cemetery’d be Ed Harry. AB: Oh! You got—have you got the Harry Cemetery? BM: Alright, would that be it? AB: You go up here to the three mile— BM: Three miles? AB: Let’s see, let’s see—be two miles out of town back off in this Deep Fork ridge. BM: Yeah. Discussion of the Harry Cemetery Deep Fork Ridge ; Eddie Harry ; Harry Cemetery Harry Cemetery 1902 Haydeville and Knight Cemeteries BM: --but you have any idea what that cemetery would be? EB: No, I don’t. (rooster crows) BM: That would be this one right here. [refers to map] EB: Is it pretty close to the railroad? BM: Yeah, it would be north of the railroad. Brief discussion of the locations of the Haydenville and Knight cemeteries Haydenville ; Jim Bigpond ; Knight ; Tuskegee School Haydenville Cemetery ; Knight Cemetery 2094 Bear Cemetery AB: Now where’s the Bear cemetery out there? BM: Bear? AB: Yeah. BM: Okay, I’ll tell you in a minute. [refers to map] EB: I saw them over here. Discussion of Bear Cemetery Bear Cemetery ; Juedeman ; Roley Bear ; Tuskegee Bear Cemetery 2213 Clarence and Teddy Brown BM: Anything else you can think of? AB: Now, Clarence—Clarence Brown, they have a cemetery there. BM: Okay, now we’ve got, we’ve got a Brown. Another Brown. We’ve got a Brown here somewhere. [refers to map] Yeah, Teddy Brown. Old man Brown and we’ve got a Teddy Brown. Now, this is where names are a gift to me: seventy-three and seventy-six. Seventy-three and seventy-six. That’d be right in here. [refers to map] Seventy-three—(pause) and I don’t—we’ve got Brown there but that’s not right. Brown or Long over there south, Cawhey’s (ph) in there, there’s another one here. Brief discussion of Clarence and Teddy Brown Clarence Brown ; Gypsy ; Teddy Brown Clarence Brown ; Teddy Brown 2338 Madison Bucktrot and the Lane Cemetery BM: Okay, then, seventy-seven, it’s back over here right west of Iron Post. That’s the old Mason Bucktrot. AB: Madison Bucktrot. BM: Madison Bucktrot. And is that right? EB: They got, they got their own cemetery. Discussion of the Bucktrot family cemetery and the Lane Cemetery Cling ; Edna ; Madison Bucktrot ; The Lane Cemetery ; Tuskegee Madison Bucktrot 2489 McNac Cemetery and Harlinsville Cemetery BM: Now, eighty-three, now let’s see, where’s eighty-three at. [refers to map] Now eighty-three, now we’ll come back in here, that’s the Clinton cemetery, out east of town out here. Eighty-four, then, is the family cemetery. Eighty-five, then, is yours. EB: Mmm-hmm. BM: Eighty-six is Knight. EB: Wally (ph) Knight? Discussion of the McNac Cemetery and Harlinsville Cemetery Amos McNac ; Harlinsville Cemetery ; McNac Cemetery ; Wally Knight Harlinsville Cemetery ; McNac Cemetery In this 1977 interview, Anderson Bigpond and Elwood Bigpond work with the interviewer to pinpoint the names and specific locations of various family burial plots and Indian cemeteries in Creek County, Oklahoma. BM: (tape recording fumbling sounds) Now we' ; ll start all over again. This is an interview with Anderson Bigpond and Elwood Bigpond on the family cemeteries that they know about as well as any other cemeteries that they might know about here in Creek County. Okay, Mr. Bigpond was telling about where your father was buried. That is over about two miles east and about a quarter to a half a mile north of the Mills Chapel schoolhouse. Is that right? EB: Ehh, let' ; s see-- BM: Right there by Little Deep Fork Creek--on the south side of Little Deep Fork Creek but it' ; d be on the east side of that road. [refers to map] EB: I don' ; t believe that' ; s two mile, I believe that' ; s a mile (coughs) coming from Mills Chapel, you come to the corner there-- BM: Come down, so that' ; s two miles over there. EB: Huh. BM: That' ; d be--well that' ; d be a mile, actually, a mile over there. EB: And where you turn in there to go-- BM: And the road goes north-- EB: --to Dub Bolin, that would' ; ve been a mile. BM: --yep, right. A mile, okay, a mile. Okay, a mile. EB: About a mile and-- BM: That' ; s right. You' ; re right. EB: About a mile and-- BM: About a mile and a half it looks like. EB: About a mile and a half, yeah. BM: Okay. Then north up to just before you get to Little Deep Fork Creek, then on the east side of that road, is that right? EB: Yeah. BM: Okay. Now then, the Clinton Cemetery, that would be called the Clinton Cemetery. EB: Yeah. BM: Okay. EB: As far as I know that' ; s what' ; s it' ; s-- BM: As far as you know. EB: Yeah. BM: Okay, then the Bigpond Family Cemetery then, would be five miles east, a mile south-- AB: About a mile and a quarter. EB: About a mile and a quarter. BM: About a mile and a quarter south-- EB: Yeah. BM: And east about a quarter of a mile. AB: Yes. BM: Is that right? AB: That' ; s right, about a quarter of a mile. BM: Now we got that marked as Bigpond Family Cemetery." ; (pause) Alright, is there any of the--we were talking earlier about these, these babies that' ; s buried out here. Do you want to put them on here? Or do we want to let them go? I' ; m going to leave that strictly up to you. EB: It' ; s not a cemetery but I don' ; t know if they could-- BM: It' ; s a family burial plot, isn' ; t it? AB: Yeah. EB: Yeah. BM: It would be a family burial plot. EB: Mmm. BM: So we' ; re gonna mark this with a marker-- EB: That little baby here was, it died at birth. BM: Okay. What we' ; ll do with this one, then, we' ; ll mark this one over here E-L-W-O-O-D Family Plot. [marks map] That would be this one right out here. EB: Yeah. BM: Okay, we' ; ll call that one eighty-five and we' ; ll mark that one right there eighty-five. [marks map] Well that' ; s--we' ; ll call that the Elwood Bigpond Family Plot. Okay, anything else that you can think of? EB: No, I believe I don' ; t. AB: Now, how about the one north of you, where grandma lived, on the east there? Several graves in [indecipherable]? EB: Two babies there. Two babies there but that' ; s--that' ; s been sold, too. BM: Now, it don' ; t make any difference about it being sold if there' ; s two babies there. It' ; s a family plot and as I say, what is got me stirred up on this thing and got me t' ; d off--I' ; ve run into one back over east of Kellyville over here, right there was a--it was a large graveyard and it was called the Bucktrot. Little Bucktrot. Over here east of Kellyville that the old boy' ; d just taken a bulldozer-- EB: Huh. BM: --bulldozered all down, just pile the stones and everything up, went in and planted a garden on top of it. That burnt me up. AB: That' ; s not in there where-- BM: Now the Indian Nations Council, they' ; ve got a report of this as well as two attorneys here in Bristow and they say that they can be something done about that. EB: Yeah. (rooster crowing) BM: That a burial ground, regardless of where it is or what it is, is a sacred. If it' ; s one or if it' ; s 100, it' ; s still sacred ground. (rooster crowing) EB: That must' ; ve been Cunja (ph) Bucktrot' ; s place north, kind of north of-- BM: Well it--go east out of Kellyville-- EB: East. BM: East out--straight east get out of Kellyville out there, back out there on the hill. About a mile, mile and a half, mile east of Kellyville out there and then back south down there. I heard this from fellow by the name of Felix. (rooster crowing) EB: Kenny (ph) Felix. BM: I believe his name was Osc-Amos. Amos. EB: Amos. BM: Amos Felix. AB: Yeah, we know him. BM: Amos was telling me about this and I ran it down, and shore enough that' ; s what' ; s happening. (rooster crowing) AB: This is not the cemetery that--what was their, Winnie Cahwey (ph) and--Winnie Cahwey (ph) and Pat Barnett, you know, they were always feuding over a cemetery up there that her grandfather Osa (ph) had plowed it up or something like that. EB: This was out in a few minutes ago. AB: Plowed it up and-- EB: Was trying to find the cemetery. BM: You know anything? UM: Not around this part [inaudible]. BM: Well alright, I' ; ll probably--when we get this done, they' ; re talking about they want me to take Okfuskee and also Okmulgee County and do the same thing with a bunch in there. UM: Yeah. There' ; s also one in Seminole County. BM: Yeah? We have found eighty-five here in the Creek County area. UM: Well there' ; s a bunch of them that-- BM: And it doesn' ; t make any difference whether it' ; s a white cemetery, colored cemetery, Indian cemetery, family burial plot, or what. UM: Mmm-hmm. AB: Do you work for the Creek Nation? Or just working for-- BM: This is just for myself. AB: Oh, I see. BM: This is for myself. So we' ; re the Genealogy Society of Bristow. AB: Yeah. Well I thought that' ; s what I read it in the paper and then-- BM: Genealogist Society in Bristow, they appointed me and the wife to run this all down and when we get this all run down it' ; ll be put on a computer form. With the names of the cemetery and roughly how it' ; s laid out, if it' ; s taken care of, if it' ; s got a fence around it, roughly how many graves is in it, the whole works. UM: Gonna take a while isn' ; t it? (chuckles) BM: Well, you' ; d be surprised, I' ; ve already come up with eighty-five. UM: Yeah. BM: Here in Creek County. And I' ; ve been just damned near to all of them. UM: Yeah. BM: All but just this--this one back off over here that I found out about this morning, where his [Elwood' ; s] dad was buried. I didn' ; t know anything about that one. UM: Yeah. BM: And I didn' ; t know anything about the family Bigpond--Bigpond Family Cemetery. I didn' ; t know anything about that. UM: Yeah. BM: I heard about it yesterday evening but I didn' ; t--I didn' ; t know anything about it. UM: Hmm. BM: Gene Connolly' ; s (ph) wife was telling me about this here [indecipherable]. And, well, there' ; s not but one thing for me to do. UM: [inaudible] BM: (chuckles) No, I just go run down the man that--go down and run down the man with the plan. EB: You know, this fellow, this Bigpond--there is a Bigpond Cemetery in Depew. BM: Yeah, that' ; s off over here. [refers to map] EB: Yeah. BM: That' ; s way off over here. And there' ; s also a Cawhey (ph) over there. EB: Yeah. AB: Yeah. BM: There' ; s Cawhey (ph) Cemetery over there as well as a Bigpond Cemetery over there. EB: I believe they' ; re together in there. BM: Well, they' ; re right there close together, just maybe [indecipherable] apart. They' ; re all right there together. AB: Now, Jack Tiger--what was, don' ; t they have a-- EB: Jack Tiger' ; s buried south of Depew kind of off in the woods there somewhere. It' ; s an old cemetery right in there. BM: South of Depew? EB: Yeah. BM: Okay, how far south? EB: Well, let' ; s see. BM: I don' ; t want you to go, getting' ; you all upset now, why don' ; t you just relax. (all chuckling) I want you to relax. AB: Now, I know, you could--now there' ; s a girl, woman, lives over there. She' ; s married to Jake Barnett. Now they live in Depew. BM: No, I heard about them Barnetts live out here north of town. AB: Well, that' ; s some of the same family. BM: Yes. AB: But they live in Depew. Now that' ; s--Jack Tiger was her dad, wasn' ; t it? Jake' ; s wife. EB: Patti? AB: Yeah. EB: Patti and-- AB: What' ; s Jake' ; s wife' ; s name? EB: Patti and Jack Tiger. AB: Is it Lodie Tiger? BM: Otey? AB: Lodie. Lodie Tiger. BM: Lodie. AB: But it' ; s Lodie Barnett now. She' ; s married to Jake Barnett. And they live south of Depew, not maybe about a mile south of Depew. EB: That makes the cemetery on their place. AB: Yeah, well, now, see, this is Barnett Cemetery I was telling you-- UM: [aside] I' ; ll be back here after while. EB: [aside] Okay. AB: --Barnett Cemetery I was telling you about last night. [refers to map] BM: Yeah. AB: See, this is Barnett Family Cemetery. Now, Patsy Ruth Barnett, she was married to William Barnett. Now, this Cawhey (ph) and Pat (ph) were always kind of at odds with one another. And when--Pat told me, said the feud has lasted for a number of years on account of her grandfather had plowed up Mrs. Cawhey' ; s (ph) grandfather, or something like that there. But I was wondering when you' ; s telling about this over there at Kellyville that someone went in and dozed. And I just wondered if that' ; s the same place or not. BM: No, this one' ; s over there south of Kellyville. This one over here, then, would be over here about a mile south, you said, about a mile south of Depew? AB: Well, you can locate-- BM: This one here. [refers to map] AB: You can locate-- BM: This one here. AB: Well, I' ; ve been back in there now. I' ; m not too for sure. But you could contact-- EB: Lodie. She' ; ll tell you about that, sure. BM: Lodie? AB: Lodie. Jack Tiger, where Jack Tiger' ; s buried in that cemetery. Now I don' ; t know the name of it. But Lodie Tiger--Lodie Tiger Barnett, could--she lives there and she could probably tell you more about that. EB: Now, they tell me that a rancher bought that place and he--I don' ; t know whether he plowed anything or not but he' ; s pasturing it, pasturing it over there. BM: Why that' ; s--of course, pasturing it, that' ; s not gonna hurt it or anything. Go in there and go to throwing them damn claw down that deep, why, a lot of them graves that--Lord, they' ; s supposed to be four to six feet deep but now, you know as well as I do that, that there' ; s some places here in this part of the country there' ; s no way that you' ; re gonna dig four to six feet deep. AB: Yeah. BM: So there' ; s gonna be a lot of ' ; em it wouldn' ; t be over two feet deep. The equipment they' ; ve got now a' ; days, well it' ; s nothing for ' ; em to plow six--plow two feet deep. Or scratch two feet deep. AB: Now I' ; ve got one here I' ; d like to ask you about. BM: Alright. AB: Since I, I usually save all these all the time. Okay. Now-- [papers rustling] BM: Robert Biggs! AB: Robert Biggs, now he was buried in Oakcrest Memorial Park, is that the same as the Bristow cemetery? BM: That would be the Bristow cemetery. AB: Well, you see why I was wondering about it [rooster caws] see I got one on Barney (ph) Harjo, now he' ; s related to the Harjos live north of town so if it' ; s Bristow City Cemetery [rooster caws] so I-- BM: Well, see, that' ; d be that Oakcrest, that would be the same thing. (pause) Now I think that' ; s right but now I wouldn' ; t say definitely sure. AB: (chuckles) BM: Now the reason I' ; m saying that is this: Now out here west of Bristow, stop and think a minute now, and you too, Anderson. Out here west of Bristow, now you know, they had the old Poor Farm cemetery, or pauper' ; s cemetery, whichever one you want to call it, had them little crosses, sitting right there beside the road. AB: Yeah. BM: Alright, now right just up on the hill there, on the south side of sixty-six, now there is a graveyard there. But I have not been able to get any name on it. AB: I think I know where you' ; re talking about but I don' ; t know too much about that. BM: I don' ; t either! I can' ; t run anybody down that' ; s got a name on it. AB: You know out west of Bristow-- BM: Out there where that Deep Rock camp is out there west of Bristow? AB: Yeah. EB: What they used to call the Poor Farm? BM: Yeah, the Poor Farm. AB: Yeah. BM: Alright, the Poor Farm graveyard is right down there beside the highway. They' ; ve got some little crosses in there on it. AB: Just right on that-- BM: Right on the north side of the highway. AB: North side. And all them little crosses there. BM: All them little crosses there. Now just up about 200, two- or three-hundred yards right west of that on the south side of the road, in them trees, there is another cemetery. EB: I' ; ve been by there but I wouldn' ; t know. BM: But I would say that this here [refers to map], I would say that' ; s what this is right here. But I will check this out and make sure. AB: You think it' ; s the Bristow cemetery? BM: Oakcrest Memorial. AB: Now I got loooots of this stuff so I don' ; t have to be guessing, I can tell you for sure (chuckles) BM: I' ; ll check this out and see where that Oakcrest is. And if it, if it is the old Bristow Cemetery, then it' ; s out there by the armory. AB: Mmm-hmm, yeah. I--since I was leafing some, going through some of these, I just kind of, well I know we got the Magnolia Cemetery and stuff like that. BM: Oh, and 44, we' ; ve got the 44 out there, we got the Magnolia. AB: Yeah. BM: Really and truly that could be Harjo out there instead of Magnolia. But Roy Dunaway, when he put that thing in, he just got a hundred-year lease on it, he couldn' ; t buy the land, he got a hundred-year lease on it and placed that cemetery there and that man has got rich on those graves. AB: Yeah. BM: Just on leased land. Well when that hundred year' ; s up, now, here' ; s the sixty-four-dollar question: Will the Harjo family renew the hundred-year lease? Will the Harjo family? AB: But they never did buy that? They just got a hundred-year lease? BM: They just got a hundred-year lease on it! AB: Huh. That' ; s interesting, ain' ; t it? EB: What cemetery' ; s that? BM: That' ; s that Magnolia. That' ; s that one north of town. AB: They, they never did buy that. They just leased it for a hundred years, which I never, I didn' ; t know. BM: Now Roy Dunaway told me this himself before he died. And Roy and I was pretty close there at one time. And he told me when he first went to laying that thing out, goddamn Roy, you' ; re, you' ; re really sticking your neck out, ain' ; t you buddy? And, oh, he said, I got a hundred-year lease on it for two dollars a year and I don' ; t think I' ; m sticking my neck out very far, I said, No, I don' ; t believe you are, either. AB: But it' ; s gonna complicate things in the future. BM: In the future it' ; s gonna complicate things. AB: If you don' ; t buy it--I mean if you try to buy it, say probably [indecipherable] (chuckles) and what' ; s gonna happen to it (chuckles) BM: Well, Ron Schumaker, whenever they, you go out there and buy a plot, they give you a deed to that plot. AB: Yeah. BM: Well now that deed is worthless as the paper it was written on, by it being leased land. There is no way that he can give a clear deed to that plot of ground. But he can write one up. Everybody doesn' ; t know this. AB: Now, this is south of town here, now. I thought that was the old Tiger cemetery, [inaudible] ' ; cause there' ; s a lots of people buried there. Isn' ; t Alma (ph) Tiger and Tom (ph) Tiger and all of them buried in there? BM: Now, Flo (ph) Weaver told me that was called the Harjo. AB: Well, they must' ; ve--see, that was there before the Harjos existed. BM: That isn' ; t very possible, is it? (chuckles) AB: But I guess the Harjos, since they do bury there, I guess they-- EB: Clearly it' ; s kind of family-- AB: Yeah, it' ; s kind of a family. BM: It' ; s family. It' ; s sort of a family. AB: --could be called family. BM: It' ; s sort of a family get-together. AB: ' ; Cause you see, my mother--my mother' ; s mother, she' ; s buried there, too. BM: Wait a min-- Oak Hill. Okay now, we' ; ve got--I don' ; t know whether you knew it--know it or not, now that would be out there at this new--that' ; d be out the new cemetery. Now there in Bristow they' ; ve got another cemetery that was the original Bristow cemetery. I didn' ; t know whether you knew that or not. AB: No. BM: Now they, they' ; ve got another one, you go out east of Bristow on sixteen-- AB: Yeah. BM: And you start down the hill there to cross Sand Creek? AB: Yeah. BM: Just before you start, just before you drop over that hump to go down to Sand Creek, that' ; s straight south back up there, was the original old Bristow Cemetery. AB: Hmm. BM: And I' ; ve called it the Foster Cemetery but I didn' ; t know at the time that it was the old Bristow Cemetery, because the reason I did that was Arthur Foster' ; s grandfather is buried there and he' ; s the one who' ; s got the big stone. He' ; s got a big stone. AB: I didn' ; t even know there was cemetery there. BM: It' ; s--would be located right here [refers to map]. AB: That would be kind of north-- BM: Right here. Right here. Right there is where it' ; s located. AB: Well it would be kind of located--well they got some apartment buildings there-- BM: Well, now, see, that' ; s north of them apartment buildings. AB: North of them apartment buildings? BM: It' ; s north of them apartment buildings. Now they tell me, I' ; ve been in there, the wife' ; s got two uncles that' ; s buried there in that thing. AB: Mmm-hmm. BM: That' ; s what got us to really checking into it. AB: Mmm-hmm. BM: And then as times comes on, this was the original, the old Bristow Cemetery, before they moved out, out on the hill out there. EB: Is that what they called the sixty? BM: May be, I don' ; t know. EB: Right north of--two miles east of Bristow and then back north. BM: No, this is just right, this is just--now is there one out there by sixty? EB: Well, I don' ; t--I' ; ve heard of people being buried out there. BM: Out there by model sixty then. EB: Yeah. You go two miles east and then north. BM: Two miles east and go north up there. EB: Right in there. BM: I didn' ; t know anything about that one. [refers to map] Okay, we go two miles east, be here, go north two miles and now then that road, according to this map, it don' ; t show that that road goes all the way to there. But it does, it goes to and comes back out at the bottom of the hill over there, that' ; s the Joe (ph) Allen (ph) place. It just winds around comes on around comes back to the old Joe (ph) Allen (ph) hill. At the bottom of the old Joe (ph) Allen (ph) hill. AB: What did, did, oh--Pinehill. Did they have a cemetery? BM: Yep. Sure did. EB: Yeah, they cut one. BM: They built one a way up here. And Sally Pinehill, she' ; s buried way south of the old, the original. The one--the original cemetery, it' ; s right up on the bank of Polecat. Remember where Pinehill schoolhouse used to be? AB: Yeah. BM: Okay, go east from Pinehill schoolhouse, you cross the creek, you go on down--the road is going straight there and the road comes right around the side of the creek. Just before you make that curve it' ; s settin' ; right back south--southeast over there on the east side of that creek. AB: I was pretty young, you know in those days, I don' ; t remember-- BM: The the old Sally Pinehill, she didn' ; t want--they didn' ; t bury her down there in the old original, the old original cemetery. AB: Hmm. BM: They buried her back south of there about a quarter to a half a mile up on the side of the hill on her allotment up there. And you got the old Artie (ph) Skeeters (ph)--Artie Mosquito, do you remember him? Then you' ; ve got the old Artie (ph) Mosquito cemetery back over there on Mosquito Creek. pause Okay, now then, there' ; s another question that been a' ; rubbin' ; me: I was called late yesterday evening about a cemetery. You go to Kellyville, go west out of Kellyville, to the first road that goes north. And that road goes all the way through to 33 Highway up there, and you come out up there at Bluebell. When you turn north up there--it' ; s just about a mile north, just before you cross the turnpike up there. On the west side of the road there' ; s supposed to be a cemetery sitting in there behind--according to this party that called me--there' ; s supposed to be a cemetery in there. There' ; s five or six graves in it. Do you know any of this? EB: You get more information on that if you just talk to Joe Watashe right in there, he-- BM: Okay. Alright. Well now see, Watashe' ; s got on up the road, on up the road, then, to the next mile section. EB: Mmm-hmm. BM: North of there, then a mile and a half west is where the old Watashe Cemetery is. EB: Mmm-hmm. BM: And the old Watashi stompground and so on and so forth in there. EB: Yeah. BM: Okay. Then. I don' ; t know whether I' ; ve got this one right or not: You come back over to that road going on up there, up about a half a mile north of that road, now. There is one sitting back west of the road over there (chickens squawking). They say there' ; s probably twenty-five or thirty graves in it. EB: Mmm-hmm. BM: But I didn' ; t have a chance to go in and look this one over. It was wet and I didn' ; t have a chance to go and look it over. But they tell me now that they call that one George. EB: George. BM: That' ; s what I was told yesterday evening on this one. They call that one George. Do you know anything about that? EB: No, but I know a few Georges. But I don' ; t know nothing about a cemetery. BM: Okay, let me backtrack here to sixty-five (pages flipping). I' ; ve got two here--see we' ; re sixty-five out here. (chickens squawking) Okay, sixty-six, same way. Alright, now then. Sixty--I' ; ve got sixty-six (dog barking). Do you know anything about go down here to the, the road that goes across there at the airport? And go west, just before you get to the airport over there, on the north side of the road there. Do you know of anything right in there? AB: That would be going on past the Kelly farm in there? BM: Yeah, see, it' ; d be--it' ; s right on the Kelly farm in there and then this plot laid right in there between the airport and the Kelly farm. Now I do know there' ; s a dwelling, an Indian dwelling down there, but to tell you--I didn' ; t even know-- EB: The only one I know was buried in there in the cemetery' ; d be Ed Harry. AB: Oh! You got--have you got the Harry Cemetery? BM: Alright, would that be it? AB: You go up here to the three mile-- BM: Three miles? AB: Let' ; s see, let' ; s see--be two miles out of town back off in this Deep Fork ridge. BM: Yeah. AB: And you go about a mile and three quarters-- BM: West. AB: West. BM: Okay. AB: And that--it' ; s got a big sign there, it did have a big sign, the Harry Cemetery. BM: Okay, that' ; s this damn thing I' ; m trying to find, that would be this, this sixty-six. Harry. EB: Eddie Harry. AB: Oh, and then there' ; s Watson--one of those Watson girls was married, do you remember the one they called Salina (ph) died and [indecipherable] BM: Okay, now, that would be-- EB: Did they bury her there? AB: Yeah. BM: That would be the Eddie Harry. That would be the cemetery that I' ; m talking about. AB: Well, I think they just got Harry Cemetery. BM: Okay, that' ; s what we' ; ll put down here. We' ; ll put Harry. AB: Yeah. BM: Harry Cemetery down there. AB: Now they--there' ; s an old house sits kind of off in the woods by it, and now--right out there right alongside the road they did have a big sign that said Harry Cemetery. Big oh--big sign about like that yay. That just a little before, it' ; s down-- BM: You come off that hill there and you drive, just before you get-- AB: Down at the bottom of that school there. What was school there? BM: That was down, right on--going into [indecipherable] it was sitting up on top of the hill there. AB: Yeah well it was down at the--you know where it' ; s at, then, yeah. BM: I' ; ve got that--I had it marked but I didn' ; t have no name for it. Okay, sixty-five. Let me see where--let me run sixty-five down. I know there' ; s another one in there. But I gotta find it. EB: It looks right here, sixty-two. BM: Yeah. (pause) Let me find sixty-five. [refers to map] I' ; ve had to come back in after--had to come back in and as they went to coming in I' ; ve had to come back in and remark everything. [murmuring] Sixty-five. (rooster crows) Scattered-the numbers are scattered everywhere. [murmuring] Sixty-eight. Sixty-four. Can' ; t find it over here anywhere. Fifty-nine. (chicken squawking) No, I don' ; t see it right now. Oh, yeah! Right here! That' ; s the one over here just this side of Depew, now. You come around the curve coming out of Depew, come around that curve you straighten out in there right in there right south of that--well it' ; d be southwest of that salvage yard out there. (rooster crows) On the south side of the road. There used to be a sign up there. But the sign is gone. It' ; s out there, see you come in there where that road goes south to Gypsy-- AB: Mm-hmm. EB: That must be right in there by where old man Kilgore (ph) used to live. BM: Yeah? EB: South of there-- BM: It' ; s out there south of the Kilgore (ph) place out there. Well, see, [indecipherable]--before the highway was finished in there, his son was killed out on that curve just east of the house, on that damned crooked-edge crooked curve in there. They tried to take that curve ' ; round-- [brief interference in tape] BM: --but you have any idea what that cemetery would be? EB: No, I don' ; t. (rooster crows) BM: That would be this one right here. [refers to map] EB: Is it pretty close to the railroad? BM: Yeah, it would be north of the railroad. EB: No, way back there Jim Bigpond got killed on the railroad right there--well, he didn' ; t die then, but he got his arm and leg cut off and he died later on, but I don' ; t think he was buried there. BM: But there used to be a big sign up there that--that sign is gone now. EB: Yeah. BM: But it' ; s out there between Bristow and Depew. EB: Yeah. BM: Okay, let' ; s see. I' ; ve got another one in here I think. Seventy-one. Where' ; s seventy-one at? [referencing map] [mumbling to self] Sixty-five, seventy-one. Yeah, that' ; s this one up here, we didn' ; t know on the--still no name for that one, still no name for that one. Sixty-one was called George. Now this, this eighteen, we still haven' ; t got a name for it yet. That' ; s this one out here just the other side of [indecipherable]. AB: Seem like, wasn' ; t there a sign up for that? BM: There used to be a sign up there. AB: Now, tell me something: where--I think there' ; s a cemetery by the name of Haydenville or something like that, but it seems to me--I always see that come up [inaudible] BM: Haydenville' ; s way down south-- AB: Yeah, I know where Haydenville is. But I--seems like there' ; s something right down here. Haydenville--might not' ; ve been. Hayden? Or [indecipherable] or something like that-- BM: I don' ; t know what that name is right there, but-- AB: Yeah. Now, now they might have a cemetery in there, you know where the old Tuskegee School is? BM: Yeah, the old Tuskegee School, here it is right here. [refers to map] AB: You go out about a mile north-- BM: About a mile-- AB: Wait, no, about a half a mile north and then-- BM: Well then that' ; s-- AB: Then about a quarter of a mile back east. Now there' ; s a cemetery in there, too. BM: Okay. McKnight. AB: Knight. BM: Knight. AB: K-N-I-G-H-T. Now, I' ; m not too fam--I' ; ve been there, but I' ; m not too familiar. BM: Okay, yeah, I know the people that' ; s up there. AB: Now where' ; s the Bear cemetery out there? BM: Bear? AB: Yeah. BM: Okay, I' ; ll tell you in a minute. [refers to map] EB: I saw them over here. BM: You said over here, didn' ; t you? Baker, Baker, Battle, Battle, Bucktrot, Tiger, Phillip, Harlinsville, Brown--well I had it here. EB: [inaudible] AB: The reason I was asking you, I got cemetery (rooster crows) Tuskegee there, that school in there--I was thinking was thinking that the Bear cemetery and it was the same place, but they said it' ; s the same-- BM: No, it' ; s not. That is the--where in the world' ; s that at, I know it--I know Bear is on there. But I don' ; t see it. EB: I seen it a while ago somewhere. BM: Wattie (ph) Sewell (ph), Lodie Tiger, Bucktrot, Gilcrease, Battle, Bucktrot, Baker, Drumright, Cawhey (ph), Washburn (ph), Brown, Bucktrot, Clinton--well here it is! Number three! The Bear! Be right here. [refers to map] AB: Now let' ; s see, this is-- BM: That' ; s west, come right straight north of Tuskegee-- AB: Yeah. BM: That would be out there, what is now known as the Juedeman place. Down there on the Juedeman place. AB: Yeah. BM: See, Roley Bear lived just before you get--Roley Bear' ; s place was just before you get up to the Juedeman place. AB: My sister' ; s buried there. BM: Yeah? AB: Well I-- BM: Then on north of that, then, is the Juedeman place, it' ; s back off out--it' ; s back off out to the right back off out there. AB: Mmm-hmm. BM: Anything else you can think of? AB: Now, Clarence--Clarence Brown, they have a cemetery there. BM: Okay, now we' ; ve got, we' ; ve got a Brown. Another Brown. We' ; ve got a Brown here somewhere. [refers to map] Yeah, Teddy Brown. Old man Brown and we' ; ve got a Teddy Brown. Now, this is where names are a gift to me: seventy-three and seventy-six. Seventy-three and seventy-six. That' ; d be right in here. [refers to map] Seventy-three--(pause) and I don' ; t--we' ; ve got Brown there but that' ; s not right. Brown or Long over there south, Cawhey' ; s (ph) in there, there' ; s another one here. AB: [inaudible] BM: The old man Brown is down seventy-six. AB: That would be-- BM: That would be down file miles south-- AB: Out east, east of Gypsy? BM: Yeah. I gotta find it. Seventy-nine, I marked everything last night. Seventy-five, seventy-four and seventy-five. Alright, seventy-four is Teddy Brown. AB: Ted Brown. BM: Ted Brown. Seventy-five is Washburn (ph). AB: Washburn (ph). That would be-- BM: [indecipherable] five miles, go straight east here [refers to map]-- AB: Yep. Two mile--three miles-- BM: One mile, then go straight south. AB: Yeah, I know where it' ; s at. BM: Okay, Ted Brown is in there too. AB: Is that where Teddy Brown lies? BM: Yeah, yeah. Teddy Brown' ; s in there too. AB: Hmm. (chuckles) BM: Okay, then, seventy-seven, it' ; s back over here right west of Iron Post. That' ; s the old Mason Bucktrot. AB: Madison Bucktrot. BM: Madison Bucktrot. And is that right? EB: They got, they got their own cemetery. BM: Okay, that' ; s what we got it marked Madison Bucktrot. Okay. Seventy-eight--(pause). It' ; s right in here because it was marked last night. Yesterday evening. Seventy-nine, we just marked that seventy-nine, the Clinton, in here. Seventy-eight. Well anyway, seventy-eight--we got the Lucy Deer (ph). The Lucy Deer (ph). AB: Is that the same one they call Woosy Deer (ph)? BM: Woosy (ph), that' ; s it. EB: Woosy Deer (ph). BM: Woosy Deer (ph). AB: Woosy Deer (ph). BM: Woosy Deer (ph). Right it here it is, way up here. EB: Oh, it' ; s around Sapulpa then. BM: Seventy-eight. That' ; s up there by the turnpike gate out of Sapulpa. Seventy-nine is Lundsford (ph). That' ; s right in here. AB: Back in here. BM: No, that would be--that would be--I think we' ; re wrong on that. We' ; ve got the Lundsford (ph), no that' ; s seventy-nine at Clinton. Seventy-nine at Clinton. Eighty is Lundsford. Okay, that would be just right down the road down here. AB: Right down here. BM: Okay. Eighty-one is Lane. The Lane cemetery. Eighty-three is the Clinton. AB: Now is that-- BM: Eight-one, that' ; s the Lane. That' ; s a way the heck off over here. That' ; s way off over here in the southwest, southeast corner of, or that' ; d be the southwest corner, back off down there. AB: Is it like them to have two cemeteries? BM: I don' ; t know. AB: What--wasn' ; t Charlie' ; s mother--she was buried down here at-- EB: Probably Tuskegee. AB: They call that Tuskegee not [indecipherable] now. EB: And [indecipherable] down there around Edna. A big cemetery, now. BM: Now, eighty-three, now let' ; s see, where' ; s eighty-three at. [refers to map] Now eighty-three, now we' ; ll come back in here, that' ; s the Clinton cemetery, out east of town out here. Eighty-four, then, is the family cemetery. Eighty-five, then, is yours. EB: Mmm-hmm. BM: Eighty-six is Knight. EB: Wally (ph) Knight? AB: Yeah, Wally (ph) Knight. Now you' ; ve got the McNac (ph) cemetery? BM: McNac? AB: McNac. M-C-N-A-C. BM: M-C-N-A-C. AB: Yeah. BM: No, I haven' ; t. AB: See, they got a cemetery right there at where they lived. BM: Now, where' ; s that at? AB: Well, (sighs) well you go out to forty-eight out here-- BM: What, forty-eight, north on forty-eight? AB: Yeah, north on forty-eight but I can' ; t--it' ; s quite a-ways out there, eight or nine miles out there I guess, and then you turn to go back east. But it' ; s like-- BM: East or west? AB: West. BM: Okay, then that' ; d be out there what they call the old Mac (ph) Baker corner. AB: Uh-huh, I don' ; t know about that. BM: See, that' ; d be about eight mile north up there. Like you' ; re going on to the sub station. AB: Yeah. BM: And see, before you get to there you' ; ve got the Harlinsville Cemetery and there' ; s no other road-- AB: Yeah, that Harlinsville Cemetery, that' ; s the one I was trying to-- BM: Harlinsville. AB: Yeah! Harlinsville. That' ; s it. BM: That' ; s it right there. [refers to map] AB: Yeah, that' ; s the one I was--but anyway, just like I told you, that if you contact that Amos McNac, he can give you the exact directions. Now he lives out right, he lives out to where Bethel lives. He' ; s lived--where Bethel lives, he lives right across the road from Bethel there. BM: Oh, okay. AB: Or he' ; s listed in the telephone directory. He can probably give you the exact mileage out there and some information on it, but all I know is it' ; s a cemetery there. BM: Okay. AB: A family cemetery. BM: Alright. Anything else you might think of? (pause) AB: That' ; s the only ones I can think of. BM: Okay. We' ; ll stop this thing. end of recording audio 0 https://bristoworalhistory.org/ohms/viewer.php?cachefile=OHP-0014-01_Anderson_Bigpond.xml OHP-0014-01_Anderson_Bigpond.xml
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Anderson and Elwood Bigpond
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In this 1977 interview, Anderson Bigpond and Elwood Bigpond work with the interviewer to pinpoint the names and specific locations of various family burial plots and Indian cemeteries in Creek County, Oklahoma.
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OHP-0014-01
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Family Histories
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1977
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audio
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Family Histories
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Oral History
Subject
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Oral accounts of various family histories
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Bristow Historical Society, oral history collection
Oral History
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Interviewer
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Ed Cadenhead
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed
Mrs. Deeb (Annie) Slyman, Mrs. Dave (Nellie) and Edmond (Tex) Slyman
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Lebanon
Lebanese
1979
Deeb Slyman
Annie Slyman
Tex Slyman
Nellie Slyman
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5.4 June 21, 1979 OHP-0022 Slyman Family- Mrs. Deeb, Mrs. Dave and Tex OHP-0022 00:30:51 'Bristow Historical Society - Oral History Archive' Bristow Historical Society, Inc. Lebanon Lebanese 1979 Deeb Slyman Annie Slyman Tex Slyman Nellie Slyman Mrs. Deeb (Annie) Slyman, Mrs. Dave (Nellie) and Edmond (Tex) Slyman Ed Cadenhead MP3 1:|78(2)|99(3)|125(3)|146(9)|168(1)|191(4)|209(2)|226(4)|270(6)|298(2)|298(3)|357(11)|394(3)|428(13)|481(2)|543(3)|614(6)|655(10)|707(4)|744(2)|769(1)|796(13)|835(3)|876(2)|912(2)|940(9)|970(10)|993(14)|1016(5)|1045(2) 0 https://bristoworalhistory.org/interviews/OHP-0022 Deeb Family.mp3 Other audio 0 Introduction and First Days In America EC: Mrs.— TS: Mrs. Deeb Slyman . EC: Mrs. Deeb Slyman. NS: And do you read Arabic? I— EC: (Chuckling) No, I can’t read Arabic. What is this? June 21, 1979. Okay, I was going to ask, now—your husband came about 1900, is that right? AS: Yeah, that’s right. EC: And, so you just said his brother came first? TS: His brother came before him. EC: And his brother was? TS: Ellis . EC: Ellis Slyman. Right. Arabic ; Bristow ; Buisness ; Grocery Store ; Main Street ; Massachsetts Arrival In America ; Arrival In Bristow ; Mr Slyman's Grocery Store https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/26873405/deeb-slyman-hoyek Mrs. Deeb Slyman's Grave https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/26863670/ellis-slyman-hoyek Ellis Slyman Hoyek's Grave https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/26832677/edward-nahra-abraham Ed Abraham's Grave 334 Arrival In Bristow EC: When did you come to Bristow? AS: Nineteen twenty-four. EC: Nineteen twenty-four. AS: Yes. EC: You came from Lebanon? AS: Yeah, Lebanon, yes. EC: Uh-huh (in agreement). AS: (Inaudible.) citizen and the law changed. So they told him, the consul—the American consul told him (inaudible). He never asked him why. And the consul, he says he know why. So, we come and we slept in Paris for—for four months. So— EC: What do you remember about your first days in Bristow? Anything—can you remember the first time you saw Bristow? AS: Yes. First time I saw Bristow, yes. On my way to Bristow from (indecipherable), we make the (indecipherable) and the train. And we came and Frank Mike and Alice Coby (ph) and Alice’s landlady. They meet us in the, in the train. At the depot. The Slyman's arrival in Bristow and Annie's struggle getting in Alice Coby ; Bristow ; France ; Frank Mike ; Lebanon ; Paris ; Train Depot Annie Slyman stuck in Paris ; Arrival In Bristow 469 Lebanese Families In Bristow EC: What was the name of your village in— AS: Hmm? EC: What was the name of the village in Lebanon? NS: Why, his village was Bdadoun. B-D-A-D-O-U-N. That’s where he came from, Mr. Slyman. She came from Juneau. J-U-N-E-A-U. EC: Now, am I correct that most of—if not all the Lebanese families here—came from those two villages? AS: (Inaudible in background.) NS: Well, let’s see, the old timers? AS: (Inaudible in background.) EC: Mmm-hmm. NS: I see. No, that’s the old-timers. Where did—where did Joe Abraham come from, Annie? What part of Lebanon? AS: Bdadoun. The Slyman's talk about other Lebanese families in Bristow and the surrounding areas Bdadoun ; Creek County ; Drumright ; Eliases ; Farhouds ; Fogaley ; Frank Forey ; Horany ; Howayek ; Juneau ; Khazin ; Labanon ; League of Americanized Syrians ; Marjayoun ; Marquettes ; Naifeh ; Oilton ; Oklahoma City ; Paul Gillismon ; Sam Beshara ; Shama ; Shamrock ; Tulsa ; Wabisaaiour Lebanese Families https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/147624978/joe-abraham Joe Abraham's Grave https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/21579898/sam-beshara Sam Beshara's Grave 1059 Experiences In Bristow EC: (Laughter) Most of the Lebanese were and are Catholic. Is that correct? (Everyone talking at once) TS: Greek Orthodox. NS: Greek Orthodox. EC: Or well yeah, Greek Orthodox, but here they would tend to be Catholic. NS: Well, there’s more Greek Orthodox— EC: Oh really! NS: I don’t know why. They built a huge Greek Orthodox church in Oklahoma City and they just built one here. EC: Oh, I see. NS: Uh but um— I was gonna say if you can make contact with Homsey. H-O-M-S— H-O-M? The Sylman's experiences and stories from growing up and living in Bristow Americanized ; Anti-Catholic ; Anti-foreign ; Catholic ; Greek Orthodox ; Madellia Hamra ; Oil Boom ; Rainbow Nursing Home ; Uphus Abraham Experiences in Bristow ; Religion 1474 Growing Up and Raising Children in Bristow EC: When did you come to Bristow? NS: In thirty— 1933. (Laughter) EC: 1933. NS: Uh-huh. EC: The depression was going on then. NS: Oh yeah, I raised six kids (indecipherable) the depression. They know it, I didn’t hurt em’— it didn’t hurt em’ a bit. EC: What— NS: My husband was— EC: Yeah— NS: a— he was a butcher in a grocery store and working with (Indecipherable) TS: (Inaudible) Growing Up and Raising Children in Bristow Airplane ; Bristow ; Depew ; Fourth of July ; Great Depression ; Grocery Store ; League of Americanized Syrians Growing Up in Bristow ; Holidays in Bristow ; Raising Children In Bristow 35.834122, -96.394409 17 Nellie Slyman's Home This 1979 interview discussing Deeb Slyman includes his wife Annie, nephew Tex (Edmond) Slyman and niece. They share about the journey from Lebanon and their settlement in Bristow. They discussed Deeb’s days in business, the acceptance of foreign people in town, and the many different Lebanese families that settled in Bristow. Interviewer: Ed Cadenhead (EC) Interviewee: Mrs. Annie Slyman (AS), Edmond " ; Tex" ; Slyman (TS), Nellie Slyman (NS) Date of Interview: June 21, 1979 Location: Unknown Transcriber: Melissa Holderby and Macy Shields Organization: Bristow Historical Society, Inc. Length: 00:00-30:51 Abstract: This 1979 interview discussing Deeb Slyman includes his wife Annie, nephew Tex (Edmond) Slyman and niece. They share about the journey from Lebanon and their settlement in Bristow. They discussed Deeb' ; s days in business, the acceptance of foreign people in town, and the many different Lebanese families that settled in Bristow. Preface: The following oral history testimony is the result of a cassette tape interview and is part of the Bristow Historical Society, Inc.' ; s collection of oral histories. The interview was transcribed and processed by the Bristow Historical Society, Inc., with financial assistance from the Montfort Jones & ; Allie Brown Jones Foundation. Rights to the material are held exclusively by the Bristow Historical Society, Inc. The reader should bear in mind that he or she is reading a verbatim transcript of spoken, rather than written prose. Insofar as possible, this transcript tries to represent the spoken word. Thus, it should be read as a personal memoir and not as either a researched monograph or edited account. To the extent possible, the spelling of place names, foreign words, and personal names have been verified, either by reference resources or directly by the interviewee. In some cases, a footnote has been added to the transcript in order to provide more information and/or to clarify a statement. Some uncertainties will inevitably remain regarding some words and their spellings. In these scenarios, a (ph) follows a word or name that is spelled phonetically. The notation [indecipherable] is used when the transcriber has not been able to comprehend the word or phrase being spoken. The notation [inaudible] is used where there is more mumbling than words, or when interference on the tape has made transcription impossible. EC: Mrs.-- TS: Mrs. Deeb Slyman. EC: Mrs. Deeb Slyman. NS: And do you read Arabic? I-- EC: (Chuckling) No, I can' ; t read Arabic. What is this? June 21, 1979. Okay, I was going to ask, now--your husband came about 1900, is that right? AS: Yeah, that' ; s right. EC: And, so you just said his brother came first? TS: His brother came before him. EC: And his brother was? TS: Ellis. EC: Ellis Slyman. Right. TS: (Inaudible in background) EC: Right. Well what kind of business were they in when they first came here? AS: (Inaudible in background) EC: A general grocery store? Yeah. TS: When they first came, what did he do? AS: (in heavily accented English) When he first came this way he used to have a little place downtown, called it (indecipherable). He used to have little (indecipherable). He said he ran it for (indecipherable). NS: When he first came, he was down and out. And I think he had around twenty-five dollars in money. So he goes in--goes into this little stand down there on Fifth Street somewhere. Was it on Fifth Street, down there where the old store was? AS: Huh? NS: He started on Fifth Street? You know, where the-- AS: (Indecipherable) NS: Oh, he started on Main Street. AS: Yeah, on Main Street. NS: Oh! Well, I-- AS: He used to (Indecipherable) and he worked with Ed Abraham. Then he bought the place from Ed Abraham for fifteen dollars. NS: Fifteen dollars. Oh. EC: So, the real--the real reason he came was because of Abraham? NS: He came when he was real young. Why did Uncle Deeb come to this country? Because he couldn' ; t live--make a living over there? AS: When he come from (indecipherable) country? EC: Yeah. NS: Why? Do you know? AS: I don' ; t know him that time. I don' ; t know. NS: Oh, you don' ; t know why, he just--they were young--the way I understand, they were young, adventuresome guys. They wanted to come to this world. And they came, and he lived in Massachusetts for a bunch of years picking cranberries. ' ; Cause he said, We used to go out there and pick cranberries and we didn' ; t even have anything to keep our feet warm. We' ; d put gunny sacks and paper sacks on our feet to keep us warm. These are stories I' ; ve heard from them. EC: Sure, sure. NS: And then, when they did come to this part of Oklahoma--I don' ; t know what made ' ; em come to this part of Oklahoma. But--you know, she' ; s talking about this fifteen-dollar business he started out with: he wanted the--the workers around there wanted to eat. So he' ; d get up and he' ; d make a pot of stew or soup. Every day he' ; d make a pot, and they' ; d come in and eat with the family. He started a little business like that. And as far as I know, he went in from that into what they called a mercantile business, with Mike--or Frank Mike (ph). And they had a nice--one of the best stores in town then. With Frank Mike (ph). But I don' ; t know of the years. See, this is all before my day. EC: Yeah, sure. NS: All I know is historical, you know. EC: Well-- NS: And-- EC: Yeah, go ahead. NS: And they run this--these stores. And of course, you know, it was like--you buy now and pay when the cotton come in, you know. EC: Mmm-hmm. NS: That' ; s the way it was up until--I' ; m gonna say in--let me see. After he got through with Frank Mike (ph), he went into a business by himself down on Fifth Street. And he was still catering to the farmer then. And-- TS: To the Indians and the farmers-- NS: Well, Indian--well, anyway all these people that can' ; t buy--can' ; t pay but once or twice a year, you know. TS: Mmm-hmm. NS: And he would give them credit for the whole year--big families come in, buy groceries. And he had dry goods, too. Like overalls and you know--whatever they used TS: (Inaudible in background) NS: --gloves and stuff that they used--the farmers would use. And they' ; d come and pay him once or twice a year. There' ; s one thing about Mr. Slyman that he didn' ; t do but other business people here in town did--he did not foreclose on anybody. He did not take anybody' ; s cow away from them, he did not take anybody' ; s horse away from them because they couldn' ; t pay their bill. He just--Okay, son, you do the best you can and pay me when you can. Of course, when he finally did finish his business, he had enough money--if he had the cash he could' ; ve built half of Bristow. But he did not fore--he wasn' ; t--he didn' ; t foreclose on anybody. EC: When did you come to Bristow? AS: Nineteen twenty-four. EC: Nineteen twenty-four. AS: Yes. EC: You came from Lebanon? AS: Yeah, Lebanon, yes. EC: Uh-huh (in agreement). AS: (Inaudible.) citizen and the law changed. So they told him, the consul--the American consul told him (inaudible). He never asked him why. And the consul, he says he know why. So, we come and we slept in Paris for--for four months. So-- EC: What do you remember about your first days in Bristow? Anything--can you remember the first time you saw Bristow? AS: Yes. First time I saw Bristow, yes. On my way to Bristow from (indecipherable), we make the (indecipherable) and the train. And we came and Frank Mike and Alice Coby (ph) and Alice' ; s landlady. They meet us in the, in the train. At the depot. EC: Mmm-hmm. AS: And I come home that night. On twenty-six of September. EC: Uh-huh! NS: She was stranded in Paris for--how long did you have to stay in Paris when you--coming from--you had to stay four months in Paris. Because she wasn' ; t American citizen and he wasn' ; t, either. And they kept her in Paris. And he came on to Bristow. AS: (Inaudible in background.) So we brought--so, Slyman, he had a cousin in our country, he was like (indecipherable). So one time Slyman said--we used to write letters to the our country to see if we can come. So (indecipherable), he sent word to the American consul in Beirut. And told him that if he can permit me to come. The consul in Beirut, he wrote to the consul in France-- in Paris. So they let me come. EC: What was the name of your village in-- AS: Hmm? EC: What was the name of the village in Lebanon? NS: Why, his village was Bdadoun. B-D-A-D-O-U-N. That' ; s where he came from, Mr. Slyman. She came from Juneau. J-U-N-E-A-U. EC: Now, am I correct that most of--if not all the Lebanese families here--came from those two villages? AS: (Inaudible in background.) NS: Well, let' ; s see, the old timers? AS: (Inaudible in background.) EC: Mmm-hmm. NS: I see. No, that' ; s the old-timers. Where did--where did Joe Abraham come from, Annie? What part of Lebanon? AS: Bdadoun. NS: He came from Bdadoun, too? AS: Bdadoun. NS: Joe? AS: Joe Abraham and Ed Abraham. NS: Mmm-hmm. AS: --family-- TS: Oh, they' ; re all from-- AS: And the Eliases. They' ; re all from Bdadoun. TS: Well, (inaudible). AS: (Indecipherable.) TS: (Indecipherable.) AS: Bdadoun. EC: I--you probably can answer this, I don' ; t know. It' ; s not unusual, of course, for a number of people from--immigrating to this country to come to one place because they have friends or relatives, you know. But is it unusual in Oklahoma to find this many Lebanese families in one place? Or are you aware of other places in the state where there are-- NS: I mean, this time, Oklahoma don' ; t have anything compared to the east. EC: Right. But what about Oklahoma, though? Are there other centers-- NS: Oh, other? Oh--in Oklahoma--in Oklahoma City there' ; s a big bunch of Lebanese. EC: Oh, there are? NS: In fact, they--part of ' ; em' ; s lived here in Bristow. EC: Well, but they--some of them came from Bristow. Some of the ones in Tulsa came from Bristow. NS: Yeah. Uh-huh (agreeing). They came--they (indecipherable). But this wa--this--into that like--they started the--these old timers started first on cotton. EC: Mmm-hmm. AS: (Inaudible in background.) NS: (Inaudible in background) --my husband came to Creek County. But talk about--they came, then they started speculating, these--they took chances. They couldn' ; t write their own name. Joe Abraham was a millionaire--he died as a millionaire--but he could not write his name. He has X' ; s on there. Deeb--that' ; s her husband--my husband' ; s uncle. He could write his name--I couldn' ; t find anything with his signature on it around here, but there is some writing in there, but it' ; s all in Arabic. He could barely write his name. He actually--before he died--he was ninety-some years old before he died--he got to where he could read the newspaper. And he' ; d negotiate all his--he did all his bookwork himself. No--no bookkeepers. EC: Mmm-hmm. NS: And business. And--but they' ; re all self-educated, on their own. They didn' ; t none of them go to school. EC: Mmm-hmm. NS: Not even in Lebanon, I think. Now I don' ; t know about Joe Abraham, if he had any Leban--any education from there. He came awful young. Joe and--well that was Herb. Herb could tell you more about his dad. EC: Well, I--I was still kind of wonder--why they' ; re-- NS: Why, why they chose this part-- EC: Why--or is that unusual? Are there other communities in the state now-- NS: No.EC: Where you can find-- NS: No, no-- TS: It seems like one at a time they followed each other-- EC: Right. TS: And just, I think, their philosophy was just--this is kind of a new territory, territory -(indecipherable), and they did a lot of--lot of trading with the Indians and the people around here. And they were--most of the tradition of the Lebanese people then was very business-minded. EC: Yeah. TS: I mean, they didn' ; t believe in an eight-hour day, they believed in eighteen-hour-a-day, work day. And this is what the one thing that they succeeded in was hard work. And their--their enjoyment was getting with each other. EC: Sure. TS: And having a--reminiscing the old--the old country more than anything. EC: Yeah. TS: That was their entertainment. NS: They formed what they called the League of Americanized Syrians there. That was--that was just some organization like Rotary Club or-- TS: Here in Bristow. NS: They had--yeah, it was in Bristow. And of course the League of Americanized Syrians would come from Drumright. Would come from Oklahoma City. They would come from Oilton. And Shamrock. Now, see--there was some Lebanese (indecipherable). That I know of. Of course, most of the Lebanese came in--they were mostly mercantile people. Now, the ones in Drumright--they had what you' ; d call a dry goods store. The (indecipherable), they call ' ; em. TS: (Inaudible in background) NS: There used to be Farhouds (ph). There used to be Marquettes (ph). I could--now these are all from Drumright. I' ; m from Drumright. EC: Oh, are you? NS: I was born in Pennsylvania but I was raised in--reared in Drumright. EC: Mmm-hmm. NS: And then-- EC: Well, now--help me with Lebanese names. The name Fogaley is-- NS: I came from the Fogaley family. My father-- EC: But that' ; s more like a--a clan? NS: Oh, oh--okay. EC: Yeah. NS: Fogaley is like this one family back there when in, maybe the 1500s. A whole family of boys named Fogaley. And they all went out, you know, and had their own families. Now that is what we call the clan of the family--like the Naifeh family-- EC: Right. NS: --I don' ; t know if you' ; re heard of the Naifeh family-- EC: Yes, I know. Yes. NS: Okay. Now that' ; s where the Fogaley' ; s from. But here' ; s how we lost our names is every time a child is born, they were named by their father' ; s first name. My father' ; s name was Henry Joseph. Now, he was Henry Joseph and his father' ; s name was Habib Fogaley (ph), see. So that goes back, right now--I lost Fogaley --the situation, by--I was raised a Joseph. EC: Now, the Slymans were not Fogaley. NS: Slymans were Howayek. H-O-W--how do you spell it? H-O-W-Y-E-K. Y-E-- TS: Y-E. NS: Y-E. TS: I just repeat it how they told me to spell it, so I don' ; t know if it' ; s H-O-Y-E-K. NS: H-O-Y-E-K. TS: And I don' ; t know if I made it right or not. NS: Mm-hmm. EC: Well-- NS: And that' ; s (indecipherable). TS: See, what I understood is the name Slyman came-- NS: From the (indecipherable) TS: From--was Uncle Deeb' ; s dad' ; s name. And our name was-- EC: Okay-- TS: And he put down Deeb Slyman when he came into the country as his name. EC: Okay. NS: And then--then he always added Howayek. Now, when he wrote papers for the-- TS: When he wrote papers to the old country, he always used the Deeb Slyman Howayek, okay. EC: So, at one point I was told, and maybe you know something different--there were twenty-seven Lebanese families in Bristow. TS: Oh, I (indecipherable) AS: (Indecipherable) NS: Now? EC: No at some point. TS: At one time? EC: Yeah, but most of those were then, Fogaley' ; s. NS: Fogaley clan! EC: Yeah. Most of them-- NS: We have the--we have the Feghalis and Slymans and then what--Fogaley' ; s and Slymans, now they call it Feghalis--some go by Feghali, some go by Fogaley. The real--the first was F-O-G-A-L-E-Y. The Fogaley family. And that' ; s what--see, my father was a Fogaley. EC: Right. NS: And--Deeb was not a Fogaley. He was a Howayek. EC: Yeah. NS: And I don' ; t know-- TS: Howayek, yeah. The Howayek name in the old country was a very dominant name. EC: Right. TS: It was a very strong name. AS: Howayek--(indecipherable) NS: Patriarch. TS: It was--yeah. Well Khazin (ph) Annie was a Khazin (ph). Annie was-- NS: Political. TS: She was of a more of a political family-- from a political family-- the Khazin family. EC: Right, I see. TS: The Howayek name and family was a-- is a large family. NS: They had a (Inaudible) was well known was because they had a patriarch-- Howayek (Inaudible). EC: Now then-- let' ; s see. (Inaudible talking in the background) AS: (Indecipherable) EC: The Shamas' ; s are folks? NS: The Shamas' ; s are mom' ; s folks. EC: They' ; re what? AS: They' ; re from Bdadoun. NS: The Shamas' ; s are mom' ; s folks (inaudible). TS: (Indecipherable) NS: From another part in Lebanon like-- AS: (Inaudible). EC: The Eliases? AS: The Eliase' ; s are from Bdadoun. EC: They' ; re-- NS: They' ; re Fogaley family and they come from Leban. EC: Right-- and then the (Indecipherable) came later. NS: (Indecipherable) I don' ; t know where they' ; re from. EC: From--they' ; re from-- AS: They' ; re from Wabisaaiour (ph). NS: They' ; re from Wabisaaiour (ph)? AS: From Wabisaaiour (ph). NS: That' ; s where my daddy' ; s from. AS: They' ; re from Wabisaaiour (ph). NS: Wabisaaiour (ph) AS: (Inaudible) NS: Mmm-hmm, W-A-B-I-S-A-A-I-O-U-R-- Wabisaaiour (ph)-- EC: Alright. NS: That' ; s where my daddy' ; s from. EC: Then there were the-- I' ; m trying to think of some of the others families here that I' ; ve-- NS: Oh well-- EC: Beshara' ; sNS: Oh, Sam Beshara! AS: (Inaudible) NS: Sam Beshara. AS: (Indecipherable) NS: Sam Beshara from-- you remember? AS: Sam Beshara and (Indecipherable) Beshara-- NS: (Indecipherable) Beshara They' ; re from Wabi (ph) too? AS: Mmm-hmm. EC: Okay-- and hmm-- AS: (Inaudible) NS: Yeah, I know. There' ; s two I' ; m trying to think of some more. EC: You remember some of those other things? NS: Old timers (Inaudible) AS: (Inaudible) NS: Mmm-hmm. Okay you got anything on the Horany' ; s yet? EC: No. NS: The Horany' ; s were Marjayoun. Weren' ; t they? Horany' ; s! AS: Horany' ; s? NS: Yeah. AS: From Marjayoun. NS: Yeah. AS: (Inaudible). EC: Now what about, Forey (ph)? NS: Umm Annie, how about Frank Forey (ph)? AS: Frank Forey (ph) is from Bdadoun. NS: He' ; s from Bdadoun? See Frank Forey (ph) would be a cousin-- umm an uncle to Paul Gillismon (ph). Have you talked to Paul Gillismon? (ph) EC: No, I have not. NS: He may not give you too much history. No one will give you more about them. See they' ; re related. EC: (Indaudible) NS: Uh-huh. Paul Gillismon' ; s (ph) mother was Joe Abraham' ; s sister. EC: Okay-- Yeah. NS: Now, let' ; s see. I was trying to think of who else. EC: I' ; m trying to think of some of the other names that might-- NS: Me too. AS: (Inaudible) EC: Oh yes! AS: (Inaudible) NS: Oh! AS: And then-- when the consul (Indecipherable) and he told the consul when you were away from Lebanon we used to make Lebanon women work, but when you come to Lebanon you play to (Indecipherable) EC: (Laughter) Most of the Lebanese were and are Catholic. Is that correct? (Everyone talking at once) TS: Greek Orthodox. NS: Greek Orthodox. EC: Or well yeah, Greek Orthodox, but here they would tend to be Catholic. NS: Well, there' ; s more Greek Orthodox-- EC: Oh really! NS: I don' ; t know why. They built a huge Greek Orthodox church in Oklahoma City and they just built one here. EC: Oh, I see. NS: Uh but um-- I was gonna say if you can make contact with Homsey. H-O-M-S-- H-O-M? TS: H-O-M-S-E-Y. NS: Uh-Huh, they have the-- TS: AMC NS: AMC TS: You know that-- it is called AM-- American EC: Yeah. TS: It used to be called American (Inaudible) but its AMC in Oklahoma City. EC: Mmm-hmm NS: And they have a lot of Bristow-- TS: And they have a lot of Bristow (Indecipherable)--they moved from Bristow to Oklahoma City. EC: Oh, I see. TS: They' ; re very, very special people there. They employed four hundred people in that place. EC: Let' ; s see is the name Hamra-- TS: Hamra. NS: Ok, you' ; re gonna get more information on the Hamra' ; s? EC: Well I just kind of fit them in to this whole-- NS: Yeah I' ; ll tell ya--Madellia Hamra, right now that' ; s the woman-- the daughter. Is running the (Indecipherable) Rainbow Nursing Home, down-- you know. EC: Right, that' ; s where I was headed. NS: Uh huh. EC: Farha? NS: Yeah, the Farha' ; s are-- they' ; re Greek Orthodox from Marjayoun. They came from Marjayoun. TS: Where did the Farha' ; s-- where did the Farha' ; s come from? AS: From (Indecipherable) NS: Annie! The Farha' ; s come from Wabi? AS: The Farha' ; s were from Marjayoun. NS: That' ; s what I thought. AS: (Indecipherable) from Marjayoun. NS: Yeah. EC: Okay. NS: Farha' ; s. EC: Okay, tell me some of your experiences in Bristow. What was life like for you after you came here. AS: Well I (Indecipherable) we don' ; t have it back then (Indecipherable). TS: (Inaudible discussion in background) NS: She had to learn English too. AS: I don' ; t know how to spoke English. EC: Right. AS: They used to (Indecipherable) to ask me something. Do you know English? EC: Mmm-hmm. Well did you work in the store also? AS: No sir. (Indecipherable) then my house work wouldn' ; t get done. EC: Now the oil boom was really over by the time you came here. AS: Yeah. (Indecipherable) 19:55- 20:11- Inaudible NS: Uphus Abraham (ph)? Uphus Abraham (ph)? AS: No. (Indecipherable) NS: Oh! (Indecipherable) Slyman? AS: (Inaudible) NS: Uncle Deeb' ; s? AS: (Inaudible) NS: Oh. AS: (Inaudible) NS: Well that-- I don' ; t know anything about that. AS: (Inaudible) NS: Well I' ; ve got a funny story of what happened to Mrs. Horany that' ; s Helen Shamas' ; s (ph) aunt. She came to this-- you know, territory here and she wanted-- wanted a room, just a one room to sleep in. And that was the relation with his dad' ; s sister. Whoever had the house was looking for a bedroom you know and everywhere she goes, in her best English asked for a place to sleep and they would say no room and room in Arabic means Greek Orthodox and she (Indecipherable) EC: (Laughter) NS: She thought they were telling her that they don' ; t-- that they don' ; t want no Greek Orthodox. EC: I see. NS: (Laughter) that was so funny. EC: In that connection and I' ; m sure this is not an easy kind of a question to answer but from what you have heard or experienced, how much anti-foreign feeling was there in Bristow or anti-Catholic feeling which of course was present all over the country in the 20' ; s-- NS: Well in Drumright when I grew up in school-- EC: Alright-- NS: They isolated us, they didn' ; t like-- they did not like Catholics. Especially if you let em' ; know you' ; re foreign. In school it was very, very hard to make-- EC: Was that true in Bristow as far as you know? NS: Well I-- it wasn' ; t when my kids growing up. Was it Edmond, did you ever hear of that? TS: It wasn' ; t so much so whenever I went to school but I know it was (Indecipherable) EC: Yeah. TS: In the older people that were-- EC: Right. TS: -- foreign-- EC: It' ; s hard to pin down whether this was anti-foreign or anti-Catholic. That' ; s what I' ; m wondering. NS: (Inaudible) TS: That was a real question for a long time. Everyone thought that it was anti-Catholic but there were you know other Catholics in town besides Lebanese people. EC: Right. TS: And so of course we felt like it was a lot of anti-foreign also now one of the reasons was normal human-- EC: Sure, sure. TS: I think-- EC: It wouldn' ; t be unusual. TS: No huh-uh, because of the fact of outsiders coming in (Indecipherable) and they were-- the Lebanese people really did cling together. In fact, they still do to a point. They can-- we have an organization in Tulsa still. It' ; s not as, you know it' ; s not like it was-- very secretive and no one else could get into it, but the Lebanese people had a tendency to stay together because they believed in unity. They believed in-- in trying to work together. Now this was -- I would say this would be the philosophy of the older Lebanese. Now I' ; m talking about my aunt and they had-- EC: Right. TS: -- progressed and you know, you become more Americanized. EC: Yeah-- TS: They changed-- EC: Are you aware-- or have you heard from your aunt or other relatives whether or not any of this carried over into business? For example, did Lebanese families have any more trouble borrowing money, let' ; s say-- at the bank. NS: Oh. TS: No, no-- NS: No, not-- TS: --I don' ; t feel like that. I don' ; t think so. I felt like that there were times that because they were very frugal with their dollars there were times that as time progressed they realized that the Lebanese people were-- they were business minded people-- EC: Right TS: --And this has been kind of a national thing from the old area and I search the web for the whole area-- EC: Sure. TS: --they' ; re very business minded and I think that over a period of years-- I think they had to change-- EC: Right. TS: -- in fact I think there were times (Inaudible) NS: (Inaudible) TS: And it became a-- they became a-- they gained a lot of confidence. EC: Yeah. NS: They had a very good relationship with the banks at that time. I mean because his Uncle Bill-- he' ; s eighty and he built a good relationship. In fact, I think our kids are being helped. Our own-- my generation, my boys are being helped and my children from his reputation when he was there. You know, and the banks and anywhere. EC: When did you come to Bristow? NS: In thirty-- 1933. (Laughter) EC: 1933. NS: Uh-huh. EC: The depression was going on then. NS: Oh yeah, I raised six kids (indecipherable) the depression. They know it, I didn' ; t hurt em' ; -- it didn' ; t hurt em' ; a bit. EC: What-- NS: My husband was-- EC: Yeah-- NS: a-- he was a butcher in a grocery store and working with (Indecipherable) TS: (Inaudible) NS: (Indecipherable) thirty-five dollars a week and we raised six children. By being very economical and all six-- all four-- the four boys helped down there in the grocery store. If nothing else, just to keep them off the streets. They' ; d dust cans and be sitting in the store helping you know. For maybe a quarter a day or something like that. (Laughter) And I don' ; t know whether-- I don' ; t think it hurt them, as far as I know I don' ; t. Maybe they feel like they got hurt but they didn' ; t have all the luxuries. They didn' ; t miss what they didn' ; t have. They didn' ; t miss what they didn' ; t have. EC: Right. NS: They had their own-- they wanted their own ballgame and ballfield. They formed it themselves, no organize. We didn' ; t have any organize play like they have now. EC: What about special occasions? Did they still have something like Fourth of July picnics and-- NS: Yes. EC: -- parades or-- NS: Uh-Huh EC: --did the circus still come in those days? NS: We didn' ; t have those but we would have a special occasion on the holidays. My own personal family-- let' ; s say. I came from a family of eight brothers and sisters and we managed once or twice a year to get together and there is usually about fifty or sixty of us of immediate family-- that means children and grandchildren, you know-- EC: Mmm-hmm. NS: --In-laws and outlaws and all that. We all have that, and I know-- I was reading about the Naifehs have that too. They call it you know like a convention or something. We don' ; t have-- we plan it at holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving and Easter. We get together-- covered dish dinners and be together. Then of course-- I don' ; t-- I don' ; t know if there' ; s anything organized anymore like that as far as-- EC: I was thinking more-- NS: These oh like the League of Americanized Syrians, they don' ; t have that anymore. EC: I was really thinking of Bristow itself. NS: Of Bristow itself-- EC: Did the city have a Fourth of July-- NS: No we don' ; t have enough-- EC: --picnics and stuff when you came here-- NS: We don' ; t have enough people here anymore to do anything like that. They did at one time we' ; d just go to the artesian wells when I was about fourteen, twelve, ten, eleven years old. See I don' ; t know where the artesian wells-- between here and Depew all I know. (Indecipherable) Best spring water ever came out of it and this whole-- the League of Americanized Syrians would go over there and oh I mean we were about like a hundred of em' ; . Come from all the surrounding areas and spent the whole day on Fourth of July. But that was in the past, I just wanted you to know. EC: What has been some of the things that you remember that were really interesting or funny to you. What' ; s happened to you in Bristow? Anything special that you can think of? AS: No sir. NS: Annie! Well, tell him about the time you flew on the airplane. AS: Huh? NS: Tell him about the airplane! You tell it to me a hundred times. EC: Tell me-- NS: You remember when you flew on the airplane? AS: Yes, we flew the airplane. First thing I see is the (Indecipherable) we was in Arkansas and they told me that I could fly. He said (Indecipherable) would you wanna fly. First time I flew was in 1920-- 1950. I went (Indecipherable) then I come back here. I went to our country with my husband and you see he did not want to go on the airplane. He wanted the ship. He said he didn' ; t want to die. I told him if you go on the jet you will die and if you go on the ship you will die, if you are on the airplane too. (Laughter) AS: I told him if you' ; re on the airplane and you die you don' ; t know it. But if you' ; re in the ship and you the big ship sunk and you go under the water and come up (indecipherable) come to the rescue. EC: Right. AS: And he never flew in the airplane but when we start to come back his ship was on (Indecipherable). We had to come on the airplane. He enjoyed very much. In 1960 we went another trip, me and him. We stayed out there for six months and come back. NS: Tell the one about the (Indecipherable) Oh, look at that eggplant up there! EC: (Laughter) NS: And that lady laughed and said that' ; s not eggplant, that' ; s an airplane. You know she said-- she said it wrong. I wanted her to tell that one. She always used to tell me about it all the time. Called, eggplant (Laughter). EC: Right. NS: About the eggplant! (Laughter) AS: I used-- we used to have neighbors living in the attic. We had to move them to the garage. They used to live upstairs. His wife and (Indecipherable) were spoken to me and I heard that there' ; s some airplane (Indecipherable) because I told her, " ; Some eggplant passed" ; she laughed. She said " ; That' ; s not eggplant that' ; s a vegetable you eat." ; EC: Laughter AS: Airplane is when you fly on it. EC: Right. AS: And she used to correct me when I spoke English, her and her husband. EC: I see. AS: And (Indecipherable) used to live next to (Indecipherable) our house. EC: Mmm-hmm. What are some of the oldest buildings in Bristow that you remember? What are-- are there some still around? Buildings or houses that were here when you came? NS: Our house from the 1900s. (Inaudible talking in the background) EC: Your house? This is--who built it? NS: Well he used to be the mayor but I don' ; t remember. I don' ; t know if-- you know who knows? Who built it. (Indecipherable) EC: Okay. NS: She knows who built the house. EC: And that' ; s-- what' ; s the address of it? NS: My house? EC: Yeah. NS: 229 West seventh. EC: 229 West seventh. NS: Uh-huh. EC: Okay. NS: But she came over the other day and told me that her happiest days were in that house. She grew up as a teenager and they would go over there and there was some teenage girls-- EC: Oh, Uh-huh. NS: And they' ; d-- and she' ; d-- and I think she-- and if I remember I think she said she took music lessons-- EC: Yeah. NS: --in that house. EC: Mmm-hmm NS: It was built I think by one of the first mayors, but I don' ; t know the name. See that' ; s one thing I don' ; t know. End of interview audio The following oral history testimony is the result of a cassette tape interview and is part of the Bristow Historical Society, Inc.’s collection of oral histories. The interview was transcribed and processed by the Bristow Historical Society, Inc., with financial assistance from the Montfort Jones & ; Allie Brown Jones Foundation. Rights to the material are held exclusively by the Bristow Historical Society, Inc. The reader should bear in mind that he or she is reading a verbatim transcript of spoken, rather than written prose. Insofar as possible, this transcript tries to represent the spoken word. Thus, it should be read as a personal memoir and not as either a researched monograph or edited account. To the extent possible, the spelling of place names, foreign words, and personal names have been verified, either by reference resources or directly by the interviewee. In some cases, a footnote has been added to the transcript in order to provide more information and/or to clarify a statement. Some uncertainties will inevitably remain regarding some words and their spellings. In these scenarios, a (ph) follows a word or name that is spelled phonetically. The notation [indecipherable] is used when the transcriber has not been able to comprehend the word or phrase being spoken. The notation [inaudible] is used where there is more mumbling than words, or when interference on the tape has made transcription impossible. 0 https://bristoworalhistory.org/ohms/viewer.php?cachefile=OHP-0022_Slyman,_Deeb_Family.xml OHP-0022_Slyman,_Deeb_Family.xml
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Slyman Family- Mrs. Deeb, Mrs. Dave and Tex
Description
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This 1979 interview discussing Deeb Slyman includes his wife Annie, nephew Tex (Edmond) Slyman and niece. They share about the journey from Lebanon and their settlement in Bristow. They discussed Deeb’s days in business, the acceptance of foreign people in town, and the many different Lebanese families that settled in Bristow.
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OHP-0022
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1979-06-21
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audio
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Title
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Family Histories
Type
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Oral History
Subject
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Oral accounts of various family histories
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Bristow Historical Society, oral history collection
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
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Georgia Smith
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed
Bill Dalpoas
Beth Dalpoas
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https://bristoworalhistory.org/ohms/viewer.php?cachefile=OHP-2021-18_Dalpoas_Bill_and_Beth.xml
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5.4 June 3, 2021 OHP-2021-18 Bill and Beth Dalpoas OHP-2021-18 00:00 - 53:53 'Bristow Historical Society - Oral History Archive' Bristow Historical Society, Inc. Bill Dalpoas Beth Dalpoas Georgia Smith MP3 1:|62(11)|84(4)|121(4)|138(16)|168(3)|198(2)|232(7)|255(1)|305(11)|343(5)|385(2)|411(16)|430(2)|470(4)|509(11)|552(4)|591(4)|618(9)|638(5)|666(3)|696(8)|729(14)|772(12)|795(3)|814(12)|857(7)|892(7)|924(5)|943(10)|981(12)|1000(14)|1049(7)|1073(4)|1118(6)|1147(8)|1162(3)|1178(3)|1203(6)|1229(7)|1251(4)|1268(3)|1287(13)|1305(2)|1327(7)|1358(11)|1388(5)|1407(9)|1438(9)|1468(8)|1493(9)|1513(11)|1523(16)|1543(5)|1563(8) 0 https://bristoworalhistory.org/interviews/OHP-2021-18 Dalpoas, Bill and Beth.mp3 Other audio 0 Introduction BD: Here we go BD: Red light is on GS: Yup, and it’s running so here we go. BD: Okay GS: Alright, this is Georgia Smith with the Bristow Historical Society in Bristow, Oklahoma., and this interview is part of the historical societies ongoing oral history project. The day is June 3rd, 2021 and I am sitting here at the home of Bill and Beth Dalpoas, who are going to tell me a little bit about their history in the Bristow area. Now, I’ll start with you Beth ; give me your full name and your date of birth. BD: Wow. Elizabeth Ann Long Dalpoas. Birthday: March 19, 1939, in Hartshorne, Oklahoma. GS: Okay thank you, and Bill what was your full name at birth and birth date, and place. Dick List ; Elizabeth Ann Long Dalpoas ; Hartshorne, Oklahoma ; J.L. Bobson ; J.L. Turner ; McAlester, Oklahoma ; William Raymond Dalpaos 185 Local Businesses GS: Well we’re glad you didn’t. So what job did you come to here? BD: I was manager of a store. We opened in the old Safeway location, which is now Homestead. GS: Okay that’s right, Safeway was there BD: Right off the corner GS: 8th in Main, uh-huh. BD: And we opened the store and it was kinda [Indecipherable] store, we’d get big baskets of socks that were not even matched and we had to go through all of them and match them GS: Oh wow BD: It was nationwide department stores, wasn’t it? Ben Franklins ; Cleo Pinson ; Department Stores ; Dollar General ; Hi-Way Cafe ; Homestead ; Safeway Stores, Inc. ; Travis Paten ; Walmart ; Wolverton Mountain https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/186812043/cleo-wayne-pinson Cleo Pinson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpmztcX_BtI Wolverton Mountain 643 Organizations and Church Life GS: Okay so when you moved here, did you get active in any of the organizations here in town? BD: Yeah we— GS: I’ll start with Bill, and then I’ll jump to you Beth BD: We had started a JC Program GS: Okay BD: I was president of JC’s for two years. We had a hundred members GS: Wow! BD: But— BD: Now that’s a certain age group, the JC’s are. GS: Okay Ashley Vandever ; Barbara Hutten ; Danny Ashley ; Dunaways Funeral Home ; First Baptist Church ; JC Program ; Johnny Carmichael ; Joule Dean Masterson ; Linda Suther ; Mary Hellen Holmes ; Morris Hancock ; Stacey James ; Sue Tapana ; Swimming Pool Project ; Western Heritage 1003 Special Memories and Events GS: Okay so do you have any anecdotes about those years, or special memories of events that happened during that time? BD: Well at one point in time I was a Welcome Wagon hostess for Bristow GS: Very good! BD: And the business professional women, we had a big committee of that— or group of that GS: Yes BD: And they got Jane Ann Jurough (ph), the reigning at that point in time, to come down. GS: Yes BD: And they— they had decorated the force field house with the big swing and all of that, and as the welcome wagon hostess, I got to go out to the [Indecipherable] house west of town GS: Yes Ally Reynolds ; Ashland, Oklahoma ; Buddy ; Corwins Dentistry ; Danny Hanks ; David Leflar ; Dowell Matthews ; Dr. Copiague ; Fort Cob ; Hartshorne, Oklahoma ; Jane Ann Jurough ; Johnny Darnell ; Jones Foundation ; Mr. Wells ; Myrtle Alexander ; Presbyterian ; Robert Jones ; Steve Holland ; Thurmans Hotel ; Welcome Wagon 1910 Entertainment GS: Yeah. Okay so you had a lot of the youth in your home BD: Yes GS: What else did you do for entertainment Bill? BD: Well we went dancing a lot GS: Oh where did you go dancing? BD: Anywhere there was a dance BD: Anywhere—When we first got married, we’d go to a dance every week GS: Were there dances here in Bristow? BD: No BD: No, that was before we moved here, there was Italian place in McAlester that would have us come at—it wasn’t Pete’s place, it was [Indecipherable] Big George Joseph ; Cara Jean Thompson ; Dana Dalpoas ; dance ; dancing ; Danny Dalpoas ; Jitterbug ; Pete's Place ; Roland Hotel ; Saturday Night Fever 2084 Work GS: Okay so Beth tell me about your time at Edison Elementary BD: Well, when we moved out here in 1976, and we got all settled and everything, I didn’t have anything to do. Both of the children were in school, he was at work, and so I went to Doctor Carmichael and I said “I’m ready to go to work. Is there anything available” you know? Well there was two or three jobs available, and I said “put me where you want me” and he put me as kindergarten aid. So for two or three years, I had my own room, where home alone is now, and I had every kindergartener every day. GS: Wow BD: They would come to my room, ‘cus we only had half day kindergarten then GS: Yes BD: And so one room—one half of the room was for morning kindergarten, the decorations and stuff, and the other room was—half was afternoon. And that went on and I mean the decorations were what they did. I mean, we had a— Bill drew a great big tree and we put it and we decorated it for every holiday, they did paperwork. Plus, then I as given the attendance books for Edison Elementary to keep on top of that GS: Okay Betty Lindsay ; Brent ; Doctor Carmichael ; Joann Free ; Judy Vise ; Lomenick ; Mr. Sanford ; Olivia Neil ; Rex Kearly ; Scott ; Warren Carmichael https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/26832848/warren-c-carmichael Dr. Warren Carmichael 2523 Influential Figures GS: Looking back at the decades again, who were some of the more influential people that you think have come through Bristow that have helped Bristow? BD: Well number one Doctor Warren Carmichael (ph) GS: Okay, he was the Superintendent for the schools BD: When I was on the school board they hired him, and when he came to Bristow, Bristow’s schools were stagnant. We had old building, and that’s what we jumped on first. We started building buildings, and it just went in a different way after he came here. He got retirement for the maintenance people and all of— BD: Support people BD: Support people GS: Yeah, yeah BD: Which they appreciate it GS: Which before they didn’t have? BD: No BD: He had a chain of command, you didn’t just— GS: No you didn’t Bob Chatterton ; Dick List ; Doctor Warren Carmichael ; Joann List ; Tara Montgomery 2848 Military Service GS: That brings up a good, different direction to go in. Did any either of you or your children serve in the service? BD: I did GS: What branch? BD: Army GS: Army? BD: 11 years GS: Were you— was it during peace time or did you go overseas? BD: I didn’t go overseas because I belonged to a division that was a training division GS: Okay BD: We trained troops to go over there GS: And what years were you with the Army? BD: Oh, I enlisted when I was in high school, 1956 until 64’ and I resigned, but the army kept me on 24-hour standby for three years 45th Division ; Army ; Okmulgee 2997 Biggest Societal Impact and COVID GS: Yes, it does. It definitely does. I usually ask people looking back over your lifetime, what do you consider the biggest, maybe not invention, but the invention or situation that changed things the most, or made the most impact on society or your life? BD: Wow GS: Yeah that’s a biggie BD: When you live as long as we have, there’s been a lot GS: Yes, there has BD: Technology GS: Definitely. I think technology is a lot like Pandora’s box BD: Yes, yes BD: I think we’ve had too much. I’m like the guy in the Tulsa paper today that complained about all the computers failing and everything, and he called 911, well their computer was down, he called the police and their computer was down, so he called the chief of police and asked him ‘have they outdated pencil and paper?’. But I think we’ve got too much communicating. When I was a kid growing up in Elementary school, if I got in trouble we didn’t have a home phone, but if I got in trouble before I came home that evening, my mother already knew about it. BD: True, so true COVID ; Elementary School ; Social Distancing ; Technology ; Tulsa Paper ; Vo-Tech In this 2021 interview, Bill and Beth Dalpoas share about life in Bristow as young adults. Together, they talk about the organizations they were active in, different businesses, and entertainment during that time. Interviewer: Georgia Smith Interviewee: Bill and Beth Dalpoas Other Persons: Date of Interview: June 3, 2021 Location: Bristow, Creek County Oklahoma Transcriber: Abby Thompson Organization: Bristow Historical Society, Inc. Original Cassette Tape Location: OHP-2021-18 at 00:00 to 53:53 Abstract: Preface: The following oral history testimony is the result of a cassette tape interview and is part of the Bristow Historical Society, Inc.' ; s collection of oral histories. The interview was transcribed and processed by the Bristow Historical Society, Inc., with financial assistance from the Montfort Jones & ; Allie Brown Jones Foundation. Rights to the material are held exclusively by the Bristow Historical Society, Inc. The reader should bear in mind that he or she is reading a verbatim transcript of spoken, rather than written prose. Insofar as possible, this transcript tries to represent the spoken word. Thus, it should be read as a personal memoir and not as either a researched monograph or edited account. To the extent possible, the spelling of place names, foreign words, and personal names have been verified, either by reference resources or directly by the interviewee. In some cases, a footnote has been added to the transcript in order to provide more information and/or to clarify a statement. Some uncertainties will inevitably remain regarding some words and their spellings. In these scenarios, a (ph) follows a word or name that is spelled phonetically. The notation [indecipherable] is used when the transcriber has not been able to comprehend the word or phrase being spoken. The notation [inaudible] is used where there is more mumbling than words, or when interference on the tape has made transcription impossible. BD: Here we go BD: Red light is on GS: Yup, and it' ; s running so here we go. BD: Okay GS: Alright, this is Georgia Smith with the Bristow Historical Society in Bristow, Oklahoma., and this interview is part of the historical societies ongoing oral history project. The day is June 3rd, 2021 and I am sitting here at the home of Bill and Beth Dalpoas, who are going to tell me a little bit about their history in the Bristow area. Now, I' ; ll start with you Beth ; give me your full name and your date of birth. BD: Wow. Elizabeth Ann Long Dalpoas. Birthday: March 19, 1939, in Hartshorne, Oklahoma. GS: Okay thank you, and Bill what was your full name at birth and birth date, and place. BD: William Raymond Dalpoas, and I was born in Hartshorne, Oklahoma, August 5, 1938. GS: Very good, wow. Okay and what year were you two married, Beth? BD: Oh, 1959 October the 4th in Hartshorne, Oklahoma. GS: In Hartshorne, Oklahoma. BD: We repeated our vows five years later First Baptist church in Bristow with reverend Dick List (ph) performing the ceremony. GS: Oh how wonderful! And what prompted you to do that? BD: Well, it was a promise that I had made my parents that we would do this, and-- but they didn' ; t show up. But the ladies at the church decorated with the colors that we had used in our wedding, and our son Danny carried our rings for us GS: Aw how sweet BD: And there was a reception at the church afterwards just like when we got married GS: Aw that' ; s-- that was pretty neat, that' ; s pretty neat. Well what brought you to the Bristow area Bill? BD: Well I was working in a store in McAlester, Oklahoma GS: What kind of store? BD: It was a general merchandise store, clothing. GS: Okay BD: It was a company owned by J.L. Dobson (ph). BD: Turner. J.L. Turner-- okay. BD: Out of Kentucky, and when I found out they were gonna move me to Bristow, we drove up here and looked the town over. GS: Very good BD: And we were not very impressed GS: Oh you weren' ; t? BD: No. There was [Indecipherable] and a Penny' ; s (ph) and two drug stores, two jewelry stores, and that' ; s just about all. And there was a Safeway, but that' ; s about all there was. I counted eleven empty buildings. GS: Wow, and that was in what year? BD: 1962 GS: My goodness BD: And I almost backed out when I saw the town, but I didn' ; t GS: Well we' ; re glad you didn' ; t. So what job did you come to here? BD: I was manager of a store. We opened in the old Safeway location, which is now Homestead. GS: Okay that' ; s right, Safeway was there BD: Right off the corner GS: 8th in Main, uh-huh. BD: And we opened the store and it was kinda [Indecipherable] store, we' ; d get big baskets of socks that were not even matched and we had to go through all of them and match them GS: Oh wow BD: It was nationwide department stores, wasn' ; t it? BD: Yeah it was a nationwide, and it morphed into what is now Dollar General store. GS: Oh okay! And Dollar General store is presently where a different old Safeway was (Laughter) BD: And the first person that we saw when we came to Bristow, really, was Cleo Pinson standing on the corner there by the store, singing Wolverton Mountain. GS: Oh my goodness BD: And after we looked the town over and ate at Hi-way Café, we drove around town awhile looking at houses, not knowing which side of town to look on or anything, got wound up out by the swimming pool and there was Cleo still singing Wolverton Mountain (Laughter) GS: How wonderful, Cleo was a main stay in Bristow for many years BD: Yes, and he never called me Beth, it was Beverly GS: Really? Well. BD: Beverly, the whole time, yes. GS: Okay, so how long were you with Nationwide? BD: Well, I was with them from 61' ; until 64' ; GS: Okay, and what caused you to leave them then? BD: I was hired by Travis Paten GS: Okay, to do what? BD: Be an assistant manager at a variety store, which was planned [Indecipherable] was gonna leave Bristow, and he bought the building and we opened a Ben Franklin store there. GS: I remember that, yes. So he hired you to be the manager of it? BD: Yes GS: How long did Ben Franklin' ; s last in Bristow? Well first off where was it? BD: Oh, it was right directly across the street from Safeway GS: Okay, so between 7th and 8th street on the West side BD: Yes BD: Where the parking lot is now GS: For the Mexican Restaurant BD: Right GS: Uh-huh, okay. And how long were you with Ben Franklin store? BD: Oh, till 1978 and I opened the men' ; s store GS: And what was the name of that store? BD: Bills [Indecipherable] GS: I remember that. And did you open it in Ben Franklins or in a different location-- I mean in the same building or a different location? BD: No, different location. GS: Okay, and so did-- was Ben Franklin' ; s still there, or-- and they had a different manager BD: Yes, it was still there, yes. GS: Okay, and how long did you have Bills [Indecipherable]? BD: Oh, what three years? BD: I believe so BD: Three years, and then I bought the Ben Franklin store GS: Oh okay! Okay, how long did you own it then? BD: Not very long, it burned. GS: I remember that BD: I think about two or three years later GS: Aww BD: We had it in 1982 because my dad' ; s clock that he had at the naval base in McAlester was in there that burned, Danas little flowers that she had in a coronation in high school were in there, and dads big roll top desk, remember? It was in there. BD: Yeah GS: Can you tell me anything Beth about some of the businesses that were on each side of the street? BD: I thought Bristow was a neat little town, I thought it was busy, but you know, I wasn' ; t a merchant so I-- I do know that there was-- when I was trying to find a house for us, or whatever, Chamber of Commerce wasn' ; t too happy about us moving to Bristow, but-- GS: Really? BD: Yeah, but it was-- GS: Why on earth not? BD: ' ; What kind of business are you putting in?' ; That was one of the questions, and I said " ; Well it' ; s a general merchandise, sir" ; and da-da-da, and they just weren' ; t too receptive, you know. GS: Well, that' ; s unusual BD: It really-- it really was GS: You would think they would' ; ve welcomed all business. BD: But-- no they weren' ; t, you know, because it was, you know, we had sharps, or not sharps at that time it was-- GS: Pennys (ph) BD: Pennys, and Shamus (ph) GS: Yes BS: and-- GS: Clothe stores BD: Yes, those. And we had men' ; s store, and it was like infringing on their business GS: Yes, I see BD: Which, in a way-- GS: And Patens Place (ph) BD: Yes, well Paten still had Ben Franklin, the small store. GS: Okay BS: It was-- GS: Well, but didn' ; t they have a clothing store too? BD: Yes, later on they did. GS: Oh, not right then BD: No, Pauline Paten (ph) GS: Okay BS: That was Pauline' ; s GS: I didn' ; t realize that, okay. BD: So it was-- I mean the people were great! The people themselves, you know, but I can sorta understand the business part, just like how we felt when we heard that Walmart was coming in. GS: Right, yes. BD: Bill made a comment when that happened, they said " ; What are you gonna do when Walmart opens" ; and he said " ; It wouldn' ; t matter if I had the Dallas cheerleaders dancing naked out on main street, they' ; d still go to Walmart" ; GS: Yeah BD: Which is-- GS: And Walmart has really hurt mainstream, downtown America. BD: If you look at any town that' ; s-- they have messed up main street America. I know everybody needed a job, but they had jobs before that in a different area. But it' ; s, yeah it has. BD: Yeah Walmart took 75% of my business the very first day GS: Wow, wow BD: At the time before Walmart moved in, I had 13 women working for me, and I ended up with two. GS: Oh my goodness, yeah that would be really disheartening BD: Yeah, it was GS: Yeah it would be. BD: People used to park on Main street on Saturday night because that was the late night to stay open just to see who was coming to town and to look inside the stores GS: Really? BD: It was really neat, yes GS: I like that! BD: They did! Certain people would have certain parking places every Saturday night and they parked on main street to watch the foot traffic and to see what was going on and it was really-- GS: Did we have the vertical parking then, or the horizontal? BD: We had both! GS: Okay BD: It was the vertical then we had the horizontal, and I think the ODOT said, you know, since it was a state highway, we had to do the-- BD: Parallel BD: Parallel parking GS: Yes, parallel parking BD: Whatever-- yeah, whatever that was, and so. GS: Okay so when you moved here, did you get active in any of the organizations here in town? BD: Yeah we-- GS: I' ; ll start with Bill, and then I' ; ll jump to you Beth BD: We had started a JC Program GS: Okay BD: I was president of JC' ; s for two years. We had a hundred members GS: Wow! BD: But-- BD: Now that' ; s a certain age group, the JC' ; s are. GS: Okay BD: And we were instrumental in doing a lot of things. We bought a siding machine and all the-- we did all the street signs, and put them up GS: Oh that' ; s awesome! BD: And we were instrumental in the swimming pool project GS: Yes BD: And we did a lot of-- lot of good things. GS: They have been a good organization in Bristow, they have BD: But it' ; s made up of young business men GS: Uh-huh BD: And Bristow ended up not having any GS: Yeah, yeah. Not very many, we had a few but not too many anymore, yeah. Most of them that we do-- BD: What we have now are good, but back then it was--really we went to state conventions and everything and made little Indian necklaces to represent Oklahoma. I mean the Women ; the JC Janes were the co-whatever' ; s of the JCs. GS: Were you a member of the JC Janes? BD: Yes, Barbara Hutten (ph), Ashley Vandever (ph), Sue Tapana (ph), Linda Suther (ph), yes, I mean we were all. Well I have a silver plate that says " ; Charter Member" ; For Stacey James (ph), Mary Ellen Holmes (ph), yes. GS: Yes BD: We were very active. I mean, we raffled Christmas items off, we' ; d sit and sew sequins on Christmas tree skirts and raffle those off. We were the backbone mainly of the JCs. I mean we were the support group of the JCs. Whatever they were active in, we went along with it. GS: So you didn' ; t do your own thing, you were there to back up the JCs? BD: Right GS: Okay very good, yeah. BD: And the JCs were the backbone of western heritage BD: Yes BD: We had gun fights GS: I remember, I was a kid and loved to go down to the gun fights and the stage coach coming in, bicycles build for two BD: Yes, yes GS: Lots of fun things BD: My best memory of that was I was due to get shot, and I got shot and I think it was Dunaways (ph) funeral home that had an old horse drawn hearse GS: Oh my goodness really? BD: Yeah and they come down and put me in that thing GS: Oh my goodness BD: Now this is in August bear in mind, no air conditioning, nothing BD: And it was hotter than blazes, I couldn' ; t hardly wait to get out of that thing BD: They took him ; I don' ; t know where they-- on up north main BD: they rode around with me for a while GS: Oh my goodness, I' ; d have said-- it probably wasn' ; t air conditioned, was it BD: No, no GS: Oh my goodness sakes BD: Joule Dean Masterton (ph) is -- I think I' ; ve donated the pictures, I' ; m not sure but there she is over and she' ; s tickling him trying to get him to move, but I mean he' ; s been shot you know. (Laughter) BD: But Joule Dean was trying to get him to move or something, then they loaded him up in that GS: I' ; d love to have some copies of some of those pictures BD: Okay GS: That would be just marvelous, that would be wonderful. So besides the JCs and the JC Janes, are there other organizations you were involved in? BD: Well we were very active in the First Baptist Church, we were both Sunday school teachers for Junior high, and he coached baseball-- BD: Yeah BD: For-- GS: Little league baseball? BD: Well we had church leagues then GS: Oh okay BD: If you didn' ; t attend Sunday school you didn' ; t-- GS: Play baseball BD: you didn' ; t play that week or whatever GS: Uh-huh BD: So it was-- BD: And I still have-- well there were a few that played on my team in Bristow and they still call me coach GS: Aww that' ; s nice BD: Or Papa Bill-- or Daddy Bill! BD: Yeah Daddy Bill BD: Daddy Bill, because that' ; s what Danny called him, ya know was Daddy Bill. GS: Danny? BD: Our son GS: Oh okay BD: Our son called him Daddy Bill, so I mean there were Danny Hanks, and-- my goodness BD: Ashley BD: Ol' ; Danny Ashley BD: Danny Ashley (ph) BD: Yes BD: Johnny Carmichael (ph) BD: Yes, his dad was a highway patrol man here, the Carmichael' ; s BD: And Morris Hancock (ph) GS: Yes BD: Yes. Yeah, I still keep up with them on Facebook GS: He came into the museum over tabbouleh fest BD: Oh really? GS: He did, I got to see him, I hadn' ; t seen him in years. BD: Well that' ; s great! We haven' ; t either. GS: Okay so, you mentioned Danny, your son. How many children did you have? BD: We have two children ; Danny was nine months old when we moved up here GS: Okay BD: And then Dana is our daughter and she was born in February of 64' ; out here in Bristow medical center-- or the hospital then! The Baptists had it then GS: Yes BD: And Danny was born at Saint Marys' ; hospital in McAlester GS: Okay BD: So, our families were not too happy when we moved up here, but-- GS: I' ; m sure BD: You' ; ve gotta do what you' ; ve gotta do GS: That' ; s right, jobs take you where they take you BD: Right GS: Okay so do you have any anecdotes about those years, or special memories of events that happened during that time? BD: Well at one point in time I was a Welcome Wagon hostess for Bristow GS: Very good! BD: And the business professional women, we had a big committee of that-- or group of that GS: Yes BD: And they got Jane Ann Jurough (ph), the reigning at that point in time, to come down. GS: Yes BD: And they-- they had decorated the force field house with the big swing and all of that, and as the welcome wagon hostess, I got to go out to the [Indecipherable] house west of town GS: Yes BD: And give her gifts from the local merchants GS: Oh how wonderful! BD: So that was-- and I understand she' ; s still a TV announcer in Oklahoma City GS: Uh-huh, I' ; ve seen her a time or two BD: That was a, something. And then Ally Reynolds (ph) one of the baseball-- BD: Yeah one of the baseball field was dedicated out here, which now football--high school football has taken it over GS: Okay BD: And I had a New York Yankees baseball that my Anna gave me, and I took it up to him and had him resign under his name GS: Aww how wonderful! Do you still have that? BD: No GS: Aw BD: I gave it to my son and he sold it on Ebay-- BD: Ebay or something GS: Aww, that' ; s a shame. BD: But he does have a baseball signed from-- when we had the t-shirt shop, it was in the summer time in the Fort Cob boys. There was a little team from Fort Cob baseball, and they' ; d come in the store and they ordered t-shirts that had certain lettering on them, well our daughter Dana could do the lettering real good, she and Bill did that, and they were not allowed to swim on--and they were staying at Thurman' ; s hotel up on North main, and every time they' ; d win a game, they' ; d bring those little shirts in and I' ; d wash them for them and they' ; d have new lettering put on [Indecipherable]. And they got into the finals, and they would just lay around in the store because it was air conditioned, they didn' ; t bother anything or anybody, they' ; d do little errands and they were the nicest young men. And their coaches were fantastic, and they got in the championship game over in Mannford, and they won. GS: Oh wonderful BD: And the first people they came to show the trophy was Bill and I GS: Aww BD: So that really-- GS: Spoke a lot to them BD: Yes, so Dana-- I brought all their shirts home, washed them on Saturday night so they could have them on Sunday to be able to go back to Fort Cob, but we heard from one of the coaches' ; wife for quite a few years, and they offered to come get us for their picnic in a private plane, but we didn' ; t go. GS: That would have been a fun experience BD: Oh--maybe! Maybe so BD: I still have their baseball bat there BD: Yeah, they signed us a baseball GS: Aww BD: And I have the baseball from my team too from 1966 GS: Oh that' ; s wonderful, 1966 BD: Yeah we' ; re a collector of ' ; things' ; , I mean just-- BD: Well I had-- she had a birthday party for me, and they all came to the house and that' ; s when they signed the baseball GS: Awww that' ; s perfect! That' ; s just the perfect present BD: Our house was the party house and the whatever house that the kids wanted to come to, because was it the bachelors that? BD: Yeah BD: They used to come practice in our living room, the band BD: Oh boy GS: That takes some patience to put up with that now BD: Yes, yes. Yeah that--but they did-- GS: Who was in that band? Was that Steve Hollands band? BD: No, that was before Steve I think BD: Yeah it was BD: Or maybe it was in between-- I don' ; t remember, there was Danny Hanks (ph), gosh we went all through that just recently, who was in what band. And then they would have teen town on Friday nights, was it? BD: Yeah BD: At the Presbyterian basement. GS: Oh in the Presbyterian basement! I never went to it there BD: I--yes it was because we lived on West fifth street, the house has been torn down now GS: That was probably before I lived here BD: Yes, yes GS: When I went to Teen town, it was on east ninth I believe BD: No that was before the Presbyterians sponsored it GS: Was after it? Presbyterian was before or after the east ninth teen town? BD: Yes, yes. It was before. GS: Before BD: Yup GS: Okay, and then it moved from the east ninth location to seventh street and it didn' ; t last very long on east seventh. About where that church is, the Cornerstone church BD: Oh okay GS: My memory' ; s a little fuzzy but about there BD: I don' ; t remember--I mean GS: When I was, oh maybe a sophomore in high school BD: Oh okay GS: So around 71' ; maybe, I moved here BD: Okay GS: Okay so looking back at the decades you' ; ve been here ; what decade do you think was the best for Bristow? BD: 60' ; s GS: The 60' ; s? BD: Definitely the 60' ; s GS: What do you think made it the best? BD: The people GS: The people? BD: They were together. I mean they worked together, business was good, schools have always been great, he served on the school board for-- BD: Nine years BD: Nine years, and then I worked for Edison for 27 years, and how long did you work at-- BD: Seventeen years BD: Seventeen years, so. It' ; s been great, really. We have no--well people were motivated in the 60' ; s, you know? The families in the 70' ; s were alright. We moved in our present home where we are now in 1976 in June. In September of that year, school had started and our son comes home and says " ; I volunteered the carport to build our float" ; (Laughter) BD: The big nails are still out in the carport framing, and they were out here-- I mean BD: I came home from work, and it was dark, and I turned the corner and came in the driveway and I had kids on the roof GS: Oh my goodness BD: They were everywhere BD: Well this was all woods then, so we were the second home to build out here. This was all a wooded area GS: Oh my goodness, and now look at all the houses around you. BD: Yes, this 40 acres was bought by Mr. Jones and Mr. Leflar from a little Indian-- GS: Robert Jones (ph) and David Leflar (ph)? BD: No GS: The lawyers? No? BD: David Leflar and-- BD: Well Leflar was the--he had the Jones foundation BD: Yes GS: Okay, those Jones BD: And they kept telling me--when we were building this was not in the city limits and I said " ; Yes it is" ; " ; No it isn' ; t" ; so I went to city hall one day when Johnny Darnell (ph) was still with us in the city clerk, got my coke and peanuts, and I went through all the records that Johnny would let me go through GS: Uh-huh BD: And I found a school board minutes one time and there' ; d been a [Indecipherable] on there cus' ; Mr. Leflar was also the school attorney GS: Oh okay BD: So he had added that on that this was--this 40 acres was in the city limits GS: There you go, good for you! BD: So I-- we, well they weren' ; t gonna give us any city utilities or anything GS: Oh yeah BD: We still have our own water well, we don' ; t have city water GS: Really? BD: But that' ; s okay, we don' ; t have a water bill GS: Yeah, exactly yeah BD: And it' ; s good water too GS: That' ; s good, that' ; s very good BD: So we did-- this was all red clay when we moved here GS: Lots of red clay in Bristow BD: Yes, yes. And the Matthews home on the hill was the first home built out here because Dowell (ph) and Leflar owned this GS: Okay BD: Dowell Matthews and David Leflar. GS: Okay, and did they develop-- did they build all the houses or just they sold the lots? BD: The lots, we bought two lots ' ; cus we lived where Corwins dentist office is in a two story house GS: Oh okay! Uh-huh! BD: And we had the first tree that was ever had Christmas lights outside on it GS: Aww BD: And they tore ' ; em down GS: Aww that hurt, didn' ; t it? BD: Yes, yes it did. Especially when you found out it was someone in your Sunday school class GS: Aww (Laughter) BD: But it--then when the grocery store burned, Mr. Wells, who was the owner of the grocery store, started buying lots. Bill and I had said to ourselves " ; When we get to x amount of dollars, we' ; ll sell" ; GS: There you go, uh-huh. BD: He did! GS: Wow! Very wonderful BD: So we used that money to build this home GS: Very good! BD: So, he was-- there was a lot of fun times over there on 7th street too. I mean, the folks over there were really good too-- GS: Good neighbors BD: Yes, yes. The Methodist church was right across the street GS: Yes BD: And, ohh what was her name? Alexander-- Myrtle GS: Myrtle Alexander (ph) BD: Yes. I would crank up the stereo if I was cleaning a house and open the door and she' ; d go sweeping down the sidewalk to tell them about [Indecipherable] BD: Dancing GS: How wonderful BD: She was-- she was a keeper for sure. GS: I' ; ve heard many good things about her BD: Then we had--there was a little--did Buddy just have one leg? The little black guy who had the shoe shine? BD: Hm, yeah BD: There was a little black guy' ; s first name was Buddy. I have heard his last name ; someone has told me but I' ; ve forgotten. He had a little shoe shine place in the alcove of where-- BD: Where Penny' ; s (ph) was BD: Yes, where-- GS: Okay, yes BD: There' ; s a little alcove in there and Buddy had a shoe shine stop GS: Oh how wonderful! BD: And he would talk by our house and one day he just stopped and he--we just had the best conversation because he told us, told me who had built lived in that house. It was a doctor Copiague. Now I don' ; t know which Copiague it was, but he told me that he took care of his horses, little paint horses, their little team. And when Doc Copiague (ph) would go out at night, Buddy said I would go, and he said that this porch right here on this house ; when it got hot, the girls would sleep out on this, and I said " ; Really Buddy?" ; and he said " ; Yeah" ; . And he said " ; On all the sides on this side of town, you see the little houses on the ally? Well that' ; s where the house keepers stayed" ; or whatever. And he said " ; We just had a lot of fun. Doctor Copiague was so nice" ; GS: Aw BD: I just thought ' ; Wowie' ; , ya know. And he said this house had a big wrought iron fence all the way around it, because we dug and found--we didn' ; t know what was going on, but it was--We moved from a five room house to a nine room house GS: Oh my goodness, that' ; s wonderful BD: And the nine room house people moved into our five room house (Laughter) BD: That was a busy, busy night GS: Downsizing and upsizing BD: Yes, yes. But we' ; ve-- this is home GS: Yes BD: You know ; we weren' ; t raised here. Bill was raised is Hartshorne, and I was raised in Ashland, which is a farming community. GS: What--where is that in Oklahoma? BD: That' ; s south west of McAlester BD: Yeah GS: Oh okay BD: My dad was called to the naval base, it used to be a navy base, it' ; s an army base now. GS: Yes DD: Now I' ; ve still got a ashtray and stuff from that navy base. And dad worked for the rock Island, he went to work from-- he was manager southern ice in Haileyville, and then we went to work for Rock Island Railroad and hated it, then when the war broke out, my dad had a fantastic memory for numbers. And they needed somebody to dispatch the railroad cars, so basically he was drafted. I mean he was-- had too many dependents to be drafted. But it was like ' ; give up your job-- ' ; GS: I' ; m just gonna check and make sure we' ; re going great, yes we are. BD: And worked at the navy base GS: Oh, uh-huh BD: So dad worked out there for twenty something years before he retired GS: Oh BD: So, and then we moved on--McAlester was here, Navy base was here, Ashland was here, Hartshorne was on the other side-- east of McAlester, we were Ashland was west. We were 45 miles apart when we were dating, so big drive. (Laughter) You' ; d drive that way-- BD: I put a lot of miles on my car GS: I bet you did Bill BD: And how many months, we dated? BD: Six months GS: Ahh BD: Our first date was April the 15th, 1959 income tax day GS: Oh my goodness, yes. BD: And we got married October the 4th GS: Oh, well that' ; s a pretty speedy courtship there BD: Yeah. Be 62 years this October GS: Well congratulations BD: I guess BD: Yeah GS: Yeah. Okay so you had a lot of the youth in your home BD: Yes GS: What else did you do for entertainment Bill? BD: Well we went dancing a lot GS: Oh where did you go dancing? BD: Anywhere there was a dance BD: Anywhere--When we first got married, we' ; d go to a dance every week GS: Were there dances here in Bristow? BD: No BD: No, that was before we moved here, there was Italian place in McAlester that would have us come at--it wasn' ; t Pete' ; s place, it was [Indecipherable] GS There was a large settlement I think the Italians in that area BD: Right [Indecipherable] And we go--they' ; d ask us to come dance Tuesday night to get people to come out on the dance floor and dance, then they' ; d give us our meal free GS: Oh how wonderful! Well that was pretty good for a newlywed couple BD: Yeah that helped a lot, that helped a lot. GS: I think Ted would' ; ve learned a dance BD: Danny and Dana both danced. We had-- we went to Sapulpa and Danny and Cara Jean Thompson (ph) went to Stroud and a contest, like Saturday Night Fever or whatever, they were very good, they could-- GS: And was it 50' ; s type dancing or ballroom dancing? BD: Bill and I, both GS: Both BD: Uh-huh, yeah. He was very good dancer BD: Jitterbug GS: And you could Jitterbug? BD: Oh yeah GS: Oh I wish I could see you Jitterbug BD: I wish I still could (Laughter) GS: I understand that BD: You could if you wanted to, you could if you wanted to. But we-- GS: So did you go to Tulsa to dances from Bristow? BD: No, they used to have quite a few dances. I mean, and up on top of the Roland Hotel is a big ballroom GS: Oh okay BD: And on top of JC Penny was, is a ballroom GS: Yes BD: But the J.C.' ; s used to have our-- some of our new year' ; s parties up there. When Big George Joseph (ph) and all of those were-- GS: Yes BD: Big George had a pig onetime that had been roasted, and that was our centerpiece and [Indecipherable] so, yeah. GS: Was it staring back at ya? BD: Yes BD: Yeah, it had an apple in its mouth BD: Cherries for the eyes BD: I didn' ; t eat too much GS: I understand that BD: But that--there' ; s a very nice dance floor up there. And on top of the Penny' ; s building was also-- BD: Well they used to have dances out at the country club. GS: Okay, were you members of the country club? BD: For a while, yeah GS: Uh-huh, any other organizations, like the Elks or anything? BD: No I belonged to the Lions for a while GS: The Lions club, okay. BD: Did you belong to the Rotary or was it Travis? BD: No, the Lions club. I didn' ; t belong to the Rotary BD: Okay GS: Okay so Beth tell me about your time at Edison Elementary BD: Well, when we moved out here in 1976, and we got all settled and everything, I didn' ; t have anything to do. Both of the children were in school, he was at work, and so I went to Doctor Carmichael and I said " ; I' ; m ready to go to work. Is there anything available" ; you know? Well there was two or three jobs available, and I said " ; put me where you want me" ; and he put me as kindergarten aid. So for two or three years, I had my own room, where home alone is now, and I had every kindergartener every day. GS: Wow BD: They would come to my room, ' ; cus we only had half day kindergarten then GS: Yes BD: And so one room--one half of the room was for morning kindergarten, the decorations and stuff, and the other room was--half was afternoon. And that went on and I mean the decorations were what they did. I mean, we had a-- Bill drew a great big tree and we put it and we decorated it for every holiday, they did paperwork. Plus, then I as given the attendance books for Edison Elementary to keep on top of that GS: Okay BD: So it was running all the papers for the two teachers at that time, and myself, plus taking the attendance for Edison. And when Christmas came, it was Brent, Scott, Lomenick, all that group. I had made little Christmas ornaments for every one of them. And one of the mothers told me not long ago they she still have it GS: Aw that' ; s so sweet BD: So I' ; m going ' ; Okay' ; but it was out of clothespins and glue and paint, and then we moved down to-- what building is it did they used? Now it was where that third grade building, I don' ; t know what they use that building for, it' ; s not the administration building, But there was Joann Free (ph) and Betty Lindsay (ph) and I was will their aid in the room, I was there all the time. So I went from one to the other, but I loved those little ones. It was-- I can still remember ' ; Sounds like Gurple, but it' ; s Purple' ; ya know. But teaching them their colors and kindergarteners are so much more advanced for the time they-- I mean we' ; ve got a great granddaughter that' ; ll go in kindergarten this next year and she' ; s gonna be bored at first. GS: Aw, pretty sharp BD: She' ; s very sharp GS: She already reading? BD: Yes, yes. BD: Yeah her mother' ; s a teacher so that helps GS: Yes, it does. BD: Yes, they' ; re the ones who were here this past weekend to visit us GS: Aw that' ; s wonderful BD: So we had a sleep over. They slept in here and it was-- it was great but I loved my time at Edison because I worked in the office, or back in the office for I don' ; t know how many years, and then Mrs. Vise, Judy Vise (ph) was the principal and she said " ; Would you like to move to the media?" ; Because the lady out there was gonna be leaving, last name was Neil, I can' ; t think of her first name right now. Olivia. And I said " ; I would love to" ; I mean, and that' ; s, the library was my thing GS: Oh that' ; s wonderful BD: I love to read, I-- GS: So how long were you at Edison? BD: 27 years GS: So you retired from Edison BD: Right, right. GS: Very good, and what year was that? BD: I don' ; t know, ' ; cus I still substitute at the high school GS: I knew that you did. Do you still substitute today? BD: I didn' ; t this last year because of the COVID, but hopefully and the Good Lord willing, the creek don' ; t rise, and my health holds up, I' ; ll go back this next year. GS: Well bless you and more power to you. BD: I love-- Why the high school? I don' ; t know. But I love history, we' ; re lacking in that. I don' ; t know music that well, but I love to substitute for Mr. Sanford in the Choir. And fact is a couple years ago, I taught a young man how to dance for the prom. He didn' ; t know how to dance, and I said " ; if you step on my toe one time we' ; re gonna quit" ; because he was a big young man. But I still love the kids. GS: Aw that' ; s wonderful, it' ; s good for you, good for you. What year did you retire Bill? BD: 2001 GS: And you retired from what business BD: From--I was maintenance supervisor at the school GS: At the school. So when did you go to work for the school? After Ben Franklin burned? BD: Yeah, I was in my 40' ; s and when the store burned, I was, you know, I didn' ; t. And I tried reopening a store in the location where homestead is GS: Okay, uh-huh BD: And that didn' ; t last. Walmart was still-- when I opened the store, Walmart sent clerks into the store with notepads writing down everything I' ; d put in that store GS: Aw BD: And then they' ; d go back and put it in Walmart at a lower price, so. GS: Aw that makes me sad BD: Then I went to Doctor Carmichael and asked him if there' ; s anything available at the school, and he said " ; give me a few days and I' ; ll get back to you" ; . So he came back and said " ; I want you to be the night supervisor for house cleaning" ; , so I did that for a year, and then Rex Kearly (ph) retired and he hired me to be the maintenance director GS: Okay BD: Then that' ; s where I stayed, till I retired GS: In 2001, very good. Have you been active in anything since you retied? Hobbies or organizations? BD: Oh I' ; m [Indecipherable] but I still worked after I returned, I mowed for the school for what, 14 years BD: Yes GS: Very good, it' ; s good to stay active BD: Oh yeah, I miss that now but I can' ; t be very active GS: Oh I know, I understand that totally BD: He' ; s still a good guy, he' ; s a keeper GS: Looking back at the decades again, who were some of the more influential people that you think have come through Bristow that have helped Bristow? BD: Well number one Doctor Warren Carmichael (ph) GS: Okay, he was the Superintendent for the schools BD: When I was on the school board they hired him, and when he came to Bristow, Bristow' ; s schools were stagnant. We had old building, and that' ; s what we jumped on first. We started building buildings, and it just went in a different way after he came here. He got retirement for the maintenance people and all of-- BD: Support people BD: Support people GS: Yeah, yeah BD: Which they appreciate it GS: Which before they didn' ; t have? BD: No BD: He had a chain of command, you didn' ; t just-- GS: No you didn' ; t. BD: No, it was--it was entirely different and everybody-- a lot of people complained about the yearly picnic we had, but--and every once in a while when insurance stuff would come up, we' ; d all meet in the old junior high auditorium. He kept us updated on our insurance, all the school, the cafeteria would fix all the chicken before the picnic. But every school was to bring certain dishes and we' ; d meet out at the high school for that. So Dr. Carmichael had a great deal to do, and coming on down the line honey, who would you say? BD: Influential people? BD: Yeah GS: In Bristow yeah, that have helped it quite a bit. BD: Hm, well we had a few merchants that were active and-- GS: Go getters BD: Yes, they started fixing up their storefronts, which helped the main street GD: Definitely, definitely did BD: That helps a great deal to have--even if the store is basically empty, if the windows are decorated or something it has great appeal to folks. Well so many, though, really have done a lot that have not been recognized, you know. GS: Very true BD: Behind the scenes that, you know, I commend Tara Montgomery (ph) for all that she' ; s done for the swimming, you know GS: Yes, definitely BD: And-- GS: We know Bob Chatterton (ph) with the city lake, that' ; s a big asset to Bristow BD: Oh Bob Chatterton in his class of 40' ; did wonders. I did the first 1940 thing for Bob Chatterton GS: Oh really BD: Yes, I did, when I went to the school he came in and we visited and then Christmas that year I got this humongous, now we' ; re talking big, poinsettia type tree. And it was from Bob Chatterton and the 1940 class GS: Aww BD: And he didn' ; t forget, I mean that was--because I had typed up all of those for-- all the students that had been had submitted things for scholarships. Bob Chatterton did a lot for the depot, he did a lot for the students, he did a lot for our town. BD: He did football field to BD: Yes GD: Oh he did? I didn' ; t know that BD: Yeah he played for the track BD: Track GS: I didn' ; t even realize that BD: First--the first asphalt track GS: That' ; s a nice track BD: Yes, it is, yes it is. And Gosh you caught us off guard on that because GS: Sorry about that BD: We' ; ve admired and been friends with a lot of people. GS: You' ; ve probably known a lot of business men, a lot of pastors BD: Oh yes, the Pastor when we moved here was Dick List GS: Okay BD: And his wife, and we visited every church that Dick and Joann-- they were very, very close friends out ours. Every church, and they even served in England too, they went overseas, and there was one church that we didn' ; t visit Dick and Joann. We went to Louisiana, or [Indecipherable] Mississippi where their church was and visited some of the Antebellum homes there while we were. I mean, when they came to Bristow, this was their home. They were here. And he calls sometimes, he was in the military, he was a chaplain. GS: Oh! How wonderful BD: And he did that when the Vietnam war, he went in. And I went in and said " ; Dick why did you do that?" ; and he said " ; How can I minister to the families of these young men if I don' ; t know what' ; s going on?" ; and that' ; s just the kind of pastor that he was. I mean, he was-- GS: That brings up a good, different direction to go in. Did any either of you or your children serve in the service? BD: I did GS: What branch? BD: Army GS: Army? BD: 11 years GS: Were you-- was it during peace time or did you go overseas? BD: I didn' ; t go overseas because I belonged to a division that was a training division GS: Okay BD: We trained troops to go over there GS: And what years were you with the Army? BD: Oh, I enlisted when I was in high school, 1956 until 64' ; and I resigned, but the army kept me on 24-hour standby for three years GS: So you were still doing army when you came here and started working for Nationwide, right? BD: Yeah GS: Well that kept you busy, didn' ; t it? BD: Yeah BD: They didn' ; t have a slot for him here at the reserve, so he had to drive to Okmulgee GS: Oh BD: Well Bristow had a 45th division here GS: Okay BD: And they were artillery, and all my background was infantry GS: Ah BD: So I had to drive to Okmulgee GS: Makes sense BD: But, he is eligible for VA benefits because the time that he served was during what they call the Cold War BD: Well they' ; ve got me written down for Korea service, but I never went to Korea GS: Praise the Lord BD: Yeah BD: But I was in that time frame GS: You were training men to go over there BD: Yes, and Vietnam they got me down for that, but I never went to Vietnam. I probably should have, but I didn' ; t. GS: Yeah, well it' ; s not for lack of you, they thought you did better work here probably BD: Yeah, I' ; ve always felt a little guilty about not doing it because I was trained for it GS: Right, well you go where they put you BD: Yeah and I had two little kids and a wife, so that made a difference GS: Yes, it does. It definitely does. I usually ask people looking back over your lifetime, what do you consider the biggest, maybe not invention, but the invention or situation that changed things the most, or made the most impact on society or your life? BD: Wow GS: Yeah that' ; s a biggie BD: When you live as long as we have, there' ; s been a lot GS: Yes, there has BD: Technology GS: Definitely. I think technology is a lot like Pandora' ; s box BD: Yes, yes BD: I think we' ; ve had too much. I' ; m like the guy in the Tulsa paper today that complained about all the computers failing and everything, and he called 911, well their computer was down, he called the police and their computer was down, so he called the chief of police and asked him ' ; have they outdated pencil and paper?' ; . But I think we' ; ve got too much communicating. When I was a kid growing up in Elementary school, if I got in trouble we didn' ; t have a home phone, but if I got in trouble before I came home that evening, my mother already knew about it. BD: True, so trueGS: Okay we' ; ve been-- we' ; re at the tail end thank goodness of this COVID pandemic. How has that changed life for you Beth? BD: Well, it kept me out of the school this past year, for one thing. But we both have had out two shots and we were very cautious when we went out, we didn' ; t go out that much, the grocery stores and-- GS: Yeah I-- no I' ; s just checking my recorder BD: Oh, okay. Grocery store, doctor, that' ; s about the only time-- we didn' ; t attend any basketball games or any social stuff, but we wore our masks and it' ; s been kind of rough in some ways, but we' ; ve done a lot of visiting with our neighbors out on the porch that way we were-- GS: Social distancing BD: Right GS: And you have the outside air and, yeah, yeah. BD: So we were--fact is out Christmas was with the ones that were here this past weekend. We had it on our deck, they came down the day after Christmas ; we had out masks on, we were outside, the little ones played in the backyard and in the garden, and so it was a beautiful day. God took care of us and neither of us had any signs of COVID and we got our shots over at Vo-Tech so we were Ok. GS: Wonderful, that' ; s wonderful. How about you Bill, can you add anything to that? BD: No, I' ; ve kinda liked staying at home so it worked out good for me (Laughter) BD: Very true GS: Good deal. Okay is there anything you can thing of story wise, personal information, town wise that we haven' ; t thought to mention that you would say " ; Oh that would be good to tell her about" ; ? BD: Oh we' ; ll think of it after you leave Georgia GS: Of course, of course. Well I sure do appreciate you giving us your time for this oral history interview and it' ; ll be remembered for a long time BD: Well we' ; ve enjoyed it I think, right Bill? BD: Yeah GS: Oh well thank you so much, I' ; ve enjoyed it tremendously. audio 0 https://bristoworalhistory.org/ohms/viewer.php?cachefile=OHP-2021-18_Dalpoas_Bill_and_Beth.xml OHP-2021-18_Dalpoas_Bill_and_Beth.xml
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Bill and Beth Dalpoas
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In this 2021 interview, Bill and Beth Dalpoas share about life in Bristow as young adults. Together, they talk about the organizations they were active in, different businesses, and entertainment during that time.
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OHP-2021-18
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2021-06-03
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audio
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Family Histories
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Oral History
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Oral accounts of various family histories
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Bristow Historical Society, oral history collection
Oral History
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Georgia Smith
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Bunny Baker
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https://bristoworalhistory.org/ohms/viewer.php?cachefile=OHP-2020-01_Bunny_Baker.xml
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5.4 September 11, 2020 OHP-2020-01 Bunny Baker OHP-2020-01 0:00-92:19 'Bristow Historical Society - Oral History Archive' Bristow Historical Society, Inc. Bunny Baker Georgia Smith MP3 1:|56(4)|93(3)|114(7)|146(8)|177(18)|204(4)|223(15)|249(2)|264(6)|289(8)|307(13)|320(15)|349(5)|372(15)|400(4)|416(4)|434(2)|449(6)|480(5)|502(4)|521(12)|537(15)|561(2)|586(1)|604(15)|631(6)|653(12)|681(3)|694(11)|721(4)|757(4)|771(11)|791(11)|832(4)|845(12)|876(2)|899(14)|926(13)|951(4)|971(4)|993(8)|1024(8)|1048(11)|1058(6)|1072(8)|1089(5)|1102(16)|1127(13)|1143(5)|1170(11)|1195(8)|1216(5)|1247(7)|1270(4)|1290(16)|1318(18)|1340(4)|1361(19)|1380(1)|1405(10)|1425(6)|1446(2)|1463(9)|1475(12)|1497(12)|1511(7)|1523(18)|1535(12)|1553(6)|1569(13)|1598(12)|1618(3)|1642(13)|1656(1)|1674(7)|1695(9)|1709(2)|1726(13)|1745(15)|1771(3)|1794(4)|1807(3)|1823(6)|1850(11)|1881(13)|1917(4)|1932(7)|1950(4)|1973(3)|2005(2)|2033(2)|2058(4) 0 https://bristoworalhistory.org/interviews/OHP-2020-01 Bunny Baker.mp3 Other audio 0 Introduction and Family GS: Testing. There we go. Okay, Bunny, I’m going to sit this right here so it’ll pick you up good. Let me check the volume on it. Oh yeah, it’s up there. Okay. So. This is Georgia Smith with the Bristow Historical Society in Bristow, Oklahoma, and this interview is part of the Historical Society’s ongoing oral history project. The date is September 11, 2020 and I am sitting here with Bunny Baker at her house, who is going to tell me a little bit about her history in the Bristow area. Now, give me your full name. BB: The real name? GS: The real name, Bunny. BB: Herpal (ph) A. Baker. GS: Okay. And where were you born? BB: Six miles south and a half mile west of Bristow Bobby Donald Dowdy ; Bristow Historical Society ; Bunny Baker ; Cathy Rae ; Cotton ; Donna Rae ; Dorothy Jean Dowdy ; Georgia Smith ; Herpal A. Baker ; Hester Mae Foster ; John Joseph Dowdy ; Junior Frank Dowdy ; Merle Baker ; Nonna Mae Dowdy ; Peanuts ; World War I https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/26505461/hester-mae-dowdy Hester Mae Foster Dowdy https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/131963626/william-frank-dowdy William Frank Dowdy https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/102851520/dorothy-jean-sparkman Dorothy Jean Dowdy https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/131560745/john-j-dowdy John J Dowdy https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/25859691/merle-tommy-baker Merle Tommy Baker 275 Early Childhood GS: Okay, now were’ gonna get into what it was like when you were a kid at home. Tell me about what life was like when you were a kid, as a young child living at your house BB: Well it was a riot GS: (Laughter) Of course it was BB: My mother was a disciplinary, disciplinary— GS: Disciplinarian BB: Yes, I can’t think of words. But she was a lady, but she would’ve been a wonderful children’s teacher GS: Uh-huh Missy Shepard ; Norma Mae ; riding the saw ; sorghum ; wood stove 796 Normal Means GS: Yeah you don’t want somebody riding the saw when you’re working. What are your—what are some of the normal means that you had? BB: Oh, we raised everything we ate, and mom was a wonderful cook and had on the small cabinets, she had—I don’t know. But we had cornbread and beans of course, but we had always had meat, we had always had pork and chicken. GS: Who did your butchering for ya? BB: We did it. GS: Did your mom butcher? BB: No, she ground the meat and the sausage. GS: But I mean as far as killing the animal and everything, who did that? barefoot ; basketball ; Buffalo Wallow ; cornmeal ; croquet ; grinder ; Hog Wallow ; hundred-pound sack of sugar ; moccasin ; overalls ; square dance club ; swinging parties ; Tibbons ; western heritage days 1403 Radios, TV, and Electricity GS: Do you remember the first time you heard a radio? BB: No not really GS: Did you have a radio in your house? BB: Yes, with a battery. And dad— they just listened to it for the news, except when Joe Louis (ph) was gonna fight and of course I loved anything tomboy, and so me and my dad would hear the Joe Louis fights and then mom led us— when the grand the Grand Ole Opry came into be on Saturday nights, she let us hear the Grand Ole Opry. Well then after that we would play Grand Ole Opry and that’s a hard hand taught me how to play the guitar when I was nine years old, and then we’d play like we were Grand Ole Opry and one by one I taught my brother John to play the guitar, and my sister she wasn’t very interested in it when I started playing the fiddle. Anyway, got them all together, and only two kids— two grandkids are following the music tradition and (Muffled noises) they’re good. Little John, he plays the fiddle really good. GS: Oh he does? Conasiny Tiger ; Grand Ole Opry ; Joe Louis ; Kerosene stove 1674 Early Family History GS: Okay you mentioned your grandfather earlier built the first school. Tell me about your grandparents. First tell me their names. BB: Well his name was Foster William, William— William Orange Foster (ph). He was from— shoot I can’t think of it. GS: That’s okay BB: But anyway, he and my grandmother were— my grandmother had lived up there when she was little, but they lived in Farmersville, Texas and they got married in Farmersville, Texas. My grandmother’s dad was in church and he picked her up in a buggy and they eloped. And then they wanted to come to Oklahoma, and they came in a covered wagon, and they stopped through Shawnee town, which no longer exists, but it was down somewhere near Shawnee. And he had a friend a mile west of Iron Post that ran— had a dairy, and the friend told him that he could work for him, so they lived in a dugout on the east side of their house till he could buy some land. And my grandfather bought— they had a, Indians had an auction and he bought land from the Indians and I can’t remember but it was, he didn’t pay much of anything, seemed like a dollar for ten acres [Indecipherable] Buffalo Wallow ; Farmersville, Texas ; Nettie Alice Foster ; Shawnee town ; William Orange Foster https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/26847106/nettie-a-foster Nettie Alice Foster 2010 School and Church GS: Oh. Okay, now we’re gonna— BB: [Indecipherable] GS: Now we’re gonna head off to school BB: Oh (Laughter) GS: Where did you go to school first? BB: Iron Post GS: Iron Post, and that was how many miles south of Bristow? BB: Would’ve been 7 miles south and a mile west. GS: Okay, who was your teacher? BB: Mrs. Howell (ph) 4H Club ; black school ; Bunny ; Duns cap ; Home Demonstration Club ; Iron Post ; Joe Isle ; Mrs. Bourget ; Mrs. Howell ; Pontiac ; Tibbons ; tin bucket ; white school 2561 Christmas GS: What were Christmases like as a child? BB: Oh, they were great! We didn’t have wrapping paper, we didn’t have money for it, you know. And we— seems like we got a dollar for— to buy with. But there’s a big joke there that if you can get jigsaw puzzles for a dollar, for 25cents, either 25cents or a nickel, I think it was 25cents, but there was all six of us to buy for, you know, and so we would— GS: I’s just checking making sure it’s still working, it is BB: We would buy our brothers Bob and John, they just hated jigsaw puzzles, but my sister and I we just loved to work them. So every Christmas we’d buy them a jigsaw puzzle, and well— to tell you what you wanted, you know. They, Tibbons, furnished a great big Christmas tree for the Iron Post school, and with the money we made off of putting on plays at Gypsy and Iron Post and whatever, they bought candy and they made they a sack for every family whose children went to school at Iron Post. It had an apple and an orange and package of gum and miscellaneous candy, and some nuts, it was real nice. GS: And it was one per family? Christmas ; jigsaw puzzles ; John Wayne ; Pie Suppers 2843 Medical Care GS: Okay we’re gonna skip now to medical care. BB: Uh-oh GS: What was medical care like when you were a kid? BB: Well there wasn’t any really. I broke my collarbone and didn’t go to the doctor, you can feel it. GS: Oh my word BB: When I was 19, I went to the doctor with the flu and he said “When did you break your collarbone?’ well I knew when I broke it but I didn’t tell him about it. ‘Ol Dr. King, his mother and my mother— my grandmother were good friends and he took care of us and every fall, he would mix up liniments and it was just his own secret and bring it out and it’d be a quart in a big bottle and mom called it horse liniments. That boy would cure your colds and whatever. GG: Wow BB: And he would bring his mother and leave her at my grandmother’s house so they could tear all the neighbors apart black powder ; Dr. King ; liniments ; medical care 3025 Businesses GS: Okay let’s skip now to Bristow, and we’re still in early childhood here, so what was Bristow like in your early childhood? Did you get to come to Bristow often? BB: We came on Saturdays a lot ‘cus we brought stuff— vegetables and stuff to the poor farm, and— GS: Did you sell them to the poor farm or give them to the poor far? BB: No we just gave them to the poor farm. But I know where the, it’s the dollar store on main street, what’s the name of that store? GS: Dollar General BB: Yeah Dollar General. Well around the corner, there was a bar and we would try to park across the street because every night there’d be a fight at the bar and they’d take it outside, you know. But we would sit in the car and watch the people go by or walk up and down the street and then we’d hope to see somebody we knew. dollar general ; dollar store ; feed sacks ; Hamburger King ; JC Pennys ; poor farm ; Strongs 3337 Jobs GS: What was your first job Bunny? BB: Piggly Wiggly Grocery store GS: Where was it? BB: It was on the west side of main street down from, it was in the block south of, can’t even think of what’s there now, sixth street or something. You know where the bank was. GS: Spirit or Community? BB: First National GS: Okay BB: On the corner of main street, it was down south of there. That was during my junior and senior year, and then I went on to work with Maxine Jenkins at Lions Café as a soda jerk. GS: Now just for generations that have never heard of soda jerk, what was a soda jerk? I know but let’s hear it explained candy building ; Community Bank ; First National Bank ; Johnny Horainy ; Lions Cafe ; Maxine Jenkins ; Piggly Wiggly Grocery Store ; soda jerk ; Spirit Bank ; typist ; Wanda Sanders 3733 Marriage and Western Heritage Days GS: Okay I wanna know about when you met Merle BB: I knew him all my life, I guess. They played, you know, music for the Pie Suppers and everything, so we’d go in and hear them GS: Was he from the Iron Post area also? BB: No he was from down by— well at first he was over on the east of Talaha (ph) [Indecipherable] GS: Okay BB: And then they moved to south of town, I think he went to school at Valentine maybe GS: Okay BB: And, but he— I don’t know they might have had a bus running from Gypsy down there, but I never knew him until he was, you know, he was in school at Gypsy. GS: So did he ask you out on a first date? Bunny ; chestcord ; Doy Cochran ; Francis Wrestler ; Gingham Dress ; Government Assistant Work Programs ; great depression ; J& ; J Cafe ; Kenneth Mann ; Mason Family ; Merle Tommy Baker ; Mr. Poston ; Pie Suppers ; Talaha ; Tibbons ; Western Heritage Days https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/25859691/merle-tommy-baker Merle Tommy Baker 4810 Politics and Military Service GS: Do you remember any of the— I know you said none of your family worked for the WPA, but do you remember coming into Bristow when they maybe built the amphitheater or when Mrs. Roosevelt came and dedicated it in the building? BB: Well mom would bring us to town like there was somebody, Landon I think it was, ran for president. He’d come on the train and talk on the back of the train, and she would bring us to town to see those people, she was always very good with— GS: Political binded BB: Yeah political binded. But I don’t remember that GS: Okay, okay. BB: I might’ve come, but I don’t remember it. GS: She was [Indecipherable]. Was she involved in politics in any other way? BB: Well, I don’t know if she was always— she, there was a mayor Brong (ph). Anyway, she always came to their meetings, you know, she was always interested in the government, whatever was going on so I guess she was interested in politics. Alfred Dobson ; amphitheater ; Japanese ; marines ; Mayor Brong ; Mrs. Roosevelt ; Pearl Harbor ; Ration Book ; Tulsa World ; WASP ; womens sufferage ; World War II ; WPA ; WWII 5148 Biggest Impacts and Problems Today GS: That’s wonderful. What would you consider to be the most important inventions during your lifetime? BB: Wow so many GS: Yes, there are. There’s so many that have impacted life, it would be hard to pick just a few favorite. BB: Yeah, I guess most important would be the computers. But I don’t have one, don’t want one. I’ve gone this long, long time without one, don’t need one. GS: What event would you say influence the world the most during your lifetime? Event or events? BB: I would say World War II GS: Did you— were you aware during WWII of what Hitler was doing? BB: Yes, I kept up with the news. Mom insisted on a daily newspaper, so. GS: Oh, this is a loaded question ; how different is the world today than it was when you were a child? Bunny ; C. C. Wilson ; Caroline Webb ; CPA ; Hitler ; Johnny Simmons ; reporter ; WWII In this 2020 interview, Bunny Baker shares her experiences growing up in Bristow. She discusses family history, western heritage days, and shares many fun stories from her childhood through young adult life. Interviewer: Georgia Smith (GS) Interviewee: Bunny Baker (BB) Other Persons: Date of Interview: September 11, 2020 Location: Bristow, Creek County Oklahoma Transcriber: Abby Thompson Organization: Bristow Historical Society, Inc. Abstract: Preface: The following oral history testimony is the result of a cassette tape interview and is part of the Bristow Historical Society, Inc.' ; s collection of oral histories. The interview was transcribed and processed by the Bristow Historical Society, Inc., with financial assistance from the Montfort Jones & ; Allie Brown Jones Foundation. Rights to the material are held exclusively by the Bristow Historical Society, Inc. The reader should bear in mind that he or she is reading a verbatim transcript of spoken, rather than written prose. Insofar as possible, this transcript tries to represent the spoken word. Thus, it should be read as a personal memoir and not as either a researched monograph or edited account. To the extent possible, the spelling of place names, foreign words, and personal names have been verified, either by reference resources or directly by the interviewee. In some cases, a footnote has been added to the transcript in order to provide more information and/or to clarify a statement. Some uncertainties will inevitably remain regarding some words and their spellings. In these scenarios, a (ph) follows a word or name that is spelled phonetically. The notation [indecipherable] is used when the transcriber has not been able to comprehend the word or phrase being spoken. The notation [inaudible] is used where there is more mumbling than words, or when interference on the tape has made transcription impossible. GS: Testing. There we go. Okay, Bunny, I' ; m going to sit this right here so it' ; ll pick you up good. Let me check the volume on it. Oh yeah, it' ; s up there. Okay. So. This is Georgia Smith with the Bristow Historical Society in Bristow, Oklahoma, and this interview is part of the Historical Society' ; s ongoing oral history project. The date is September 11, 2020 and I am sitting here with Bunny Baker at her house, who is going to tell me a little bit about her history in the Bristow area. Now, give me your full name. BB: The real name? GS: The real name, Bunny. BB: Herpal (ph) A. Baker. GS: Okay. And where were you born? BB: Six miles south and a half mile west of Bristow. [muffled sounds] GS: Sit that right there so it' ; ll get ya. Don' ; t touch anything on it, just--we' ; ll just let it sit right there, so. BB: Okay. GS: Yeah, ' ; cause I want to make sure it' ; s still recording. Yeah. So we' ; ll just sit it right there, and it' ; ll pick it up. It' ; s not gonna fall, I don' ; t think. I think you might' ; ve just told me, but I was paying attention to the recorder. Where were you born? BB: Six miles south and one mile west of Bristow. GS: In the family home? BB: Yes. GS: And what was your date of birth? BB: May the twenty-third, 1926. GS: Aww, how wonderful. What were your parents' ; names? We' ; ll start with your mother' ; s maiden name. BB: Hester Mae Foster. GS: Hester Mae Foster. And when were your parents married? BB: I don' ; t remember. GS: That' ; s okay. Do you know where they were married? BB: In--no, I don' ; t. GS: Okay, that' ; s alright too. Do you know--were they all, were they raised, born in this area or did they move in to this area? BB: They were born in this area. GS: Okay, alright. How many children did your parents have? BB: Six. GS: And what were your siblings' ; names? BB: Nonna (ph) Mae (ph)--you want the full name? Was Dowdy. Nonna (ph) Mae (ph) Dowdy. Junior Frank Dowdy. Herpal (ph) A. Baker. Dorothy Jean Bak--Baker. Oh, not Baker. GS: Dowdy. BB: Dowdy. And John Joseph Dowdy. And Bobby Donald Dowdy. GS: Okay. What work did your father do for a living? BB: He was a ninety-eight percent disabled World War I veteran. Before that, he was a barber. And then he was always in and out of the hospital. The rest of his life he was disabled. GS: Bless his heart. What about your mother? Did she work out at the home? BB: No, she worked in the home for everybody that came by. GS: So how did they get by if your dad-- BB: Well she drew a small oil check, her mother had five oil wells on her land, and she drew it. Of course you know, that oil. GS: ' ; Cause the government didn' ; t have disability back then, did they? BB: No no no, no. GS: Did he farm or anything? BB: Yeah we farmed. GS: Did you sell any of the produce? BB: Yes GS: At a farmer' ; s market or a little bench alongside the road or what? BB: No, just brought it to town. GS: What were some of the crops you sold? BB: Oh, peanuts, cotton, cotton first, then peanuts, and--so much of it like corn we used to grow on the farm GS: Oh BB: But we sold the peanuts and the cotton. GS: Okay. What was your spouse' ; s name? BB: Merle Baker (ph) GS: And what was the date you got married? BB: June the thirtieth, 1945 GS: Oh, right after the war or during the war? BB: Right after GS: Right after. How many children did you have? BB: None. GS: But you did adopt some? BB: Yes GS: What are their names? BB: Cathy Rae (ph) and Donna Rae (ph) GS: Okay, now were' ; gonna get into what it was like when you were a kid at home. Tell me about what life was like when you were a kid, as a young child living at your house BB: Well it was a riot GS: (Laughter) Of course it was BB: My mother was a disciplinary, disciplinary-- GS: Disciplinarian BB: Yes, I can' ; t think of words. But she was a lady, but she would' ; ve been a wonderful children' ; s teacher GS: Uh-huh BB: She punished you in such funny ways. She thought of things like--she said that on a moonlit night if you had been good enough, you could watch the fairies dancing on the east side of the house out on the lawn. Well, we had a bedroom with a window in the east side of the house. So every night when the moon shone, we' ; d gather at that window to look for fairies. GS: Oh how wonderful! BB: But we had to be good enough, if you weren' ; t good enough you couldn' ; t see the fairies. So every night after we couldn' ; t see the moon when we were younger, we' ; d swear we was gonna be better. And then she had another one if we got into trouble, she made us play on opposite sides of the house, that way you didn' ; t have anybody to play with. Oh she was something else, and she--we asked her where calves came from, and she said the old cows found them in the woods. Well we figured if a cow could find a calf we sure could. And that was her way, I now know, of getting us out of her hair. But we would spend hours out in the woods looking for calves. GS: It sounds like she was a pretty smart lady! BB: Yes, she was GS: Besides thinking outside the box BB: Yeah, yeah she' ; s-- GS: Very clever! BB: She had it all going, but if you didn' ; t behave you was in trouble. We found out early that she could run faster than we could then you got a whoopin' ; for running. And we were punished with peach tree limbs and we had to get our own switches, they were switches, but if you got one too big then you got--you know, on purpose, you got two switches instead of one. And girls wore dresses and it stung like crazy. You didn' ; t ask for that very much. GS: Oh I' ; m sure not, I' ; m sure not. Who was the oldest child in your family? BB: Norma Mae [Inaudible] GS: And where did you fall in there, Bunny? BB: In the middle, naturally. GS: In the middle, of course. So what are some of the things--chores that you had to do when you were a kid? BB: Well milk, feed the hogs, feed the chickens, feed the cows, anything outside, I worked outside with my big brother ' ; cause dad wasn' ; t there. He' ; s--I didn' ; t remember my dad until I was probably a young teenager because he was in the Hospital, [Indecipherable] hospital, and then [Indecipherable] for years GS: Oh, how sad. BB: And then as he' ; d go back, he' ; d--he could just, later he could come home maybe for a week or two, but then he' ; d have to go back. But he suffered from the [Indecipherable] GS: Aw, I' ; m so sorry. That' ; s sad Bunny. BB: Yeah, like he couldn' ; t--if he was home, we had to cool our own lamps, and somebody had to fill the lamp every evening because the bowl would hold enough cooler oil for the night, but if he woke up during the night and it was dark, he would see Germans and stuff. GS: Aw, we just don' ; t know how thankful we are to-- BB: Boy that' ; s right GS: Not have had to go through that. What kind of house did you live in? BB: Well it was just a wooden house, it had three rooms then dad built on a small room for [Indecipherable] because--so she could have a room to herself. So it was, I guess a four room house. GS: And this was still six miles south? BB: Right. GS: Did the kids have to share beds? BB: Oh yeah, three to a bed (Laughter) GS: What were your favorite toys as a child? BB: I don' ; t know, we played house we just did everything. GS: Did you make most of your toys or did you have store bought toys or? BB: We didn' ; t have many store bought toys. We played house, like we played house with broken dishes, pieces of broken dishes. And we played hopscotch, my brother had a pocket knife and you' ; d throw that--we played marbles, tin can shinny, and you saved your--we very seldom got ahold of a tin can, but when you did you saved it to play hockey with. Then you' ; d play hockey with the tin can and you' ; ve got sticks out in the woods to hit it with. GS: How fun! Out in the pasture probably BB: Yeah GS: Okay you' ; ve kinda already told me this, but if--case it triggers anything else, it says " ; What role did your mother play in the home?" ; BB: Well she was the boss. GS: And she was pretty much everything. She was the provider wasn' ; t she? BB: She was everything GS: Cause with your dad being off in a hospital, she had to shoulder it all. Did she get any help from relatives? BB: Once in a while when she was--no from relatives, but we didn' ; t have any relative around there, but when she was pregnant, or just had a baby, she would hire Missy Shepard (ph), a black lady, who lived down at the depot and she would iron for mom till some of us got older, you know. And then Bill and I, my brother, we did ever except when it was harvest time, she would hire somebody to help us, you know. Well we didn' ; t--we made some molasses, Bill and I did all of that except that' ; s why John got attached to horses because we had to ride the horse turn the table, you know. GS: So did you grow your own sorghum? BB: Oh yes, and he used to love to ride the horses, he' ; s just about three years old, and that' ; s why he loved horses. But we bailed our own hay, we got people that had machines would loan them and they would loan us their hay bailer and it was scary because I put the hay in the trolley, whatever it was, and Bill put the blocks in, and you had to put enough hay in there for a block. And if you got caught in there, some people got damaged getting caught. And a horse turned that too and it just kept going, and you didn' ; t get your hand out in time you' ; re in big trouble. GS: Yeah that would be scary work. You had to stay on top of things and not goof off BB: Nope GS: What kind of stove did your mom cook on? BB: A big wood stove, wood cook stoves had a warming place on the right side and then--what' ; s the other one for? GS: Burners BB: Burners GS: Did you and your brothers have to take care of getting the wood for the stove? BB: Absolutely, we cut wood and we got and we got into more fights for accusing each other for riding the saw GS: (Laughter) Now what does it mean by ' ; riding the saw' ; ? BB: Well, he' ; s on one end it, you' ; re on the other. GS: Uh-huh BB: And if you don' ; t do your part ; the other guy has to do the part. GS: I see, I see. BB: You get kinda slow or lazy, you' ; d be riding the saw. GS: Yeah you don' ; t want somebody riding the saw when you' ; re working. What are your--what are some of the normal means that you had? BB: Oh, we raised everything we ate, and mom was a wonderful cook and had on the small cabinets, she had--I don' ; t know. But we had cornbread and beans of course, but we had always had meat, we had always had pork and chicken. GS: Who did your butchering for ya? BB: We did it. GS: Did your mom butcher? BB: No, she ground the meat and the sausage. GS: But I mean as far as killing the animal and everything, who did that? BB: Well usually a hard man, what you did you put the hog in a pen by himself to fatten him up before you get read to kill him. Somebody went and got a big sheet of tin, and then we fed him and when he had his head down, this guy would hit him in the head with a sledgehammer to kinda knock him out, and while he was not doing-- then somebody else jumped on his back and cut his throat, and then we let him bleed out and then put him on the sheet and took him to the house where people had already got their water in the-- boiling, wash the kettle, and dug a hole in the ground and buried half of the barrel, you put the water in the barrel and just get all the hair off of it. And you know, I never could-- and then you start scraping the hair off of it and pull it out of the barrel and scrape the hair off of him--but I never could do the head because those eyes would be looking at you weird GS: Oh yeah that' ; d be hard BB: I couldn' ; t do the head GS: That would sure be hard. Okay now you mentioned before we started the interview about a hog wallow, what is a hog wallow? BB: No just a wallow GS: Oh, just a wallow. BB: Yeah GS: Okay, what' ; s a wallow? BB: It' ; s a buffalo wallow. GS: Okay BB: There' ; s one, I guess it' ; s still out there, but when I was a kid, it was on the west side of the barn out in the pasture. And it was completely-- absolutely round, and it was-- I don' ; t know how big, big enough for a buffalo. And it wasn' ; t but about maybe four inches or maybe six inches deep, it wasn' ; t very deep at all. But the bottom of it was coal black, and nothing grew in it, not one weed grew in it. GS: Wow BB: And so I asked my grandmother about it, and she said that black was the oil off of buffalo hides where they would rub [Inaudible] GS: Oh my goodness, really? BB: Yeah, and when I was a teenager, I went over there, might have been after I was married, but anyway I was over and there were a few springs of grass growing through it for the first time, and I don' ; t know what it looks like now but like I said, about two weeks later I thought about writing that for an article in the paper about two-- and I thought well nobody will believe it ' ; cause nobody heard of that-- of a buffalo wallow. And so I saw a buffalo heard on the news and it showed this hog, this-- buffalo and a hog and a buffalo wallow and it was doing just like my grandmother said it was even rubbing its heads and just rubbing and turnin' ; over and just rubbing all of its body in that. GS: I' ; ve never heard of such a thing, that' ; s really interesting BB: Well I saw it so-- but I believe my grandmother saw it, you know, she saw a bunch of those. And-- but I didn' ; t figure anybody else would believe it, and I couldn' ; t prove anything so. GS: But there it was in a movie so evidently other people have seen it BB: [Inaudible] GS: Did you shop for groceries? You said most of the food you grew on your own farm, but I' ; m sure there' ; s some stuff that you bought. BB: In the fall mom bought a hundred-pound sack of sugar and that had to last us all winter GS: Wow BB: And to the next summer, ' ; bout a year I guess. And when we ran out of [Indecipherable], well we made our own meal when we needed meal dad would, when he was home, he wasn' ; t-- me and my brother would fix mom up with a sack of corn, we' ; d grind out corn and then send it in and they' ; d grind it into cornmeal GS: And you had a grinder to do that with? BB: Yeah GS: Did you have to turn it manually or with a horse or? BB: Yeah, no no no. GS: Manually? BB: It was- you put your corn in your thing like this and-- GS: So it was a small handheld type grinder BB: Yeah not-- not small but it was a grinder. GS: Okay, okay. And you' ; ve told me mostly about daily chores I think. So-- and you' ; ve owned livestock and you did your butchering so we got that. What kind of clothes did you wear? BB: Well, we got a new dress for Easter, and mom made the rest of our clothes. And, ' ; course I wore-- my brother would outgrow his overalls so I' ; d take them GS: Yeah BB: ' ; Cus I was always outside all the time, and-- GS: Were you a tomboy Bunny? BB: I was a boy GS: (Laughter) BB: I just filled the place of a boy GS: Uh-huh BB: And I was never in the house except the evening-- or asleep GS: What about your sister, did she do housework or outside work? BB: No, my oldest sister, she was such a lady and one-time mom told us she thought she was-- I was already milking, I started milking I think like six or seven years old, and she told us she-- maybe you should go to the barn and help you know, and so she took off for the barn, she came back to the house crying, and mom asked her what was wrong and she said " ; That old cow looked at me" ; GS: (Laughter) BB: I never saw her anywhere near the barn after that. GS: I love that, what about shoes? Did you wear shoes all the time or did you go barefoot a lot? BB: We went barefoot a lot, but we-- we bought shoes in the fall for school, but if you outgrew ' ; em you' ; re in trouble. And then by high school, I had some kind of moccasin type, and I know my heels hung out about that far out of the back ' ; cause I, you know, outgrown them GS: Yup, yeah. And that probably wasn' ; t unusual, you probably didn' ; t stick out that way BB: Oh everybody else was- GS: Was in the same boat, weren' ; t they? BB: Yeah GS: What about friends? Who did you play with? BB: Oh, uh Tibbons had an oil lease about half a mile from our house, half a mile south. And my grandfather built the first tool house a mile south of iron post, and it was of logs and it burned down, ' ; course they burned wood for heat. And then they built one of boards, and then when Tibbons got this oil, they built a brick schoolhouse down there, and they had a croquet court on this lease, it was sixteen families there at one time. GS: Oh my. BB: And they had a flaming torch all the time, and so we kids would go over there and play until after it got dark, went and got dark, you know. But I just had plenty of things to play with. GS: What were some of your favorite games that y' ; all played? I think you kinda talked to me about that earlier already. BB: Oh, well when I got to be in the seventh-- eighth grade or something, they had-- they called it swinging parties, and it was really square dancing but we didn' ; t know it GS: Oh okay! BB: But you-- everybody sang the songs and it was really square dancing, but I didn' ; t realize that until after I was married and joined the square dance club. But it was swinging parties and we played those, and we played croquet and basketball and-- GS: Did you join the square dance club that was in Bristow? BB: Yeah GS: What years were you in that? BB: Oh it was the year of the first western heritage days, and I don' ; t remember when that was GS: 50' ; s or 60' ; s? BB: No, it wasn' ; t in the 60' ; s I think. I' ; d say in the 40' ; s GS: Oh really? BB: Well seems like I was-- I don' ; t know how old I' ; d be. GS: That' ; s okay, that' ; s okay. Let' ; s see. BB: With the round up club they had, you know, square dancing. After the rodeos and all GS: Oh how fun BB: Yeah, we had a lot of fun GS: Do you remember the first time you heard a radio? BB: No not really GS: Did you have a radio in your house? BB: Yes, with a battery. And dad-- they just listened to it for the news, except when Joe Louis (ph) was gonna fight and of course I loved anything tomboy, and so me and my dad would hear the Joe Louis fights and then mom led us-- when the grand the Grand Ole Opry came into be on Saturday nights, she let us hear the Grand Ole Opry. Well then after that we would play Grand Ole Opry and that' ; s a hard hand taught me how to play the guitar when I was nine years old, and then we' ; d play like we were Grand Ole Opry and one by one I taught my brother John to play the guitar, and my sister she wasn' ; t very interested in it when I started playing the fiddle. Anyway, got them all together, and only two kids-- two grandkids are following the music tradition and (Muffled noises) they' ; re good. Little John, he plays the fiddle really good. GS: Oh he does? BB: And little Joe, Bobby' ; s boy, he plays the guitar and he plays with a band occasionally GS: Well how wonderful. And so you play? BB: Yeah I learned to play everything. And I keep thinking I' ; ll take time to learn to play the piano, that' ; s all I think I could handle. Playing guitar and all that you' ; ve got to build calluses on your hand GS: I' ; ve tried, it' ; s not pleasant BB: No it takes time to build that. Well this finger used to be, it' ; s still kind of lopsided GS: Yeah BB: Because of a callus on it. But I' ; ve still got all kinds of musical instruments in there, but what I' ; m gonna do is [Indecipherable]. But I' ; d love to have time to-- GS: Mess with them BB: At least play the piano better [Inaudible] GS: What about a TV, do you remember the first TV you saw? BB: Not really GS: Do you remember the first TV you watched in the house when your family got a TV or when you got a TV? BB: My family never had a TV, they didn' ; t even have running water or electricity or anything else. Yeah, it was accurate I guess, we built our house without a television, so GS: So you say you didn' ; t have running water, did you have a well and you had to haul the water or did you have a pump outside that you hauled it from? BB: We had a well with a bucket, and that was my job to draw the wash water every Monday GS: Oh my! BB: And I had a twenty-one-inch waist, and I think that' ; s why because pulling on that rope, you know. GS: Yup BB: But we had that for a long time, then we got a pump. And we-- I don' ; t know when we got, I don' ; t remember when we got electricity. Mom finally got a kerosene stove GS: Now when I did another interview of the Indian lady, Conasiny (ph) Tiger BB: [Indecipherable] that' ; s what we called her GS: Okay, which means grandmother BB: Mhm GS: She said that when I interviewed about Conasiny (ph), she said that her grandmother was the first to have electricity taken out there so that might be maybe when your family got electricity. BB: It was after we were married GS: Yeah, ok. BB: Yeah I' ; ll tell you something about Conasiny (ph), my mother went to school with her children GS: Okay! BB: And she' ; s-- I won' ; t tell you that because [Inaudible] but anyway, Bill in 44' ; died. He was some kind of a chief I guess, I can' ; t remember. But they just lived through the woods from us, and they celebrated his funeral a week, and all night every night beating the drums and yelling and stuff, and us kids were scared stiff. GS: ' ; Cus you had never heard that before, had you? BB: Well no you could hear them through the woods and we could-- GS: Your imaginations ran wild, didn' ; t they? BB: Yeah, it was wild. GS: Okay you mentioned your grandfather earlier built the first school. Tell me about your grandparents. First tell me their names. BB: Well his name was Foster William, William-- William Orange Foster (ph). He was from-- shoot I can' ; t think of it. GS: That' ; s okay BB: But anyway, he and my grandmother were-- my grandmother had lived up there when she was little, but they lived in Farmersville, Texas and they got married in Farmersville, Texas. My grandmother' ; s dad was in church and he picked her up in a buggy and they eloped. And then they wanted to come to Oklahoma, and they came in a covered wagon, and they stopped through Shawnee town, which no longer exists, but it was down somewhere near Shawnee. And he had a friend a mile west of Iron Post that ran-- had a dairy, and the friend told him that he could work for him, so they lived in a dugout on the east side of their house till he could buy some land. And my grandfather bought-- they had a, Indians had an auction and he bought land from the Indians and I can' ; t remember but it was, he didn' ; t pay much of anything, seemed like a dollar for ten acres [Indecipherable] GS: Wow BB: Bought forty-five, a forty acres we added on the five acres. And that was next to the [Indecipherable] place, and-- GS: Who is Conasiny Tiger, right? BB: Yeah, but we always called her that, you know GS: Uh-huh BB: And that-- it connected her land and that' ; s where my grandmother got the five oil wells. GS: Woah, okay BB: Yeah [Indecipherable] was the richest person in the country GS: Yeah, that' ; s what I' ; ve heard. So what was your grandmothers full name with her maiden name, if you know. BB: Yeah it was Nettie Alice Foster GS: Okay, do you know what her maiden name was? BB: Foster GS: Well she married a Foster BB: Yeah GS: But her maiden name was Foster too? BB: Yes GS: Okay. Do you have any memory of your great grandparents? BB: No GS: Yeah BB: My grandmother would be 145 or 46 years old, she was-- GS: Long time ago BB: Yeah GS: Who' ; s the oldest person in your family that you can remember from when you were a little kid? BB: My grandmother Foster GS: Okay, and do you have any special memories about your grandmother Foster that we haven' ; t mentioned already? BB: Oh yeah, well I would do my chores, she-- her husband, she married a man older than her, he was-- died at 42 I think. And she lived by herself out there half a mile east of us, and I would do my chores of a night and eat my supper and then I' ; d walk to her house a half a mile and spent the night with her, and then walked back the next morning, do my chores then go to school, you know. But I was with her so much and she' ; s the one that' ; s told me so many tales about the Buffalo wallow and all this-and-that and she had a real interesting life. GS: Do you remember how-- how so it was interesting? I mean-- BB: Well yeah, she loved-- that' ; s where I got my love of flowers I guess because she didn' ; t allow a weed to grow in her entire yard, it was rows of flowers GS: Wow BB: And you weren' ; t allowed to play in her yard, you could play in the driveway, that was the only place you could play. But we would work outside and feed the chickens and do chores and everything and then in the evening when it was still clear outside, she always had a quilt out and she taught me to quilt when I was just a kid. GS: Wonderful! BB: And we would quilt till the night, and I' ; ve got one of her quilts she gave me for a wedding gift, and her son-- abacko (ph)-- tobacco used to come in little bags and men had to roll their own cigarettes GS: Uh-huh BB: And her son smoked cigarettes. She saved those little tobacco sacks and she washed them and then she dyed them and she made quilts out of them GS: Well how wonderful! BB: And I' ; ve got a quilt that she gave me for my-- I don' ; t know how old it was when she gave it to me for my wedding gift, but it' ; s made out of pink and something-- anyways got pink squares. She cut the sacks into patterns, you know, and then we would save our best cleanest cotton for her to-- to pad her quilts with. So it' ; s padded with homemade cotton GS: Wow BB: And I' ; ve still got it. GS: Oh, that is so wonderful! So special! BB: I' ; m thinking of giving it to the museum GS: Oh isn' ; t there a-- I mean as much as we would love to have it, isn' ; t there a family member that it should go to? BB: No I' ; m the only one that sews so-- GS: Oh. Okay, now we' ; re gonna-- BB: [Indecipherable] GS: Now we' ; re gonna head off to school BB: Oh (Laughter) GS: Where did you go to school first? BB: Iron Post GS: Iron Post, and that was how many miles south of Bristow? BB: Would' ; ve been 7 miles south and a mile west. GS: Okay, who was your teacher? BB: Mrs. Howell (ph) GS: And did you go to first grade there and all through high school? BB: No through the 8th grade, and that' ; s as far as it went. But I' ; ll tell you about my first day in school. Mrs. Howell is so sweet, and you came in the door and she would greet you and then assign you a seat, and of course we knew better than to, you know, get out of line GS: Oh yeah BB: But there was a boy, I won' ; t tell you his name because he' ; s got kin folks living here. But he was-- his family was a real rough family, and the boys had two older brothers and they just came to school to fight and cause trouble. Well he strolled in one morning whistling, you didn' ; t whistle then or talk out loud period without permission. He strolled in whistling and Mrs. Howell asked him, says " ; Good morning Bobby" ; she says " ; How are you this morning?" ; " ; Fine" ; she says " ; Bobby do you know your ABC' ; s?" ; he says " ; Hell no, how you expect me to know em, I just now got here" ; GS: Ohh! BB: And he later became a mayor of some little town in California GS: (Laughter) Oh, that' ; s a good story. BB: Scared me to death, I thought ' ; man he' ; s gonna get it' ; GS: Did he get it? BB: No, he didn' ; t. That was the first day of school, she was good to everybody I guess GS: Did-- did all the different ages go to school in the same room-- BB: No GS: Or were there grade levels? BB: There was a first and second graders and-- I think it was first, second, and third. Anyway, fourth and fifth and a sixth, seventh, and eighth. GS: Okay, so they did have them separated a little bit by levels BB: Yeah, three different rooms [Inaudible] GS: Okay BB: And we-- when before school started, everybody gathered out in front of the school house on a wall sort of, and we saluted the flag and we had the Lord' ; s prayer GS: How wonderful BB: And uh-- GS: That' ; s good. How many hours did you go to school? BB: I think it was from 9 -- 4 GS: Ooh, okay. And did you walk there or? BB: No we walked unless it was raining and then mom would take us. GS: And how-- what would she take you in? BB: The government gave the veterans-- the WWI veterans a bonus, and it was either six or eight hundred dollars, and they bought a new Pontiac, which was-- GS: Oh how wonderful! BB: [Indecipherable] GS: Was that a wooden building or brick or-- what kind of building was it? BB: It was brick GS: Okay, did they have any clubs or organizations or anything there? It' ; s awfully small BB: Yeah, we had 4H club GS: Okay BB: And the women had a Home Demonstration Club I think they called it GS: Did you go to any of those? BB: To the 4H club GS: I figured that, okay. Did they use the school for anything else like church or anything? BB: We had Sun-- my mom and Mrs. Bourget had Sunday School every Sunday, but we didn' ; t have church often, just when we could find a preacher. And the girl that married Joe Isle (ph) the last time GS: Uh-huh BB: Her dad was a preacher and when she was a little girl, they had several kids and they always came to our house for dinner and how mom made dinner for so many people and what she had to cook, I don' ; t know. But we had that-- but we put on plays every so often to raise money for Christmas GS: Oh, uh-huh BB: And-- and I know I was always part of it, and I think I can remember a poem I was supposed to say and then I was supposed to bow and of course everything was boards, and I think the poem that said " ; My momma' ; s little girl, don' ; t you think I' ; m sweet? Something--" ; and then I was supposed to bow and I bowed too hard and nearly broke my knee GS: (Laughter) You' ; re always doing something Bunny BB: Lemme turn on the air conditioner, I don' ; t have it on GS: Oh okay BB: Hold on a minute GS: Do I need to move that seat? BB: No GS: There we go ; there we' ; re running now. Okay I' ; ll sit it right back here and we' ; ll finish. We-- we took a break to turn the air conditioning on, but we' ; re back now. And we were talking about school, did your mom pack a lunch for you? BB: Yes, that' ; s the only-- I didn' ; t-- I didn' ; t taste homemade bread till I was in the 8th grade GS: Wow BB: Yeah, we had-- we had a sixteen-pound lard bucket, or was it-- was it that eight pound? It would' ; ve had to be an eight pound, big ol' ; tin bucket. And we all put our lunches in that, and bless our hearts she' ; d send a napkin, you know, mom was kind of proper GS: Aw BB: And we had biscuit sandwiches and we had sausage sandwiches and we had ham sandwiches and we had a big orchard and we always had a piece of fruit, but we-- she never-- we never had sweets except on Sunday. She would bake cakes and pie on Sundays. GS: Well that sugar had to last all year BB: Yeah, that' ; s right. But this girl, her dad worked for Tibbons and they had money, you know, and she would bring sandwiches with store bought bread and she wanted-- everybody loved the biscuit sandwiches and so she traded with me one day, and that' ; s the first time I tasted that. But there was one family that they had a huge orchard and all they brought was fried pies. They didn' ; t have money for anything else GS: They ate fried pies for lunch? BB: Mhm, but they didn' ; t always do that because a bunch of us was anxious to trade GS: Yeah well sure you were! BB: Yeah, hey and later they started a program, the government furnishing food for kids, you know, and I still got my tin cup, we-- each kind had a tin cup and you had to bring your own spoon and that' ; s what you got, a tin cup full of stuff, macaroni and tomatoes, I never will eat any more of those. GS: (Laughter) BB: And soup, but whatever was in that tin cup is what you got. GS: Wow BB: The boys could get seconds, but the girls couldn' ; t GS: That' ; s just not fair BB: Well, and we had-- we had a drinking water bucket set in the corner in the hallway where everybody could have access to it and we all drank out of the same [Indecipherable] GS: This isn' ; t on my list, but did you have any other cultural people attend your school, or was it a strictly a white school? BB: It was a white school. There was a black school just about a mile and a half east of us. GS: Do you remember the name of the black school? BB: No GS: That' ; s okay, we' ; ve been talking about the schools lately BB: Well I' ; ve got it down someplace because I knew all the people. GS: Was your teacher very strict? BB: Yes GS: What would happen if you misbehaved, what would she do? BB: Well she' ; d send you to the office and you' ; d get a whoopin' ; , or if it wasn' ; t very bad you' ; d have to stand in the corner with your whole-- stand in the corner or at the black board with your nose in the hole, or sit on the stool in the corner. GS: Okay, did you-- did they have a Duns cap? BB: Yeah GS: Did they really? BB: Yeah. GS: Wow. Okay did you-- you already talked about your mom had Sunday school in the school building, did they attend church anywhere else when you were a child? BB: No, and I taught my first Sunday school lesson when I was sixteen, taught the first graders GS: In that school building? BB: At Iron Post, yeah. GS: What were Christmases like as a child? BB: Oh, they were great! We didn' ; t have wrapping paper, we didn' ; t have money for it, you know. And we-- seems like we got a dollar for-- to buy with. But there' ; s a big joke there that if you can get jigsaw puzzles for a dollar, for 25cents, either 25cents or a nickel, I think it was 25cents, but there was all six of us to buy for, you know, and so we would-- GS: I' ; s just checking making sure it' ; s still working, it is BB: We would buy our brothers Bob and John, they just hated jigsaw puzzles, but my sister and I we just loved to work them. So every Christmas we' ; d buy them a jigsaw puzzle, and well-- to tell you what you wanted, you know. They, Tibbons, furnished a great big Christmas tree for the Iron Post school, and with the money we made off of putting on plays at Gypsy and Iron Post and whatever, they bought candy and they made they a sack for every family whose children went to school at Iron Post. It had an apple and an orange and package of gum and miscellaneous candy, and some nuts, it was real nice. GS: And it was one per family? BB: No, it was each child GS: Oh okay BB: Oh yeah we looked forward to that, but nobody wrapped their gifts and-- oh and we had Pie Suppers to raise money for Christmas too. But they put them in and under the Christmas tree, well every year me and my sister we got dolls, I still got my dolls that I got when I was 12 years old. GS: Aw BB: Mine would have blue dress and Peggy' ; s would have a pink dress, and the boys got guns and I wanted a gun so bad GS: I figured that (Laughter) BB: But I never did get one, like I said 12 years old got a-- we were still playing with dolls, you know, 12 years old. But when mom made the boys play with us half the day and the girls the other half of day, play house-- girls games and vice versa, so I got to use the guns, you know, half hour of the day. Oh and back to the puzzles, the boys hated them and we loved to work them and my brother John died at 75 I think it was and I bought him a puzzle every year, for him and Bob both for Christmas and then Bob would just get so mad after he got about, oh 18 years old or something, he would-- he' ; s gonna throw it in the trash and then he learned I was putting money and stuff in it. But this year was Bobs birthday in March and he hasn' ; t been here, but he loved John Wayne and I ordered a book of John Wayne and his life, and he came home and I found a puzzle box that the book would just fit in and I wrapped it and then I gift wrapped it real nice, and he hasn' ; t been here yet, he' ; s coming Saturday and he' ; ll get his Christmas present GS: (Laughter) BB: And when he unwraps that and sees it' ; s a puzzle, he' ; ll give me the dirtiest look GS: Surely he' ; ll know you' ; ve got something else inside of it BB: He' ; ll see that box, puzzle box and he' ; ll just know he got another puzzle GS: I love that ; I just love that. Do you remember going to any weddings when you were younger? BB: No GS: Okay we' ; re gonna skip now to medical care. BB: Uh-oh GS: What was medical care like when you were a kid? BB: Well there wasn' ; t any really. I broke my collarbone and didn' ; t go to the doctor, you can feel it. GS: Oh my word BB: When I was 19, I went to the doctor with the flu and he said " ; When did you break your collarbone?' ; well I knew when I broke it but I didn' ; t tell him about it. ' ; Ol Dr. King, his mother and my mother-- my grandmother were good friends and he took care of us and every fall, he would mix up liniments and it was just his own secret and bring it out and it' ; d be a quart in a big bottle and mom called it horse liniments. That boy would cure your colds and whatever. GG: Wow BB: And he would bring his mother and leave her at my grandmother' ; s house so they could tear all the neighbors apart GS: Do you remember his black powder that he used to give people? BB: Oh well I had-- I was-- it was actually, we were married and I was in Texas and I had a goiter and they wanted to operate and I said " ; No I' ; ll, I' ; d rather see my doctor at home" ; and I-- and he gave me, I' ; ve still got it, but a little compact about that big that' ; s full of something sad, but looked just like axel grease, black. And he said " ; Lay down, rub this on that place on your neck and stay there for an hour" ; that was during the noon hour, " ; And do get up, just lay there" ; and I said Ok, and it just got rid of it. GS: Wow BB: It was his own mixture, and I talked to his nurse later and I did his books and one time we visited, like one time I asked him, I said " ; How come you been married so many times Dr. King?" ; He says " ; Well, my daddy said it wasn' ; t meant for man to live alone, and I believe him" ; He was a mess, he was a sweetheart GS: I went to Dr. King when I was little BB: Really? I just came across a clipping of, I' ; m gonna see if they' ; ll put it in the paper about old time doctors and it' ; s about him GS: Oh yeah, we need that! BB: It' ; s real interesting, it' ; s real interesting GS: Yeah BB: The buggy, horse and buggy doctor or something but it' ; s the title GS: How wonderful BB: He was a great old man, you couldn' ; t read his writing GS: And the women usually gave birth at home, didn' ; t they? BB: Yes [Inaudible] GS: Were you ever hospitalized? I don' ; t think you were-- BB: Not that I remember GS: Since you broke your collarbone and didn' ; t get it fixed BB: No not until after I got married, or you know. GS: Okay let' ; s skip now to Bristow, and we' ; re still in early childhood here, so what was Bristow like in your early childhood? Did you get to come to Bristow often? BB: We came on Saturdays a lot ' ; cus we brought stuff-- vegetables and stuff to the poor farm, and-- GS: Did you sell them to the poor farm or give them to the poor far? BB: No we just gave them to the poor farm. But I know where the, it' ; s the dollar store on main street, what' ; s the name of that store? GS: Dollar General BB: Yeah Dollar General. Well around the corner, there was a bar and we would try to park across the street because every night there' ; d be a fight at the bar and they' ; d take it outside, you know. But we would sit in the car and watch the people go by or walk up and down the street and then we' ; d hope to see somebody we knew. GS: Were was the poor farm located back then Bunny? BB: Well, it-- I don' ; t, I can' ; t remember exactly but it was south of town and west off of the highway on the other side. GS: South on 48? BB: Mhm. GS: How did most people travel in your childhood? BB: Well, my mother still had a buggy, my grandmother still had a buggy, but we always had a car. GS: Good, yeah. But were a lot-- were there kind of a mixture of cars and horses and buggy on the road? BB: Yeah GS: Okay BB: And when you took cotton to town, of course you took it by wagon GS: Yeah BB: And they always let--a hard hand would take to town and my brother Bill always got to go, and I picked the same amount of cotton he did and I never could understand why they wouldn' ; t let me go to town too GS: Aww BB: And then I, now I realize that-- GS: It wasn' ; t safe BB: Women didn' ; t do that GS: Yeah, yeah. What kind of businesses were in Bristow? What were some of the biggest businesses? BB: Well JC Penny because that' ; s where we bought what clothes we bought, and at Strongs (ph) they had a shoe store and all, but they had a thing that you stepped on to get the size of your shoe, it was real interesting, and-- GS: Was it like an x-ray machine? BB: No, don' ; t think so. It just-- might' ; ve been, it just showed up what size you wore. Might' ; ve been x-ray because there was a light under it GS: Huh BB: But-- GS: Or they maybe just called it that and it wasn' ; t BB: Yeah, Hamburger King and-- gee I can' ; t remember. GS: Did you ever eat at the Hamburger King as a child? BB: Not as a child, nuh-uh. We never ate in town. GS: What kind of clothes did people wear? How did they dress? BB: Well, girls and women wore dresses GS: How long were the dresses? BB: Well some of them were back- way back when, well when school teachers couldn' ; t wear anything, it had to be just above the ankle. And my grandmother boarded two school teachers who taught at Iron Post, so I can' ; t remember that. But they were below the knee, I' ; d say, and my mother was-- had a lot of pride. She wouldn' ; t go to town without her hat, her corset, and purse GS: Aww BB: Everybody wore a corset I guess GS: And did she mostly make her clothes too? She made-- BB: Yeah, we bought feed sacks, feed at Cantrell' ; s feed store and if we-- mom was wanting a dress, she' ; d buy two sacks alike to get the print. GS: Enough material BB: They were printed, yeah. Most of them were made out of them feed sacks. GS: Did you ever come into Bristow for holiday events, or did Bristow have holiday events back then? BB: I don' ; t remember coming in, of course that was seven miles to drive over a rough road GS: Yeah, yeah. What did you want to be when you grew up? BB: Everything (Laughter) BB: Mostly a hunter and fisherman. Me and my brother John, we started hunting and fishing together when we were both super little. But when we grew up, we wanted to go to Alaska-- live in Alaska and hunt and trap fish. GS: Did you ever make it to visit Alaska? BB: No, made it close but we once lived in [Indecipherable] North Dakota fifty miles from the Canadian border GS: Aw BB: That' ; s close as I got. GS: What was your first job Bunny? BB: Piggly Wiggly Grocery store GS: Where was it? BB: It was on the west side of main street down from, it was in the block south of, can' ; t even think of what' ; s there now, sixth street or something. You know where the bank was. GS: Spirit or Community? BB: First National GS: Okay BB: On the corner of main street, it was down south of there. That was during my junior and senior year, and then I went on to work with Maxine Jenkins at Lions Café as a soda jerk. GS: Now just for generations that have never heard of soda jerk, what was a soda jerk? I know but let' ; s hear it explained BB: I don' ; t really know myself, but it was when you made sodas, soda pop for people, you know. Had a tab. GS: Did you do the ice cream too? BB: Don' ; t remember that. GS: What kind of jobs have you had in your life? You' ; ve said you' ; ve had several. BB: Maybe. First I took typing and short handing in high school. My first job after I graduated from high school was a friend got me on at Hamburger Kings, she was, I can' ; t remember his name [Indecipherable], but she managed it-- GS: Was it Horainy (ph) that had it or was it Maxis? Maxis had it first, and then he sold it to Johnny Horainy (ph) BB: It was Johnny GS: Okay BB: Yeah, and she-- all she did was boss me and I did all the work and she was making twelve dollars a week and I was making ten GS: Aww BB: And I thought " ; This is ridiculous" ; well my girls that I graduated with had all gone on to Tulsa and got jobs, so I said " ; well this is a mess" ; of course I wanted to be at home, and so I quit and went to Tulsa. GS: Yup it' ; s still running BB: And got a job as a typist, me and Wanda Sanders at the candy building, and from there I got a job with a wholesale drug company and that was a riot, and I worked over night as a curb hawk for drive in and that was the money I earned to come home on, be there by bus or train. GS: Now come home, where were you? BB: Back to Bristow, in Tulsa GS: Oh okay BB: I was in Tulsa. Yeah and one night we girls decided that we were gonna [Inaudible] and we decided we would just-- the soldiers were crowded up there, they were saying you' ; re in the big crowd, we thought we' ; d go shopping, in the shop to see what was going on. And we noticed all of the girls had their pant legs cuffed, ya know, so we thought that was in style, of course we was in the country and didn' ; t know anything and so we rolled our cuff lengths up. Well some soldiers joined us, you know, but they didn' ; t start walking with us and talking and so they said something about a hotel room, we didn' ; t know what they was talking about, and they said well how come you' ; ve got your pants legs rolled up, that' ; s what that means GS: Oh my word, I never heard that! BB: Well we rolled our pants legs cuff down so fast it' ; s make your head spin GS: So if a girl was easy, so to speak, they rolled their jeans up and the guy knew to take them out BB: Right GS: Oh my word, I never knew that. That' ; s interesting BB: I didn' ; t know it either (Laughter) GS: You learned real quick though, didn' ; t you? BB: And the first-- on the first job I got, was just typing, and I had interviewed, you know, been interviewed you know, and well the first time Wanda and I, we' ; d just never been around stop lights GS: Now who' ; s Wanda? BB: Wanda Sanders, she was my best friend GS: Okay BB: And we were walking across the street, crossing the street and a car honked at us and we weren' ; t paying attention, you know when we had walked across the street, we got to work and to was our boss, we were crossing at a red light. And momma told us don' ; t get in a car with strange men, she said whatever you do don' ; t get in a car with strange men. Well, I was standing out in the rain one time waiting for the bus-- GS: Uh-huh BB: To get to work, and a car stopped. It was pouring down rain and he was honking, you know, I wouldn' ; t [Indecipherable] I looked the other way and kept waiting, and finally he drove on, well that was our boss too. I had-- it was always something like that going on with me GS: (Laughter) BB: And you had to ride-- we rode the train home and we couldn' ; t get a seat, you had to hold on because it' ; s so full of service men and people who couldn' ; t get a seat, and Tom, my oldest nephew, he-- of course his dad was killed in [Indecipherable] and he wanted a rabbit so bad, and you couldn' ; t get a rabbit in Bristow, so I bought him a rabbit from Tulsa and you weren' ; t supposed to take things like that on the train, so I hid it under my coat and I looked like I was pregnant and everybody was giving room for me, you know. And then another time he wanted a stick horse, so I bought him a stick horse, I [Indecipherable] everybody on that train, [Indecipherable] (Laughter) GS: On purpose or accidently? BB: No, accidentally because it was long, you know, it was sticking out from under my coat. I' ; ve always had a lot of fun, usually at my expense. GS: Okay I wanna know about when you met MerleBB: I knew him all my life, I guess. They played, you know, music for the Pie Suppers and everything, so we' ; d go in and hear them GS: Was he from the Iron Post area also? BB: No he was from down by-- well at first he was over on the east of Talaha (ph) [Indecipherable] GS: Okay BB: And then they moved to south of town, I think he went to school at Valentine maybe GS: Okay BB: And, but he-- I don' ; t know they might have had a bus running from Gypsy down there, but I never knew him until he was, you know, he was in school at Gypsy. GS: So did he ask you out on a first date? BB: No, they would come to him and Dilmore would come to that place on Tibbons lease, you know, where we had the games and all, and he would walk me home and there were a bunch of people on north of me that walked, we' ; d all walk together and he would walk me home. And he played the banjo, and his brother played the guitar at that time, and I wanted his brother to walk me home, but every time his brother would ask to walk me home, well Merle would intervene, he wouldn' ; t have it. Well I didn' ; t like Merle very well. But anyway, he never-- Merle never turned loose, and one time I told him, you know, I didn' ; t wanna see him anymore, I couldn' ; t run him off, and my sister and I in our old smoke house we made it into a bedroom for us, and mom, well she wasn' ; t well then, and we had an old wire couch that folded up that I [Inaudible]. And so us kids would play music out there, well Merle he would come and he left his banjo out there, and he would come up and he would play the banjo and I' ; d play the basket or guitar, and he' ; d get ready to leave and he' ; d say " ; You gonna kiss me goodnight?" ; I thought " ; I don' ; t kiss boys" ; . Peggy would say " ; Well I' ; ll kiss you Merle" ; So [Indecipherable] (Laughter) GS: Now who' ; s Peggy? BB: My sister GS: Oh BB: Just younger than me GS: Okay BB: But one time he came to the house and he-- I didn' ; t let him stay he threatened to kill himself he had something in his hand, and I said " ; Well kill yourself if you want to" ; but he says " ; I' ; m not coming to see you, I' ; m coming to see Bobby" ; and he just kept coming to the house, you know. And then come to find out in later years, he told all the boys in High School that I dated [Indecipherable] just one or two or three, and well I' ; d get tickled, you know, sometimes I' ; d get tickled. I wouldn' ; t date him anymore. But he told them to lay of off me, you know, and if some- only way you knew somebody was coming to see you was going to show up because there' ; s no telephones or anything. And I remember Francis Wrestler had come to see me, and we were outside of course talking and Merle came up and he stayed till after he left. Uh he was-- I couldn' ; t get rid of him GS: So what did he do to finally win your heart? BB: Well, when I was 14 or 15, and Kenneth Mann had- that was when they were building ships for the war and paying good money, so Kenneth left school and went to California and told Merle that, you know, it' ; s a good deal out there. So Merle went, and he-- well Kenneth, they tried to get us girls to go with them and marry them, and Marie went ; she was just 15. GS: Oh my goodness BB: And I said " ; I don' ; t wanna get married" ; and I wasn' ; t about to take off with him, and I didn' ; t let boys kiss me. I didn' ; t want any, if they weren' ; t fun, forget it. And so Merle ended up sending me a set of rings, and I told mom " ; What am I to do with this?" ; I said " ; I don' ; t want them, I' ; m not gonna get married" ; and she said " ; Well if you don' ; t want them, send them back to him" ; so I did. And he- there was a peach orchard between the highway and their house, he had stopped there before he left trying to get me to marry him and I told him, I said " ; No, I' ; m not interested" ; And so after he was in the service and got out, he was in there for four years, and he got out, and we were going-- he came, of course to the house, and he was going to move down, I was with him to [Indecipherable] his house, well we stopped at the peach orchard, and I thought " ; Uh-oh" ; he pulled out those same rings, well what do you do? So, we got married GS: (Laughter) Not exactly sweeping you off your feet, was he? BB: Yeah and then after we moved to town, well you know back then the soldiers whistled at the girls and when we would go out, you know, any place, we had to go out to eat a hamburger because I didn' ; t cook, I didn' ; t have anything to cook with. And if somebody whistled at me, he' ; d say " ; wait here" ; and he' ; d be ready to fight ' ; em. GS: Oh my goodness BB: So I quit going out with him, I just quit going out with him. And come to find out, after he died, somebody, I can' ; t remember his name, he told me that Merle told those boys [Indecipherable] that they better keep their hands off of me. GS: He really was smitten by you Bunny BB: He' ; d kill me if I run around on him as they say. GS: Yeah sounds like it, what was your wedding like? BB: Well it was night,' ; course it was nice because I had to keep laughing. Well, he bought me a big bouquet and I was shaking and the leaves were rattling. GS: (Laughter) And that got you tickled BB: Well the preacher was my cousin and he didn' ; t look at me afraid he would laugh if I was looking. Didn' ; t look at him afraid he would laugh, but my daddy gave me away, and my sister, oldest sister was my bridesmaid, and Johnny, Nathans mother mother had a flower shop here and so [Indecipherable] his best man. And I was-- I had a date Saturday night before, and on Tuesday, Tuesday I had told him I would marry him. I felt sorry for him, he couldn' ; t even eat, you know, couldn' ; t keep food down his stomach, he just weighed 120 pounds GS: Oh my word BB: He lived on rations all those years and he couldn' ; t eat, and I felt so sorry for him so I thought " ; Well, I' ; ll marry him and get him on his feet then he can marry somebody else" ; and I had told him that on Tuesday night, Saturday night I had a date with somebody else, and I wasn' ; t about to give up the date, so I had a date. Anyway GS: Did you ever go to the bigger cities like Tulsa or Oklahoma City? BB: I don' ; t ever remember going to Oklahoma City till after I had Donna lived up there GS: Did you ever take the train back then? BB: No GS: Anywhere? BB: Just to Tulsa ; well yeah I was in Tulsa a lot, ' ; cus I worked up there GS: Yeah once you started working there BB: Yeah GS: Do you remember when, well no ' ; cus you were born that year so you wouldn' ; t have remembered when route 66 was built. BB: No GS: Okay, let' ; s go-- BB: I had two cousins that helped build the road to Slick from Bristow GS: I' ; m gonna skip some of these questions and ask you about your involvement with Western Heritage Days BB: Well, I helped-- I guess I helped get it started and all-- we were all working together. Merle, he learned to weld in the shipyards, you know, and Doy Cochran (ph) was a welder, he had his own business, and they were the special welders that built this arena in there where the chestcord (ph) is now. And, but with help from everybody, everybody was interested, and as they welded the pipes together, Warren, well shoot I can' ; t think of her name, he was a policeman GS: Hall, Freddie Hall? BB: No GS: No BB: Warren GS: I don' ; t know, that' ; s okay BB: But anyway we painted them, we painted them the same GS: And what did you do with them? BB: Well we painted the corrals ' ; cus they built them GS: Oh okay, for the rodeo? BB: Yeah. And uh-- GS: What about the parades and everything? Did you help with that? BB: Well not particularly. GS: What about that picture of you that we have when you' ; re all dressed up in your costume as a Saloon lady BB: Yeah GS: What about that? BB: Well if I was meeting a man on the street, he would' ; ve looked at me kind of questionably. And if he had on a hat, he would-- he would be smiling too. But I had a Gingham dress too, but that was the most popular. And one time at the end of the parade, I went to stand on the west side to watch the rest of the parade and Mr. Poston (ph), highly a religious man was there, but I standing kind of against the building about that far. But he looked at me like that and he scooted over GS: (Laughter) He thought you were the real thing, didn' ; t he? BB: Yeah, but what the funniest thing was, Merle had told me I was-- you know wore a dress one day then the other, the next day, and I was-- had that red dress on and so Merle told me he said " ; I' ; ll pay for your lunch if you meet me down at the J& ; J at 12 o' ; clock" ; and I said " ; okay" ; and I' ; d made my little, little bag, ya know, to match my dress and so he said, I told him I' ; d be there at 12 o' ; clock. Well, I was late and he says " ; How come you' ; re late?" ; and I had took a ten-dollar bill and had it changed into quarters and I just threw that on the table and I said " ; Well what do you think?" ; GS: (Laughter) BB: He just gave me a dirty look ; he knew I wouldn' ; t have been worth a quarter GS: Now you' ; ve told me some stories before about the-- some of the pranks and jokes you and Merle would play on each other. Your marriage was pretty much-- BB: Play GS: Play. Can you recall any of them? BB: Oh, that' ; s all you can do that, if you recall it it' ; s something. We were always at each other, we were trying to put something off on each other, and just like that quarter game. But, well for one thing he would-- he would, he was ornery. And one year for every fourth of July, all the family was at the house and the boys would go play golf and we had a big ice cream freezer and we' ; d make ice cream. Well his birthday was the twelfth of June and so he told me what he wanted for his birthday was an electric ice cream freezer, so I-- that' ; s what I bought him for his birthday, I had no idea what he was thinking. And the boys, Merle of course beat them all at golf so he didn' ; t have to turn the freezer but all the other guys took turns turning the freezer and it finally froze so hard that they had to quit. Well Merle came out of the house with his ice cream freezer and he says " ; boys look what I got for my birthday" ; I thought they were gonna kill him GS: Oh after they had made it the other way BB: Yeah GS: (Laughter) BB: Crazy thing GS: Oh my goodness BB: And then, oh one of the good times I got off on him, I was planting flowers along the fence and then we had a yard fence and then two strands of barbed wire above that, and he came up behind me and I didn' ; t know it and poked me with his ho or something, and I jumped and I jumped between those two barbed wire fences and my hair, of course I had long hair and it was all tangled up, and he was just dying laughing until he saw my head was bleeding. Then he started helping me get out, get untangled, you know. Well that was fine ; but wasn' ; t long after that that we had this 8-foot picture window in the living room that you could see clear down to the end of the road. And so he came in, took a bath, and he was in his shorts sitting in his chair, he was on this side of the window and I was over here, I could see down the road. And we were sitting there watching television and I had that table that' ; s-- that' ; s table for the old home, and I said " ; Oh gosh Merle here comes a car" ; and he jumped up and he jumped across that table and hit it and fell off of it, and he jumped up again and he took off down the hall (Laughter) BB: And pretty soon he came back dressed, you know, and he says " ; Who was it?" ; and I said " ; Oh it wasn' ; t anybody, I just thought it was somebody" ; he just gave me a dirty look. That' ; s how I got even with him. GS: That sounds like you sure did. Do you remember when Bristow was segregated? Do you have any memories of that? BB: No I don' ; t because we weren' ; t segregated, we had a family called Mason family and they had a lot of kids and they were poor. They picked our cotton every year, picked for but we had to pick too, but they picked for us. We [Indecipherable] a lot of cotton, but we-- we helped black people all we could. GS: Yeah BB: We didn' ; t-- but when we went to build the barn, it' ; s build on telephone poles that was disbanded, and Merle was trying to get one of them down the road to help him and he said he was afraid that he would lose his assistance from the government, so I had to help him. And I was up on top of one of those telephone poles. We were building it, and the poles were in the ground, but we were stretching woods across from one pole to the other. And I got on top of one of those telephone poles to be sure we got this board leveled, and he was gonna- looked down and he was about to poke me with a stick, I' ; d have fell off of that telephone pole. GS: Oh my goodness! BB: Crazy thing, and he would weld. He built our pens and everything and I would help him. And one time he tried- he was gonna hand me a red hot piece of pipe, you know. GS: Oh gosh that would' ; ve hurt BB: Yeah, you had to keep your eye on him! Of course he kept his eye on me too GS: I was gonna say I bet he had to keep his eye on you too BB: Yeah (Laughter) GS: Do you have any memories of the great depression? I know you were pretty small and-- BB: Yeah but all I remember is we were poor, you know. If we didn' ; t raise our food, we wouldn' ; t have had any food. GS: Did any of your-- was any of your family involved in any of the government assistant work programs? BB: No, but at one time the government at Iron Post, they sent beans home with each family according to the size of the family and we had six of us, we had a big stack of beans. Well, guess who had to do the carrying ' ; cus he' ; s biggest? And we quit-- we traded off some but I had to carry them mostly. And-- GS: I bet they got pretty heavy BB: They did after a mile GS: How far did you have to walk? BB: A mile. But I was always stout, you know. GS: Yeah BB: Working outside and everything GS: Do you remember any of the-- I know you said none of your family worked for the WPA, but do you remember coming into Bristow when they maybe built the amphitheater or when Mrs. Roosevelt came and dedicated it in the building? BB: Well mom would bring us to town like there was somebody, Landon I think it was, ran for president. He' ; d come on the train and talk on the back of the train, and she would bring us to town to see those people, she was always very good with-- GS: Political binded BB: Yeah political binded. But I don' ; t remember that GS: Okay, okay. BB: I might' ; ve come, but I don' ; t remember it. GS: She was [Indecipherable]. Was she involved in politics in any other way? BB: Well, I don' ; t know if she was always-- she, there was a mayor Brong (ph). Anyway, she always came to their meetings, you know, she was always interested in the government, whatever was going on so I guess she was interested in politics. GS: Did any of your family members ever run for office? BB: No GS: Did your mother mention when women got suffrage when they got the right to vote, anything about that? Now you' ; ve mentioned the 40' ; s, what year did you graduate? Well, what year did you-- well let me just skip that part. What are your memories of WWII? BB: Well, foil. I' ; m reminded of that every day, I just hate to waste a piece of foil because we collected foil, they needed it for armory. And even chewing gum, each stick was wrapped in foil, and boy we-- if somebody was chewing gum, we would watch and the one that had the biggest ball of foil at a certain time, we' ; d turn them in every so often. And the one that had the biggest one got a package of gum GS: Well BB: I remember that. GS: That' ; s the way they got kid to recycle. BB: Yeah, and I' ; ve got some things about that over there to get toothpaste or something, you had to bring an empty tube. GS: Do you remember your ration books that your mother had? BB: Yeah, yeah. Sugar and gasoline and everything, but mama Foster got a ration book and she didn' ; t go anyplace so we got to use hers GS: Well that helped a big family BB: Yeah, yeah it did. GS: Did she live very far away from you? BB: Half a mile GS: Half a mile, that' ; s good. Did anybody, I know your husband Merle served in WWII, tell me about that. BB: Well, he-- he was on, he was on the [Indecipherable] canal and all those little islands around there, [Indecipherable] GS: What, was he in the marines? BB: Yeah, my brother was in the navy GS: Okay BB: And he burned his feet, they were fighting with fire on the walls I think it was. And a boy worked for us, the neighbor boys would work for us and just come and live with us. When they got sixteen, their dad' ; s would run them off and they' ; d come to our house and they' ; d [Indecipherable] and moved on. But Alfred Dobson (ph), Pete' ; s brother, he was working for us and he quit to join the navy, and he was on the wasp, and we never found his body. GS: Aw, was the wasp, did it go down? BB: Yeah, Japanese. GS: In Pearl Harbor or out on the- BB: Out in the GS: Out in the ocean, in the ocean BB: Yeah in the ocean GS: But your brother survived BB: Yeah he had burned feet, but he got out GS: Good, was your brother and Merle the only two who served in- BB: In WWII GS: In WWII? BB: No. GS: Did you-- were you, did your family listen to the war news on the radio? BB: I don' ; t know because I wasn' ; t home [Inaudible] GS: You mentioned the radio battery earlier, was it a car battery that you used on your radio? BB: I don' ; t-- GS: I' ; ve heard some people used car batteries BB: I don' ; t know GS: Don' ; t remember, okay. Did you read any newspapers as a young adult? BB: Yes GS: What newspapers did you read? BB: Tulsa GS: Tulsa World or whatever it was back then BB: Tulsa World. Yeah, that' ; s where I have all these old clippings because there wasn' ; t anything to do, and I was always interested in History, and so I' ; ve got a box full of old newspaper clippings GS: Oh BB: Even at the beginning of World War II GS: That' ; s wonderful. What would you consider to be the most important inventions during your lifetime? BB: Wow so many GS: Yes, there are. There' ; s so many that have impacted life, it would be hard to pick just a few favorite. BB: Yeah, I guess most important would be the computers. But I don' ; t have one, don' ; t want one. I' ; ve gone this long, long time without one, don' ; t need one. GS: What event would you say influence the world the most during your lifetime? Event or events? BB: I would say World War II GS: Did you-- were you aware during WWII of what Hitler was doing? BB: Yes, I kept up with the news. Mom insisted on a daily newspaper, so. GS: Oh, this is a loaded question ; how different is the world today than it was when you were a child? BB: Just as different as you can get GS: Yeah BB: Absolutely just exactly different. There' ; s no-- you can' ; t punish children for anything, you can' ; t punish murderers for anything, there' ; s no laws, no regulations, everybody can do whatever you want you, and you won' ; t get punished very bad for it. No manners, kids don' ; t have manners, they' ; re not being taught manners and good behavior. GS: And that has to come from home and they' ; re not getting it at home. BB: That' ; s right, that' ; s right. I can remember mom was pretty good, she was bad on manners and we weren' ; t allowed to eat until everybody was seated at the table, and if you wanted to leave earlier than most people, you had to be excused from the table. And you didn' ; t slam doors, and Tom was about three or four years old and he was at our house and we had a door between the living room and the kitchen, and he was upset about something, he-- mom had got onto him for some reason, and he slammed the door, but we didn' ; t hear his footsteps leaving, so he just there waiting. He came back, opened the door and he said " ; Anytime I slam a door like that, you know I' ; m mad" ; and he [Indecipherable] and she said " ; You go home before you get in trouble" ; . GS: Ooh! I think you kind of alluded to the problems, but I' ; m gonna ask this question anyway. As you see it, what are the biggest problems that face out nation today? BB: Love GS: What? BB: Love GS: Love BB: If you love people you wouldn' ; t treat them like you do. Everybody' ; s greedy, everybody' ; s ready to cheat anybody out of a dollar, and-- GS: It is a sad state BB: It really is, don' ; t look out for one another at all. And that' ; s the way we were raised, we were raised to look out for one another. Backed people whoever GS: Yup, okay we' ; ve talked about a lot ; is there anything else you' ; d like to tell us that I haven' ; t thought of to ask ya? BB: There' ; s a lot of things I' ; d like to tell you but I don' ; t-- wouldn' ; t want it on tape (Laughter) GS: Is there anything of historic significance that you could tell me that you would want to have on tape? BB: Yes, there' ; s one thing I' ; m so proud of. I worked for the first CPA in Bristow GS: And who was that? BB: C. C. Wilson GS: C. C. Wilson, and what did you do? BB: Kept books. GS: K, okay. And what year was that, years? Decade would work. BB: Probably not, I don' ; t remember GS: Was it after you and Merle were married? BB: Yes GS: So sometime after 45' ; BB: Yeah GS: When did you stop working for him? BB: Well see, when he died, he left the office-- office, he had five offices and he left the offices to the manager [Indecipherable] Bristow office, the Johnny Simmons (ph) GS: Oh okay BB: And I remember Johnny Simmons, but- GS:I think I knew that and had forgotten. BB: I have no clue, don' ; t know how long. GS: Okay. Well I' ; ll tell ya Bunny, if you think of anything else that you think " ; Oh man this would' ; ve gone good in that" ; , you call me and I' ; ll bring the little recorder back and we' ; ll get it taken care of, okay? BB: Well, I-- My ambition was to be a-- was a reporter GS: Court recorder, or reporter? BB: Reporter, I worked for a, what was his name, out at the house, I typed for him. The court reporter here. I can' ; t think of the name, but we had money for a camper, fast boats, anything you wanna mention, but we never had the money for a machine so I could be a reporter. GS: Now I didn' ; t ask you how long you and Merle were married BB: It was sixty- no fifty-eight years GS: Fifty-eight years BB: Because I was looking forward to sixty GS: Aw BB: He didn' ; t make it GS: When did he pass away Bunny? BB: Hm, can' ; t remember GS: That' ; s okay BB: I' ; ve got it down GS: It' ; s okay ; that' ; ll work, that' ; ll work. Well I really appreciate your doing this, we at the museum were all excited! Linda said " ; Oh those are two heavy weights you' ; re doing, you and Caroline Webb" ; so, I haven' ; t got to do Caroline yet but I think I should' ; ve stopped this before I rambled. Yup it' ; s still going. audio 0 https://bristoworalhistory.org/ohms/viewer.php?cachefile=OHP-2020-01_Bunny_Baker.xml OHP-2020-01_Bunny_Baker.xml
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Bunny Baker
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In this 2020 interview, Bunny Baker shares her experiences growing up in Bristow. She discusses family history, western heritage days, and shares many fun stories from her childhood through young adult life.
Identifier
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OHP-2020-01
Date
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2020-09-11
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audio
Creator
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Bristow Historical Society, Inc.
Publisher
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Bristow Historical Society, Inc.
Rights
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Bristow Historical Society, Inc.
Language
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English
Type
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sound, oral history
farming
Great Depression
holidays
home life
hospital
Iron Post
Native American ceremonies
Poor Farm
restaurants
social life
stores
World War I
World War II
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https://bristoworalhistory.org/files/original/04514c03aee102c390904419b97a698e.jpg
01808a8908c49bc34c3c8c7751dcd53f
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Title
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Family Histories
Type
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Oral History
Subject
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Oral accounts of various family histories
Source
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Bristow Historical Society, oral history collection
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
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Georgia Smith
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed
Monta Jean Wheeler
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Viewer)
https://bristoworalhistory.org/ohms/viewer.php?cachefile=OHP-2020-11_Wheeler,_Monta_Jean.xml
OHMS Object Text
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contents of the OHMS object searchable in Omeka
5.4 November 11, 2020 OHP-2020-11 Monta Jean Wheeler OHP-2020-11 0:00-60:58 'Bristow Historical Society - Oral History Archive' Bristow Historical Society, Inc. Monta Jean Wheeler Georgia Smith MP3 1:|58(3)|87(13)|116(6)|146(8)|175(8)|202(5)|244(7)|271(13)|299(2)|320(5)|342(3)|358(2)|382(10)|418(5)|427(13)|460(2)|483(16)|514(2)|529(5)|561(5)|585(9)|601(17)|620(9)|648(16)|670(12)|685(4)|721(5)|750(8)|777(4)|799(9)|822(13)|842(6)|858(5)|878(1)|884(14)|918(4)|934(3)|970(9)|989(15)|1027(2)|1048(2)|1065(5)|1099(7)|1135(5)|1178(5)|1189(2)|1208(2)|1231(14)|1257(10)|1279(1)|1317(2)|1340(4)|1365(3)|1376(6)|1408(4)|1431(7)|1448(13)|1458(4)|1472(1)|1489(6) 0 https://bristoworalhistory.org/interviews/OHP-2020-11 Wheeler, Monta Jean.mp3 Other audio 0 Introduction and Family History GS: This is Georgia Smith with the Bristow Historical Society in Bristow, Oklahoma and this is an interview is part of the Historical Society’s ongoing oral history project. The date is November 11, 2020 and I am sitting here with miss Monta Jean Wheeler at the depot, who is going to tell me a little bit about her history in the Bristow area. Now, give me your full name. MW: Monta Jean Wheeler GS: Okay let’s begin. What was your name at birth? MW: Monta Jean Baker GS: And where were you born? MW: I was born at the [Indecipherable] hospital here in Bristow on west 8th street. GS: That’s awesome, what was your date of birth? Albert Kelly ; American National Bank ; Anna Baker ; Anna Beatrice Herndon Baker ; Anna Chrome ; Bristow ; Cattle Drive ; Cleta Ann Bishop ; Cleta Ann Wheeler ; Cletus Wheeler ; First Church of God ; Georgia Smith ; Golf Oil Company ; Magic City, Texas ; Mike Wheeler ; Monta Jean Baker ; Monta Jean Wheeler ; Montfort Jones Baker ; Philly Station ; Steve Wheeler ; W. O. Baker https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/22325322/montfort-j-baker Montfort J. Baker https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/22461686/w-o-baker W. O. Baker https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/22325396/cleta-ann-bishop Cleta Ann Bishop 507 Growing Up In Bristow GS: Okay, tell me what life was like at home when you were a young child once you got settled back here in Bristow MW: Yeah, where the main farm, we moved on it. I had my sixth birthday right after we moved on it GS: Aw MW: And so I grew up there, daddy managed— he took care of the farm. Grandpa had gotten to the point he wasn’t able to get out and walk and tend to things, and so he turned it all over to daddy, and so that’s where I actually grew up. And then I went to country school, Pine Hill was the name of the school, and I went to school there through the first through the seventh grade GS: Okay, and where was that located Monta Jean? Assembly of God ; Carnation Milk Company ; Grade A Milk ; Grade B Milk ; Hiskets ; Hiskits ; Monta Jean ; Olive School ; Pine Hill 949 Appliances and Chores GS: Oh I think that’s good. How did they do laundry at your house growing up? MW: We had a Maytag washing machine, it had a gasoline motor on it GS: A gasoline washer MW: Uh-huh, you had to— it had a pump on it. I mean a deal, pedal that you had to step on that turned the bell that started the motor GS: Oh okay MW: And it was a ringer type washing machine GS: Uh-huh MW: I’ve got my hands hung in that before GS: I got mine hung in my grandmothers Aladdin Lamps ; Bea ; Gas Lights ; Herndon ; manorth ; Maytag ; Maytag Washing Machine ; Old Flat Irons ; Safeway ; WareEver ; Warehouse Market ; White Gasoline 1442 Farming GS: Did your parents ever employ help in the dairy, or in the house or anyplace? MW: Not in the dairy or the house, but daddy at times had people come in to help with some of the farm work. GS Okay MW: And at one time, they raised peanuts GS: Yes MW: And they had— that was all the, peanuts were pulled by hand, he used several black people here around Bristow that he would go and get and they would pull the peanuts and some of the black ladies would come and stack the peanuts. Daddy fixed poles in the— however he fixed them to where they could stack the peanuts on those GS: Okay Myrtle Alexander ; Myrtle Hines ; Odell Alexander ; Survell 1636 Clothing GS: Okay, what kind of clothes did you wear? Did Bea (ph) make your clothes or was it store bought? MW: Mother made almost all of our clothes, and a lot of them back then were made out of feed sacks GS: Yes MW: And the feed that you bought for the chickens or the cows, you could buy printed, yeah. Yeah mother— GS: Uh-huh, about everybody around here grew up in feed sack dresses MW: Yeah, yeah GS: Now did boys wear feed sack clothes? Bea ; Feed sack Clothes ; Feed sack dresses 1723 School Life GS: What kind of games did you play? MW: Course, my best friend of course was a girl, and of course we played with our dolls, played house, you know, typical little girl stuff. But then of course at school we played most games like kids at school play, you know, Annie Over, [Indecipherable], you know tag and all that kind of stuff, typical games. GS: What kind— did you sing songs at school or? MW: Oh yes GS: what, can you remember any of them? (Laughter) MW: No I don’t GS: Boy, songs are something I remember [Indecipherable] if it had a tune to it, I would remember it when I couldn’t remember anything else. Okay let’s see, we’ve talked about your dad, do you remember the first time you heard a radio? Aline Crow ; Annie Over ; Fibber McGee and Molly ; Gipsy ; Goodmans ; Hillcrest ; Kellyville ; Mannford ; Mr. Bass ; Mr. Crow ; Mrs. Bass ; Mrs. Crow ; Olive School ; Pie Supper ; Pine Hill ; Tag ; The Great Gildersleeve ; The Little Christmas Tree 2335 Church GS: Okay good, now you’ve mentioned you were brought up in the Church of God, and you mentioned the Church of God campground, is it—was it back then in the same place that it was in the 70’s? MW: Yes GS: Okay, do you remember by chance when they bought that property for a campground and when it was sold? MW: I don’t remember exactly what year they bought it, they bought that from my husband’s parents. GS: Oh really? MW: Yeah GS: I did not know that! MW: Yeah, yeah his parents lived just north of the campground. GS: And what was their name? Church of God ; Marie Wheeler ; Oscar Wheeler 2460 Medical Care GS: What was medical care like when you were a child? Did you go to the doctor much? MW: Oh not a whole lot, but I think people just basically you knew what to do, ya know? GS: Uh-huh MW: And my grandmother Baker, she used to come out to the farm, there was a certain plant out there that it grew in the farm in the barn lot GS: Uh-huh MW: And I don’t remember the name of that plant, I can pic— I can see it in my mind. It had blooms on it, and she would pick the blooms and I assume took leaves and whatever. She would come out and gather stuff and bring home and make savv (ph) and stuff out of certain plants that grew on the farm out there. GS: That’s a neat part of the way people were brought up back then, they had to be self-sufficient. MW: You— yeah, you did. It had to be a pretty serious matter to go to the doctor GS: Yeah. Did you have a family doctor? American Legion ; Dr. Cisler ; Dr. Cowart ; Dr. King ; Grandmother Baker ; savv 2612 Businesses and Holiday Events GS: So that’s good, very good. What are your recollections of the city of Bristow? MW: Well, I mean it was nice because you could buy about anything you wanted because you had Pennys, you had Anthonys, and then there was Strongs there, there was the Globe store, the Grand Leader store (ph) GS: Oh I don’t remember that one, where was that? MW: The Grand Leader, let’s see. It was there on main street, and I’m thinking it was in that block from seventh to eighth GS: Okay MW: Safeway was on the corner of eighth and main GS: And what did they sell? MW: Who? Anthonys ; Busches ; Christmas Parade ; Globe Store ; Grand Leader ; Hamburger King ; J. C. Pennys ; Pennys ; Shamuses ; Strongs 2840 Jobs GS: Okay, when you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up? MW: Oh, I don’t know. Really, mother really wanted me to go onto school, and of course I took all commotional subjects in High School, and I said well, it— I’ll tell ya, I said “If I can’t get a— if I can’t get a job when I graduate, I’ll go with Drawns (ph) business school in Tulsa” GS: Yup MW: Well, graduated in May and I [Indecipherable] the first part of July, J.L. Darnell was county superintendent of the schools and he had come to the house and we were gone, and back then you left notes on your screen door with a bobby pin GS: Uh-huh MW: And he left a note telling me that if I wanted to come to work for him, to be there on a certain day at a certain time and the job’s yours GS: Wow, that’s wonderful! MW: So I went to work— worked for him in July of 54’ GS: Was that for the school system? American National Bank ; Bristow ; California ; Camp Stoneham ; Cleta Ann Bishop ; Depew ; Drawns Business School ; Eisenhower ; Fort Sill ; Gipsy ; J. L. Darnell ; Korean War ; Lone Star ; Oklahoma City ; Sapulpa ; Slick ; Spirit Bank ; Winter Work https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/77214387/jesse-lawrence-darnell J. L. Darnell 3168 World War II GS: Okay now Korea war was in the 50’s, do you have any memories of World War II? MW: Oh yeah GS: What are your memories there? MW: I know where, I was— well let’s see. I think I was six, no war broke out the day Pearl Harbor was bombed, was in 41’ pleasant day, I think it was 41’, I would’ve been— I was five, going on six. We were in Oklahoma City at my aunts’ house, and my uncle was in the service and he was home on leave and they went to— my grandparents lived in Illinois but they were here— they were visiting. And they went to get gas in the car and all and they heard it on the radio, and they came back and of course they didn’t want grandma to know what was happening, and I remember he was even in Military clothes GS: Oh wow MW: And he was called right back up and he was in four years Guam ; Mils ; Oklahoma City ; Pearl Harbor ; Ration Stamps ; Safeway ; Tulsa World ; World War II ; WWII 3355 Concluding Thoughts GS: Okay, right. Thinking back over your life, what would you consider to be the most important inventions that you’ve seen in your lifetime? That’s a hard one because there’ve been so many MW: There’s been so many, that probably— because see even when we got electricity, they had electric irons at that point GS: Mhm MW: Probably TV was one of the most important, you know, other than your radio. GS: It brought the world into your living room, didn’t it? MW: Yes, it did, uh-huh GS: How is the world different now than when you were a child? MW: Horrible. GS: I understand that Electric Irons ; Industrial Supply Company ; Marshall Supply ; Marsuco ; Tulsa In this 2020 interview, Monta Jean Wheeler shares her experiences growing up in the Bristow area. She discusses her childhood, the various businesses throughout Bristow, and the impact that World War II had on Bristow. Interviewer: Georgia Smith Interviewee: Monta Jean Wheeler Other Persons: Date of Interview: November 11, 2020 Location: Bristow, Creek County Oklahoma Transcriber: Abby Thompson Organization: Bristow Historical Society, Inc. Original Cassette Tape Location: OHP-2020-11 at 00:00 to 60:58 Abstract: Preface: The following oral history testimony is the result of a cassette tape interview and is part of the Bristow Historical Society, Inc.' ; s collection of oral histories. The interview was transcribed and processed by the Bristow Historical Society, Inc., with financial assistance from the Montfort Jones & ; Allie Brown Jones Foundation. Rights to the material are held exclusively by the Bristow Historical Society, Inc. The reader should bear in mind that he or she is reading a verbatim transcript of spoken, rather than written prose. Insofar as possible, this transcript tries to represent the spoken word. Thus, it should be read as a personal memoir and not as either a researched monograph or edited account. To the extent possible, the spelling of place names, foreign words, and personal names have been verified, either by reference resources or directly by the interviewee. In some cases, a footnote has been added to the transcript in order to provide more information and/or to clarify a statement. Some uncertainties will inevitably remain regarding some words and their spellings. In these scenarios, a (ph) follows a word or name that is spelled phonetically. The notation [indecipherable] is used when the transcriber has not been able to comprehend the word or phrase being spoken. The notation [inaudible] is used where there is more mumbling than words, or when interference on the tape has made transcription impossible. GS: This is Georgia Smith with the Bristow Historical Society in Bristow, Oklahoma and this is an interview is part of the Historical Society' ; s ongoing oral history project. The date is November 11, 2020 and I am sitting here with miss Monta Jean Wheeler at the depot, who is going to tell me a little bit about her history in the Bristow area. Now, give me your full name. MW: Monta Jean Wheeler GS: Okay let' ; s begin. What was your name at birth? MW: Monta Jean Baker GS: And where were you born? MW: I was born at the [Indecipherable] hospital here in Bristow on west 8th street. GS: That' ; s awesome, what was your date of birth? MW: 1/16/1936 GS: What were your parents' ; names? Mothers maiden name, mother and her maiden name first. MW: Her name was Anna Beatrice Herndon Baker (ph) GS: And where were-- your father' ; s name? MW: Montfort Jones BakerGS: And where were they married? MW: Here in Bristow GS: Okay MW: In my grandparents' ; house GS: Aw how wonderful. So they were already here in Bristow, were your parents always here in Bristow? I mean grandparents, were your grandparents always here in Bristow? MW: My grandfather came in the late 1800' ; s GS: And what brought him to Bristow, do you know? MW: I' ; m not exactly sure, but he was-- he came from Ohio. Left home at a young age like a lot of them did back then, and he wound up in the Kansas area, and that' ; s where he met my grandmother. And then during that time, he met Albert Kelly GS: Okay MW: And he, at one time, helped him get-- they brought cattle from Kansas, up in Kansas to Bristow. GS: Okay MW: And back then, you just drove on through. GS: Yup, just a cattle drive MW: Yeah GS: Now, we' ; ll skip to this part. We' ; ll get everything else, but since we' ; re talking about your grandparents, what were their names? MW: His name, he went by his initials ; W. O. Baker, that' ; s what everyone knew him by, or-- yeah. And my grandmothers name was Anna. GS: Anna, and do you know her maiden name? MW: Chrome (ph) GS: Chrome? MW: MhmGS: Okay. Alright, we' ; ll go back to-- MW: And at that time, he didn' ; t have-- there was-- he didn' ; t have any relatives here. GS: Okay, so-- MW: He just-- GS: He just picked this spot? MW: Well he picked this place, and at that time with Albert Kelly, they were in-- business partners with the cotton gin, one of the cotton gins here. Do you remember the old Ice Plant that was here? GS: Oh yes MW: And there was a cotton gin right down there just on the east side of the railroad track GS: Okay MW: And that-- they ran that cotton gin. And then also at one time, my grandad was on the-- stockholder in the American National Bank. GS: Okay, okay that' ; s interesting information! MW: That was way back, way back before my time GS: Way back when! (Laughter) GS: Was this before statehood or after statehood? MW: Well, it was before because in 1906 my grandad purchased from the Indians the property I' ; m living on right now ; it has been in our family since 1906 GS: Oh that' ; s wonderful, and what direction is that? MW: Where-- actually due north of Bristow GS: Okay MW: But the way you have to get to it more North then Northeast and all GS: Okay, okay. Wow that' ; s amazing. I' ; m gonna jump back up to your parents now and ask you how many children your parents have? MW: Just one GS: Just you, huh? MW: [Inaudible] GS: Okay, and what did your dad do for a living? MW: Well, he had-- he was at the time I was born, he was running a Philly Station here in Bristow GS: Okay MW: It sat down on the corner of somewhere off of fourth-- I think it faced on fourth street, off down along around in there where Sonic was or in that-- GS: Do you remember the name of it by chance? MW: No I don' ; t GS: That' ; s okay. Did your mother stay home or did she have a job? MW: No she-- after she and daddy married, she stayed home. GS: And what is-- MW: Well then after that, then they moved to Sapulpa GS: Okay MW: And I don' ; t know how long they were there, but that was after I was born. And then later on, we wound up in Seminole, daddy worked for the Golf Oil company GS: Okay MW: He was the bookkeeper for them GS: Uh-huh MW: And then after that, then he got a job in Texas, a place called Magic City, Texas and it was mainly-- he was a bookkeeper for a big gasoline plant out there. And we lived in a camp, they had houses and it-- that the employees lived in GS: Right, uh-huh MW: And then when I was five, then we came back to Bristow GS: Okay, and was your-- were your grandparents living on the land where you' ; re living now? MW: No, at that time they were living in town GS: Okay MW: And he had renters GS: Out here? MW: Out on the farm GS: Okay, okay. ' ; Cus I knew that was-- that land was already in the Baker name MW: Yeah GS: Okay, I know your spouse is deceased, what was his name? MW: Cletus Wheeler, Pete is his nickname, he was known by Pete here in Bristow GS: And when did you get married? MW: In February of 1955 GS: And was that here in Bristow? MW: At the First Church of God in Bristow GS: Okay, in the old church? MW: Yes GS: And where was that located, the old church of God? MW: The old church was just-- it was right along-- just about, well it was a little bit north of where the present one is GS: Okay MW: Probably in about the area of the gym GS: Okay, I didn' ; t-- MW: Because there was a-- I remember there was a lot on the north side of the church because I remember people parked along that north edge out there and in the front lot GS: Okay, I didn' ; t realize that' ; s where it was MW: Yes GS: Okay, and how many children did you and Pete have? MW: Three GS: Three children, what are their names? MW: Cleta Ann and then she married Danny Bishop GS: Okay MW: Here in Bristow, and then she passed away in August of 19-- 2007 GS: 27? MW: 2007, yeah. GS: I didn' ; t realize it had been that long MW: Yeah GS: Okay, and your other children? MW: And then Mike, and Mike lives in the Tulsa, east Tulsa Area GS: Okay MW: and Steve lives in Yukon, and yeah. GS: Okay, tell me what life was like at home when you were a young child once you got settled back here in Bristow MW: Yeah, where the main farm, we moved on it. I had my sixth birthday right after we moved on it GS: Aw MW: And so I grew up there, daddy managed-- he took care of the farm. Grandpa had gotten to the point he wasn' ; t able to get out and walk and tend to things, and so he turned it all over to daddy, and so that' ; s where I actually grew up. And then I went to country school, Pine Hill was the name of the school, and I went to school there through the first through the seventh grade GS: Okay, and where was that located Monta Jean? MW: It was two miles north of us GS: Okay, that wasn' ; t very far then MW: No GS: What kind of house did you grow up in? MW: We had a, well it was the original house that grandpa had built GS: Was it frame, wood frame? MW: Wood frame, uh-huh yeah. Nice house GS: What were your favorite toys as a child?MW: Oh I don' ; t know, you know being a country kid I was-- GS: Probably played outside a lot, didn' ; t ya? MW: I was outside a lot, ya know, and as I got a little older I played basketball at the country school, played softball at the country school, and of course I had my bicycle and it was kinda tough-- I attempted several times to ride it to school, which wasn' ; t too bad but coming back home at the end of the day, it was coming up hill to get to the house GS: Ohh, ohhMW: I had to push it up (Laughing) GS: Well going to school was easy anyway! Oh, boy. Now you said your mother didn' ; t work, so she probably just worked really hard at being a housewife and a mother MW: Very hard, and we-- my folks ran a dairy GS: Okay! MW: And so there was the milking to be done twice a day, and then later with that-- now I didn' ; t do too much-- very much milking, bout the only time I did if daddy got caught in the field and was late coming in in the evening, I might have-- I might go and help. There was one or two that I couldn' ; t handle GS: Uh-huh MW: But mother did most of it in a time like that, but when he wasn' ; t in the field course he was there too. And then they sold their-- at first they started out, there was a place just right up here on the ally, from here GS: Okay so like between sixth and seventh street? MW: No, it was just right due west of where we' ; re sitting right now GS: Okay MW: And the place was-- it' ; s the building that the Assembly God Church is in at this time GS: Cornerstone, yeah MW: Yeah, and they came in to the back where you could park. They brought their cream, eggs, mother even raised chickens and sold chickens that you could come in here and sell. And then later on, then they went into full dairy, and they sold-- it was considered grade B milk in just the ordinary barn, and just right over here cattycorner from where we' ; re at right now, carnation milk company had a drop off that you could bring your milk in GS: Wow MW: Brought it in the regular milk cans GS: Yes MW: And then later, daddy had a new barn built with all the specs state-- that the state required and went to grade A milk. And that' ; s what went on, there' ; s been times when I brought the milk in and left the cans here to-- GS: So like at seventh and main? MW: No, right over here. Right over here just across from the depot right there on the back. GS: Okay, okay. Like right around where Hiskits (ph) is or across the street from Hiskits (ph)? MW: No, just right here at the back of these buildings right here GS: Okay, okay MW: Yeah, there was a place that you could come and bring your milk cans in GS: Okay MW: Yeah, and drop it off. And then it was sent on to Tulsa to the Carnation Milk Company GS: I never realized that MW: And then you got your-- then you got your checks for your milk from the Carnation milk company GS: Well at least you didn' ; t have to deliver it yourselves that way MW: No GS: That' ; s good MW: Although daddy did drop off-- the church had a missionary that was here, and out at the campground GS: Yes MW: They worked back here on sabbatical, and they had three, I think three children, and the kids wanted fresh cow' ; s milk. So daddy told them that he would provide them with milk because he said that I have to-- and at that time, we came in on old sixty-six GS: Uh-huh MW: That went north of town and then circled around to, you know. And he told them if you have your bottles sitting on the porch, he said, I' ; ll bring it to you and you know, I' ; ll pick up your bottles and then I' ; ll deliver it to you. So they did and they wanted to pay for it and daddy told them no, I' ; ll bring you the milk. And I always have to tell this with this incident. My grandad had their-- he had royalty in a well up close to going to Olive, up in the direction of Olive school GS: Uh-huh MW: And all. And after he passed away, then daddy got a check ; a royalty checks from that. So the months that he delivered milk to the people, his royalty check increased. GS: Oh, that gives me chills MW: And I don' ; t remember exactly how long they were here, and then they later let him know " ; well we' ; re gonna be going back and we won' ; t be needing milk anymore" ; and then after-- so after they left and he quit delivering milk, the checks would drop back to what they normally would. GS: Now that' ; s-- MW: God works in mysterious ways GS: That has to be in Gods way, yes he does. MW: And I' ; ll tell you, it pays to gift-- GS: To be generous, it does. MW: Yes, it does. I had to put that in. GS: Oh I think that' ; s good. How did they do laundry at your house growing up? MW: We had a Maytag washing machine, it had a gasoline motor on it GS: A gasoline washer MW: Uh-huh, you had to-- it had a pump on it. I mean a deal, pedal that you had to step on that turned the bell that started the motor GS: Oh okay MW: And it was a ringer type washing machine GS: Uh-huh MW: I' ; ve got my hands hung in that before GS: I got mine hung in my grandmothers (Laughing) GS: Just something kids do I guess MW: I guess so GS: What about cooking, what kind of stove? MW: Well to start with, we had I think it was used kerosene in it-- with it to cook on. And then later on, there was a gas well on the place ; and so later, daddy got pipe and laid the gas line from that well to the house so we had gas GS: For your cook stove MW: For the cook stove, our heat was stove and lights. At that time, we had gas lights GS: Oh how interesting MW: That had-- that had little manorth (ph) on there that you lit a match to do it. If a bug happened to get a-- fly in the house or whatever happened to fly into one of those, it ruined them. GS: I just imagined it again MW: And then later then, we went to Aladdin lamps that run off of white gasoline GS: Okay MW: We did that, and we didn' ; t get electricity until I was a freshman in high school GS: Wow, and so that would' ; ve been in what? About-- MW: Let' ; s see, that would' ; ve been probably in 19, it was probably 1940-- GS: 1949? MW: Somewhere in, yeah, somewhere in there. GS: Did you have to buy your kerosene, go buy kerosene in a little container and bring it home to--? MW: Yeah, well you used white gas, I think it was. GS: Okay MW: In those. And then, well before we got electricity, we used the old flat irons, that' ; s how-- I learned to iron with the old flat irons. GS: My grandmother had them MW: And you had your different sizes for your different type material GS: Uh-huh MW: And I learned to iron that way. And then, when later-- then we went to, I don' ; t even know the brand of the iron, but you did-- you put white gas in. It had a little bowl on it and you put that in there and then you had a pump that you' ; d pump-- fill air in there, and then you lit that. It' ; s-- I often think back on that, it' ; s a wonder those things didn' ; t blow ya up. GS: Well that was my next question, did you ever have any of those things blow up, your lights or your stove or anything?MW: Nope, nuh-uh, we never did, never did. And I was really so glad when we did get electricity GS: Oh I' ; m sure MW: Because in the summer, mother always raised a big garden with the dairy and then raised a big garden, and my job was to do-- I had to do all of the ironing and stuff. And that' ; s back when men wore khaki pants and I' ; d always have to-- GS: Have to iron them MW: And I did all that in the summer. Mother always hated to see school start GS: I' ; m sure she did (Laughter) GS: I understand that, so where did you shop for groceries? MW: Well they had Safeway here in Bristow GS: Oh really? MW: They also had a warehouse market GS: Okay MW: Which was down on I think it was between sixth and fifth street I think on main street GS: On main street? Okay. MW: Yeah I think that' ; s where it was. GS: Do you have any family recipes from your childhood from Bea (ph) that you still make? MW: I don' ; t know, seems like mother just cooked a lot, by-- GS: A little bit of this and a little bit of that MW: A little bit of that GS: Just by memory, probably didn' ; t write anything down MW: Yeah I don' ; t-- I don' ; t recall. She had a cook book, I remember. In fact, I' ; m trying to think if I still have that or ended up it was just the pages rotting in it and I think I ended up GS: Tossing it MW: Tossing it because if I think it was-- it looked kinda like a cook book that comes-- had come with some cookware or something she had. She used WareEver (ph) was actually the name of the cookware she used WareEverGS: WareEverMW: But it wore forever. GS: Was it stainless steel? MW: Yeah GS: Yeah. Now you mentioned one of your daily chores in the summer was ironing, what were some of your other chores? MW: Oh I-- from before we got-- I' ; ll back up a little bit. The house was plumped, for it was completely furnished, bathtubs and everything. But for some reason at the time we moved him, there wasn' ; t the running water in the house, everything was there, and there-- they used I guess at one time they did use it. They had a big dug well out in the barn lot, and that' ; s-- they pulled in water from there. But we had-- daddy drilled, had a well drilled that we had to draw the water out of our well that we used most of the time until later. Daddy had another well drilled and after everything could be rehooked up and all so we could have running water. GS: Well good. MW: But before we got back, my job-- when they went to milk, mother always had supper back then GS: Uh-huh MW: Supper right after I got home from school, because then they had to go to the barn to milk. My job was to do the dishes. I had to heat the water on the stove to wash my dishes and then heat water to scald my dishes. GS: Oh my goodness MW: Yes, and I was probably, I as probably nine GS: When you started? MW: When I started doing that GS: Uh-huh MW: And that was my job to do and they left the house to go to milk GS: Everybody had to work MW: Everybody had a job to do, and that was still my job until I left home. That was just my responsibility that-- now if there was, by that time, by the time I was starting, well before I started school in town, my grand-- my mother' ; s parents had moved to Bristow. GS: Okay MW: And I spent a lot of time with them for school activities because mom and dad were tied up with the milking and all that GS: And what was their names? MW: Their' ; last name Herndon, was their last name. GS: Okay MW: So that was the job that I had had to do, is as long as I was home. GS: Did your parents ever employ help in the dairy, or in the house or anyplace? MW: Not in the dairy or the house, but daddy at times had people come in to help with some of the farm work. GS Okay MW: And at one time, they raised peanuts GS: Yes MW: And they had-- that was all the, peanuts were pulled by hand, he used several black people here around Bristow that he would go and get and they would pull the peanuts and some of the black ladies would come and stack the peanuts. Daddy fixed poles in the-- however he fixed them to where they could stack the peanuts on those' ; GS: Okay MW: But the poles, that' ; s what the women done. And Odell Alexanders mother was wanting-- was one of the ones that I definitely remember from helping do that from when she was a young woman. GS: Oh my goodness, isn' ; t that amazing MW: And there was one black women, I don' ; t know how-- course I don' ; t know how old they were, I was probably six, seven? While in that age, daddy would go in his pick-up and pick them up and I' ; d ride right in the back with them, you know. And, but when they' ; d be stacking peanuts, there was this one, she would get after me with a pitchfork GS: (Laughing) Just teasing, playing uh-huh MW: Teasing, you know, but oh she' ; d be serious about it, you know. And one day when I was working at the bank here in Bristow, Myrtle was in the bank and I remember I said " ; Myrtle, did you remember who that was that you used to chase when you all worked stacking peanuts that used to get the pitchfork after me?" ; And she told me ' ; yes' ; what her name was, and you know I' ; ve already forgotten it what her name was. GS: And that was Myrtle, Myrtle Alexander? MW: No, she was Myrtle Hines GS: Oh okay, okay. MW: I' ; m pretty sure she [Indecipherable] Hines as her last name GS: Okay, did your family have livestock other than the cows that they had in the dairy? MW: We had-- at one time we, actually daddy started out with a team GS: Okay MW: He, and I' ; ve driven, I have driven that team when mom and dad were gathering corn GS: Okay MW: I was probably at that point six, seven years' ; old GS: Did your dad ever do his own butchering? MW: Oh yeah, yeah they did. In fact, there was a smoke house on the place that they could-- when they killed the hogs especially, you know, my grandmother Baker would come out and help with that and whatnot, yeah. GS: Whole different era, wasn' ; t it? MW: Different era, yeah. GS: How did you store foods? MW: Well mother had a, she had a refrigerator, it was the Survell (ph) was the name of it that run off of gas GS: Uh-huh, uh-huh. I' ; ve heard of gas refrigerators MW: Yeah, that' ; s what we had. GS: Okay, what kind of clothes did you wear? Did Bea (ph) make your clothes or was it store bought? MW: Mother made almost all of our clothes, and a lot of them back then were made out of feed sacks GS: Yes MW: And the feed that you bought for the chickens or the cows, you could buy printed, yeah. Yeah mother-- GS: Uh-huh, about everybody around here grew up in feed sack dresses MW: Yeah, yeah GS: Now did boys wear feed sack clothes? MW: Well not [Indecipherable] I' ; m sure that they could' ; ve at one time, maybe shirts made out of them, I don' ; t know. GS: Okay, did you have shoes year round? MW: Oh yes GS: Okay. Did you have friends out in the neighborhood out in the country to play with? How far did you have to travel to get to see them? MW: Well my close friend lived probably two miles GS: And would you walk to each other' ; s homes? MW: No, not really. Not really, no, our folk' ; d bring us GS: Take you? MW: Yeah GS: That' ; s good. MW: And they used to meet in the summer time and all. There was two or three families that' ; d meet together in the evening and people play cards and someone maybe they' ; d make pies and have coffee and pie and the kids would play outside. GS: What kind of games did you play? MW: Course, my best friend of course was a girl, and of course we played with our dolls, played house, you know, typical little girl stuff. But then of course at school we played most games like kids at school play, you know, Annie Over, [Indecipherable], you know tag and all that kind of stuff, typical games. GS: What kind-- did you sing songs at school or? MW: Oh yes GS: what, can you remember any of them? (Laughter) MW: No I don' ; t GS: Boy, songs are something I remember [Indecipherable] if it had a tune to it, I would remember it when I couldn' ; t remember anything else. Okay let' ; s see, we' ; ve talked about your dad, do you remember the first time you heard a radio? MW: [Indecipherable] I was real small ' ; cus there was a radio because they ran off batteries. GS: Okay, so they had a radio that they listened to before a TV? MW: Oh yes, and back-- and I remember back after we moved onto the farm some of the old shows we listened to in the evenings Fibber McGee and Molly, The Great Gildersleeve, and those two really stood out, ya know. GS: Do you remember the first TV your parents got? MW: Yes GS: Were you home when they got one? MW: Yes, I think, I think I was a freshman in high school, well it was junior high back then. GS: And of course it was black and white MW: Black and white, it went off at midnight GS: Oh, yeah! I had forgotten about that! (Laughter) GS: Okay, well we talked about your parents, so and you talked a little bit about school, so I wanna ask you about the Pine Hill area. What can you tell me about the Pine Hill area? Maybe some of the people that lived there? Activities that were there perhaps or? MW: The school always in October, I believe it was in October-- late October, but they always had a community Pie Supper GS: Okay MW: And this was to raise money to buy-- they had then a Christmas, a community Christmas tree GS: Uh-huh MW: And the moneys that came in from the Pie Supper was to buy treats and stuff, we always had a huge Christmas tree that sat on the stage at school GS: Uh-huh MW: And parents could bring, if they had gifts for their kids for Santa, well it said Santa Clause, to give to their kids they would do that, we always had a program. And I never will forget my first year in first grade, I, that year, I, out of our hardback reader, I memorized the story of, The Little Christmas Tree or something, I can' ; t remember the exact, it was to do with the Christmas Tree. I memorized that whole story, and that night when it was time, time to give it, I just froze. GS: Aww MW: But mother was standing over, they had a curtain fixed up to where we come out of another room in there to those that were doing-- participating in it, and I looked around and mother was standing behind the curtain coaxing me on. Once I got started, I did it, but I did that in first grade, yeah. GS: Aww, well. MW: But, and of course they had folding doors between the rooms. One room was the first through fourth grade, and then the other room was fifth through eighth grade. GS: Okay MW: And they opened the doors up and that way the whole church, I mean the whole school was people there for the-- people would come, you know, they had come to the Pie Supper and all and they gave out treats and stuff. GS: Now, was it just a school or did it function as a church also? MW: It- there at one time, that' ; s where I first started a Sunday school, was there was a Church of God preacher and I went to Sunday school there. GS: Okay, what about the people that lived in the area? Do you remember any of the people that lived in Pine Hill area? MW: Oh yeah, course I don' ; t know where a lot of them are. GS: Yeah, do you remember their names?MW: Yeah there was people, but there was-- the people, there was the Goodman' ; s that lived there, which that was Pete' ; s uncle and his family, and his-- the daughter of them, she took me-- she was about three or four year older than me and she took me under her wing because I didn' ; t have any brothers-- older brothers or sisters. And she kinda took me under her wing, and then the summer, I guess it was before we started fourth grade, she got real sick and they didn' ; t know what was wrong with her, and they thought she had the flu and they took her on to Hillcrest, and she-- come to find out she had tick fever, and she passed away. And till this day, that bothers me. GS: Yeah MW: She was my friend ; she took me under her wing. GS: Yeah, how old was she? MW: Thirteen GS: When she passed? MW: Yeah GS: Oh wow, wow. MW: That-- that was tough GS: That' ; s hard MW: But I had two sets of teachers, at the first-- the teachers I started school under, I went through third grade with them, and then another set of teachers came and they were there clear through seventh grade. GS: Do you remember any of your teacher' ; s names? MW: Their last names was Crow, Aline Crow (ph) was my first grade teacher, first through third grade, and then a Mr. and Mrs. Bass, they lived here in Bristow, but they taught out there fourth through eighth grade GS: Okay MW: Well I didn' ; t go eighth grade because they left at the end of their-- our seventh grade, and they turned the school into a one teacher school for eight grades GS: Wow MW: ' ; Cus there was five of us in the eighth grade class, and daddy said ' ; no way, that' ; s too many kids for one person to have to take care of' ; so he went before, applied for transfers into Bristow, and of course they were-- we were turned down and he had to go before the county judge and it ended up all five of us being transferred here into Bristow in the eighth grade. GS: Wow, did-- so you didn' ; t have an eighth grade graduation at Pine Hill, did you? MW: I didn' ; t, no. GS: Yeah. But they, the school would? Would they have an eighth grade graduation? MW: Oh yes, yes. GS: And where did most of the kids continue their education? MW: A lot of the kids that lived north of the school went to Olive to school GS: Okay MW: And we had a basketball team at Pine Hill and we played, we used to go to Olive and play grade school basketball with them, we' ; ve gone to Kellyville, we' ; ve gone to Gipsy, and-- GS: Did you go to Depew? MW: No we never did go to Depew. And we went to tournaments at Mannford and yeah. GS: And you played softball? Was it the same way?MW: Yeah GS: That' ; s cool MW: Yeah GS: Did you take a sack lunch to school? MW: Some of the time we did, and then sometimes we had-- there was a couple of ladies that used to cook, oh gosh the food was good. I mean, it was like-- it was like home cookin' ; GS: Yeah MW: Yeah because, you know, not as many kids and-- GS: None of this microwave cooking MW: No. no. GS: Okay, was your teacher Mrs. Crow and your next one, were they very strict? MW: Well, you know I don' ; t recall of being strict and all because kids growing up during that time minded GS: Yes MW: They did, there was discipline at home. And so many of the families out there have four to five, six kids, you know? They had big families GS: Yeah MW: And there just wasn' ; t a disciplining problem, you just knew to behave when you went to school. GS: Do you remember anything else about the Pine Hill School? MW: No I think I pretty much covered it. GS: Okay good, now you' ; ve mentioned you were brought up in the Church of God, and you mentioned the Church of God campground, is it--was it back then in the same place that it was in the 70' ; s? MW: Yes GS: Okay, do you remember by chance when they bought that property for a campground and when it was sold? MW: I don' ; t remember exactly what year they bought it, they bought that from my husband' ; s parents. GS: Oh really? MW: Yeah GS: I did not know that! MW: Yeah, yeah his parents lived just north of the campground. GS: And what was their name? MW: Wheeler GS: What was the first name? MW: Oscar Wheeler GS: Oscar Wheeler? Okay MW: Oscar and Marie GS: Well MW: Yeah, he sold them that property to start a campground GS: To start the campground, and so was it there in the 40' ; s? MW: No, if it was, it was probably the late 40' ; s GS: Okay MW: Because I know it was there when I-- ' ; cus we were going to the-- we had a, they later built a country church, I think the Bristow church more or less helped to get that started, they built a country church a mile north of where we live GS: Yeah MW: And we went to church there from, I forgot how old I was when we started-- first started going. And we came into the Bristow church in the summer of 1953 GS: Okay MW: Before I started my senior year of high school GS: Okay MW: Yeah GS: What was medical care like when you were a child? Did you go to the doctor much? MW: Oh not a whole lot, but I think people just basically you knew what to do, ya know? GS: Uh-huh MW: And my grandmother Baker, she used to come out to the farm, there was a certain plant out there that it grew in the farm in the barn lot GS: Uh-huh MW: And I don' ; t remember the name of that plant, I can pic-- I can see it in my mind. It had blooms on it, and she would pick the blooms and I assume took leaves and whatever. She would come out and gather stuff and bring home and make savv (ph) and stuff out of certain plants that grew on the farm out there. GS: That' ; s a neat part of the way people were brought up back then, they had to be self-sufficient. MW: You-- yeah, you did. It had to be a pretty serious matter to go to the doctor GS: Yeah. Did you have a family doctor? MW: Yes, we doctored with Dr. King, I' ; m sure you' ; ve-- you probably know-- remember him GS: I remember Dr. King and his little black powder (Laughing) MW: We-- we used him and then we used Dr. Cowart (ph) and Dr. Cisler (ph) as long as they were here at the-- they were in the hospital GS: Okay MW: You know, that was there next door to the American Legion hut GS: Okay, yes. MW: It' ; s where they were GS: Do you know who delivered you? MW: Dr. Cowart GS: Okay, did they make house calls back then? MW: Oh yeah, oh yeah GS: (Laughing) Now you were born in a hospital, were most of the people your age born in the hospital do you think around here, or were some born at home? MW: Oh that I don' ; t know because my mom had surgery when I was born so GS: Oh okay, were you ever hospital-- were you ever hospitalized as a child? MW: Yes GS: Okay, do you have any memories of that? MW: Oh yes GS: What happened? MW: Well-- GS: If you' ; d rather not say-- MW: I' ; d rather not GS: That' ; s okay MW: I' ; d rather not go into that GS: Yup that' ; s fine MW: I' ; d rather not GS: That' ; s fine, but you survived well so MW: I survived, yes GS: So that' ; s good, very good. What are your recollections of the city of Bristow? MW: Well, I mean it was nice because you could buy about anything you wanted because you had Pennys, you had Anthonys, and then there was Strongs there, there was the Globe store, the Grand Leader store (ph) GS: Oh I don' ; t remember that one, where was that? MW: The Grand Leader, let' ; s see. It was there on main street, and I' ; m thinking it was in that block from seventh to eighth GS: Okay MW: Safeway was on the corner of eighth and main GS: And what did they sell? MW: Who? GS: Grand Leader MW: Clothes GS: Clothing store MW: Women' ; s clothing GS: Okay MW: And of course the Globe store sold women' ; s clothing GS: Yes MW: And then-- then there was Shamuses (ph) GS: Yes MW: Down on south main GS: Uh-huh MW: And so there was plenty places to shop GS: Not like today MW: Not like today GS: What kind of shops did your mother frequent when she-- when you were growing up? MW: Well mainly Pennys, Pennys and Anthonys, StrongsGS: Yeah MW: I mean even-- even after we-- after I married and even after we moved back here, I bought all of my shoes at StrongsGS: Yup, we did too. I loved the little Polly Parrot thing with the shoe that you would get a little-- now the parrot would lay an egg, it was lots of fun. Did you ever eat out at the restaurants in town? MW: Oh yes, we had to eat at Busches (ph) when they were open, we had-- had eaten at Hamburger Kings before, and I' ; m sure there' ; s other restaurants that we ate at. GS: Did they have any big holiday events in town back then when you were growing up? Like Santa clause coming at Christmas or anything? MW: Oh yeah, they always had the Christmas parade GS: Okay MW: In fact, one year at the Christmas parade, they handed out candy canes and they had numbers on them, and one year there was a kid from the people lived north of the school, and he won the bicycle they gave, a boys bicycle that year. And he came from a family of about five kids GS: Aw, that' ; s wonderful MW: Yeah, and then they always had-- it was next door to community bank, they had a haunted house or whatever GS: How fun! (Laughing) MW: Yeah [Indecipherable] GS: Did you ever go in it? MW: Oh yeah, yeah, uh-huh GS: Were you scared? MW: Well, usually it was with somebody, you know. GS: Was it laughable or was it scary? MW: Well it was a little scary, but a little gross (Laughing) GS: Okay, when you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up? MW: Oh, I don' ; t know. Really, mother really wanted me to go onto school, and of course I took all commotional subjects in High School, and I said well, it-- I' ; ll tell ya, I said " ; If I can' ; t get a-- if I can' ; t get a job when I graduate, I' ; ll go with Drawns (ph) business school in Tulsa" ; GS: Yup MW: Well, graduated in May and I [Indecipherable] the first part of July, J.L. Darnell was county superintendent of the schools and he had come to the house and we were gone, and back then you left notes on your screen door with a bobby pin GS: Uh-huh MW: And he left a note telling me that if I wanted to come to work for him, to be there on a certain day at a certain time and the job' ; s yours GS: Wow, that' ; s wonderful! MW: So I went to work-- worked for him in July of 54' ; GS: Was that for the school system? MW: That was-- he was-- he was county superintendent of all of the country schools GS: Oh okay MW: He probably kinda like advisor to the independent schools, like Bristow and Sapulpa. Well I don' ; t know about Sapulpa, Sapulpa and Bristow it was more the ones that came into the office were like the superintendents and all up in Depew, Gipsy, Slick, and those schools did come into the office. GS: Where was his office? MW: In the court house in Sapulpa GS: In Sapulpa, okay MW: Yeah GS: What other kinds of jobs did you have? MW: Well after him, I quit when I had Cleta. I worked for Winter Work (ph) in 54' ; and I quit at the end of 56' ; , she was born in January of 57' ; , and then he would have me come back to help. See, I had to close out all of- all of the rural country schools and back then, there was a bunch. GS: A lot more than today MW: Oh yeah, see about all' ; s today is Lone Star about out south of Sapulpa and-- and, well they don' ; t even have a country superintendent anymore. GS: Oh MW: So I don' ; t know how all of that goes, you know. But he' ; d have me come in to help close out the schools because he had-- the lady that he had hired to replace me was only there when she went to work in January so she wasn' ; t there long enough to really be that familiar at close out time GS: Right, right MW: And then when Cleta was, oh she was about eight months old I guess, something like that, went to work at the bank in Sapulpa GS: Okay MW: So from then on it was banking GS: Banking, and you were with American National bank MW: 20 years GS: For 20 years, which later became Spirit Bank MW: Yeah GS: You never served in the military, did you? MW: No GS: Did Pete? MW: Yes, he was in two years GS: In what area? MW: Korea GS: Korea? MW: MhmGS: And what branch of the service was he in? MW: Army GS: He was in the army MW: Yeah the day that they-- they left Oklahoma City to, he had finished boot camp and everything at Fort Sill, and the day he left Oklahoma City for Camp Stoneham (ph) in California, Eisenhower signed the peace treaty and they didn' ; t-- course on the plane they didn' ; t know that until they got to California GS: Wow MW: But still, then he-- he guarded prisoners part of that time too, then of course he was in the artillery so they were the ones that set up everything and, I mean-- GS: Were you married then? MW: No GS: No, good. Do you have any other memories of the Korean war? MW: No, because with that peace treaty things had kind of settled down to a point, but they still had to go out and set up just to keep things going in case something broke out GS: Yeah MW: To know exactly what they had to do to-- GS: They had to be peace keepers I guess MW: I didn' ; t know this, but Steve has talked about it. He had told Steve that, I didn' ; t know about it, he lost-- their group lost their colors while they were in Korea over something, but they didn' ; t get them back GS: Now what does that mean, lost their colors? MW: Well it' ; s-- it' ; s to do with military, however, you know, so. GS: Okay now Korea war was in the 50' ; s, do you have any memories of World War II?MW: Oh yeah GS: What are your memories there? MW: I know where, I was-- well let' ; s see. I think I was six, no war broke out the day Pearl Harbor was bombed, was in 41' ; pleasant day, I think it was 41' ; , I would' ; ve been-- I was five, going on six. We were in Oklahoma City at my aunts' ; house, and my uncle was in the service and he was home on leave and they went to-- my grandparents lived in Illinois but they were here-- they were visiting. And they went to get gas in the car and all and they heard it on the radio, and they came back and of course they didn' ; t want grandma to know what was happening, and I remember he was even in Military clothes GS: Oh wow MW: And he was called right back up and he was in four years GS: Oh no MW: Yes GS: What branch? MW: He was in the Army GS: In the army MW: Yeah he served over in Guam and [Indecipherable] and all in that area, yeah, yeah he told us after he got out of the service that there was many times all they had to eat was monkey meat and cow, and coconuts GS: Oh my gosh MW: Yeah GS: That would be so hard MW: Yeah GS: Do you remember life being different when you were-- during World War II, I mean, you know, sacrifices or things you couldn' ; t get or anything like that? MW: Oh yeah, I can remember mother had ration stamps and there was a office next door there at the corner of eighth and main, Safeway was there for a good many years GS: Uh-huh MW: And next door, there was office in there, it was a ration board they called it. And I remember one time that mother came in to see if she could get extra sugar to do her canning with, and I-- I don' ; t know if she got it or not, but I remember her having ration stamps when you' ; d go to the store to use, and back then they' ; d use mils GS: They used-- oh mils! The little-- MW: Yeah GS: Tenth of a penny MW: Yeah GS: I' ; ve seen those MW: Yeah GS: What did you read the newspapers any growing up? MW: I don' ; t remember us actually having the newspaper, the Tulsa World at that time. We used-- you listened more to the radio GS: Okay, right. Thinking back over your life, what would you consider to be the most important inventions that you' ; ve seen in your lifetime? That' ; s a hard one because there' ; ve been so manyMW: There' ; s been so many, that probably-- because see even when we got electricity, they had electric irons at that point GS: MhmMW: Probably TV was one of the most important, you know, other than your radio. GS: It brought the world into your living room, didn' ; t it? MW: Yes, it did, uh-huh GS: How is the world different now than when you were a child? MW: Horrible. GS: I understand that MW: There' ; s a-- the lack of discipline in, I hate to say this, there' ; s a lack of discipline that has come about during all that time of don' ; t whip your kids, don' ; t this, don' ; t that, and it' ; s mainly the lack of discipline. GS: I agree with ya. As you see it, what are the biggest problems that face our nation now, and how do you think they could be solved? MW: I think a lot of it' ; s greed, with-- I' ; m just gonna be frank. I think it' ; s the greed with the politicians, one trying to outdo the other, the party is-- the party itself has got to, it' ; s just my way or the highway, and so therefore it' ; s just a constant-- GS: We are very divided MW: We are, the division that has come about GS: Is there anything else that you can think of that you' ; d like to add that I didn' ; t think to ask you? I don' ; t think I asked you what Cletus did for a living? MW: He went to work when he got out of the service, he spent two years, then he got out of service and he went to work for a industrial supply company in Tulsa. He started out filling orders in the-- in the, well it' ; s just filling orders and stuff that the company sold, and then later on he moved up to counter sales, and then later on he moved into head telephone salesman for the company, and then he was put over the telephone department, and by then they had outside salesmen, and by then he was ready to get outside. And they-- but they put someone else in, there was a opening and they put someone else in instead, and he went to another company and put his application in and of course they called the company to get his-- GS: Information MW: Information GS: Uh-huh MW: And they ended up and gave him a raise to keep him GS: Well good, they can help out [Indecipherable] employee MW: And then later on then he-- one of the salesmen had a heart attack and died immediately and he got the job as outside salesman, and he was with the company 25 years GS: Wow MW: And health reasons he had to-- just had to quit. GS: What company was that again? MW: It was called Marsuco (ph) in Tulsa, it started out Marshall Supply, and then later as time went on to Marsuco and, yeah. But he spent 25 years there. GS: Well, that' ; s a long time. Well Monta Jean I just thank you ever so much for coming in and talking to us, we appreciate you and someday this will be put on the website so your words will be available for all posterity, thank you. MW: Yeah I, ya know, I don' ; t mind, you know, sharing audio 0 https://bristoworalhistory.org/ohms/viewer.php?cachefile=OHP-2020-11_Wheeler,_Monta_Jean.xml OHP-2020-11_Wheeler,_Monta_Jean.xml
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Monta Jean Wheeler
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In this 2020 interview, Monta Jean Wheeler shares her experiences growing up in the Bristow area. She discusses her childhood, the various businesses throughout Bristow, and the impact that World War II had on Bristow.
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OHP-2020-11
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2020-11-11
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audio
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Bristow Historical Society, Inc.
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Bristow Historical Society, Inc.
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Bristow Historical Society, Inc.
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English
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sound, oral history
dairy farm
farming
holidays
hospital
Korean War
Native American allotment
peanuts
Pine Hill School
restaurants
statehood
stores
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Family Histories
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Oral History
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Oral accounts of various family histories
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Bristow Historical Society, oral history collection
Oral History
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Interviewer
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Georgia Smith
Interviewee
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Cecelia Wittman
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Viewer)
https://bristoworalhistory.org/ohms/viewer.php?cachefile=OHP-2020-03_Wittman,_Cecelia.xml
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5.4 August 18, 2020 OHP-2020-03 Cecelia Wittman OHP-2020-03 0:00-39:14 'Bristow Historical Society - Oral History Archive' Bristow Historical Society, Inc. Cecelia Wittman Georgia Smith MP3 1:|74(6)|96(3)|117(3)|142(6)|161(2)|181(16)|196(15)|211(14)|235(8)|253(13)|277(7)|295(5)|307(10)|325(8)|340(15)|350(10)|367(3)|389(6)|405(10)|437(2)|461(14)|476(12)|517(1)|534(11)|551(9)|571(14)|608(20)|634(8)|666(8)|704(10)|728(12)|742(14)|768(9)|793(12)|815(5)|852(5)|876(9)|895(1)|915(1) 0 https://bristoworalhistory.org/interviews/OHO-2020-03 Cecilia Wittman.mp3 Other audio 0 Introduction and Family History CW: Okay GS: Okay, I’m sorry. This is Georgia Smith with the Bristow Historical Society in Bristow Oklahoma, and this interview is part of the Historic Society’s oral history project. The date is August 18th, 2020, and I am sitting here at the museum with Cecelia Wittman, who’s going to tell me a little bit about her history in the Bristow area. Now, give me your full name please. CW: Cecelia Loraine Wittman (ph) GS: What was your name at birth? CW: Cecelia Loraine Nutt, N-U-T-T GS: And where were you born? CW: In Tahlequah, Oklahoma GS: Do you remember the hospital or at home? Barbara Jean Nutt ; Bristow Historical Society ; Bristow, Oklahoma ; Cecelia Loraine Nutt ; Cecelia Loraine Wittman ; Cecelia Wittman ; Connie Sue Nutt ; Conniesenny Tiger ; Etna, Oklahoma ; George Wade Wittman ; Georgia Smith ; Hastings Indian Hospital ; Hershel Quintin Nutt ; Jeramiah Joseph Wittman ; Joe'B Nutt ; Lacricia Joe Nutt ; Martha Yarbrough ; Tahlequah, Oklahoma 235 Tiger Mansion GS: Okay, now tell me about what brought you in today to see me CW: Well I wanted to talk about my grandmother’s house that was built in 1925, and I don’t— GS: And who is your grandmother? CW: Her name was Conniesenny Tiger, she would’ve been my great grandmother, and she—this was a part of the original allotment where the house is built, and back in the—with the removal act from when everybody was removed from the southeast, they were brought here and then the, all the Indians were brought here for, which you would refer to Native Americans today, but we still say we’re Indian because we’re the natives of this time. We’re still in this era, this age group that I live in, and— GS: Was your grandmother part of the journey, great grandmother? CW: Yes, my great grandmother was. She said that she was—she was Conniesenny Bristow, Oklahoma ; Bureau of Indian Affairs ; Conniesenny Tiger ; Dawes Act ; Hannah Brown ; Indian Department ; John Wesley ; Lomus ; Lumous ; Ma Smith ; Martha Marie Brown ; Mr. Smith ; Mrs. Smith ; Original Allotment ; Porter Tiger ; Tiger Mansion ; Yuchi 1440 Indian Culture GS: You were gonna tell me a little about the Indian Culture around here CW: Oh I’m sorry about that GS: No that’s—you’re fine! CW: The culture here is still strong today, it is—there’s still ceremonial ground that is out here south of town and, which is referred to as Iron Post, or there was an original ceremonial ground that was called Sand Creek, so now younger generation refers to this particular Iron Post as Sand Creek so it’s kind of changed along the way, but there’s still thick native Yuchi culture here out of Bristow and Kellyville between here and Mounds GS: And what do they do there? CW: Oh we have our green corn ceremonial, we have green corn ceremonies here, and all of the—it’s a fasting where you fast and pray and dance and sing and all these things that you go then we celebrate with fresh green corn and tomatoes, you know, everything all of your fresh fruits and vegetables at that time of year. And it’s usually done in July and August GS: That’s—you know I’ve lived here all my life and never heard of that Absente Shawnees ; Destin, Florida ; Ethaline Washburn ; Gelenium ; Green Corn Ceremonial ; Iron Post ; Lucian Tiger ; Lucian Tiger III ; Pensacola, Florida ; Sac and Fox ; Sand Creek ; Yuchi ; Yuchi Community https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=YU001 Yuchi 1730 Memories of Bristow and Church Life GS: Okay let’s see, okay you told me that you have memories of visiting here because you weren’t raised in Bristow CW: Nuh-uh GS: But your grandmother was, your mother was? CW: And my husband was from Bristow GS: Okay CW: He was actually from Bristow from Gipsy corner, my husband was so yeah I have those families from him as well as from his family, but when I was a child, we would come back to visit his family GS: Okay CW: So— GS: So you knew his family Ah-La-Quan ; Anchor-In ; Christian ; Conniesenny ; Conniesenny Tiger ; CR Anthonys ; Ethaline Washburn ; Polly Long https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/22443141/polly-ah-la-quan-long Polly Long 2093 Family History GS: Who was the last relative of yours to own that house? CW: Hannah Brown (ph) GS: Hannah Brown, and she was your grandmother? CW: Mhm GS: And she married who? CW: She married Joe Yarbrough (ph) GS: And was he Indian also? CW: Yes, but he was from—there was not no recording of that, you know back then when you got divorced or when you got mad or whatever, you just said you’re a half GS: Oh okay CW: So it was one of those deals, there was a divorce Hannah Brown ; Joe Yarbrough ; Methodist Church ; Newbie In this 2020 interview, Cecelia Wittman shares her families history in the Bristow area. She discusses the Tiger Mansion and Indian Culture. Interviewer: Georgia Smith Interviewee: Cecelia Wittman Other Persons: Date of Interview: August 18, 2020 Location: Bristow, Creek County Oklahoma Transcriber: Abby Thompson Organization: Bristow Historical Society, Inc. Original Cassette Tape Location: OHP-2020-03 at 00:00 to 39:14 Abstract: Preface: The following oral history testimony is the result of a cassette tape interview and is part of the Bristow Historical Society, Inc.' ; s collection of oral histories. The interview was transcribed and processed by the Bristow Historical Society, Inc., with financial assistance from the Montfort Jones & ; Allie Brown Jones Foundation. Rights to the material are held exclusively by the Bristow Historical Society, Inc. The reader should bear in mind that he or she is reading a verbatim transcript of spoken, rather than written prose. Insofar as possible, this transcript tries to represent the spoken word. Thus, it should be read as a personal memoir and not as either a researched monograph or edited account. To the extent possible, the spelling of place names, foreign words, and personal names have been verified, either by reference resources or directly by the interviewee. In some cases, a footnote has been added to the transcript in order to provide more information and/or to clarify a statement. Some uncertainties will inevitably remain regarding some words and their spellings. In these scenarios, a (ph) follows a word or name that is spelled phonetically. The notation [indecipherable] is used when the transcriber has not been able to comprehend the word or phrase being spoken. The notation [inaudible] is used where there is more mumbling than words, or when interference on the tape has made transcription impossible. CW: Okay GS: Okay, I' ; m sorry. This is Georgia Smith with the Bristow Historical Society in Bristow Oklahoma, and this interview is part of the Historic Society' ; s oral history project. The date is August 18th, 2020, and I am sitting here at the museum with Cecelia Wittman, who' ; s going to tell me a little bit about her history in the Bristow area. Now, give me your full name please. CW: Cecelia Loraine Wittman (ph) GS: What was your name at birth? CW: Cecelia Loraine Nutt, N-U-T-T GS: And where were you born? CW: In Tahlequah, Oklahoma GS: Do you remember the hospital or at home? CW: Hastings, Hastings Indian Hospital GS: Again, you were born on what date? CW: February the 20th in 1958 GS: And what was your father' ; s name? CW: Hershel Quintin Nutt (ph) GS: And your mother' ; s maiden name? CW: Her name was Martha Yarbrough (ph) GS: And do you know when they--when and where they were married? CW: No, it was in the 1940' ; s GS: Okay, and why did they come to Oklahoma? CW: Well, my father was from out in western Oklahoma, and my mother was born here, so. GS: Okay, how many children did your parents have? CW: There was five of us GS: And what are your siblings' ; names? CW: My oldest sister was Connie--Connie Sue Nutt (ph), and she was named after Conniesenny Tiger (ph), my great Grandmother. And she was born in 1949, so. Then I have another sister, her name is Lacricia Joe Nutt (ph), and then a brother, which was Joe' ; B Nutt, it' ; s J-O-E Apostrophe B, just Joe' ; B GS: Thank you CW: Nutt, and my youngest sister, and then it was me, which I' ; m Cecelia and my youngest sister is Barbara Jean Nutt (ph), there was five of us. GS: Nice family, what did your father do? CW: He was a--a bull rider, bronc rider, he was a rodeo performer and before that, he was a jockey and--but he was raised on a cotton farm out in Etna, Oklahoma GS: How exciting, how interesting. What did your mother do? CW: He--But he was a welder--he was a welder by trade though, later on he became a welder. GS: Okay, very good. CW: The end, in the end he was a welder. My mother she was a house wife and she worked all over, she did everything and different things, but mainly she was a homemaker. But back in those days, you know, then she worked at different places along the way and she ended up retiring and working for this school system as a custodian in Glenpool, she retired there for 20 years. GS: Very--when was she at Glenpool? CW: Let' ; s see, in 1980? From 19 maybe 79, late 70' ; s till she retired. GS: Okay, okay. What is your spouse' ; s name? CW: His name was George Wade Wittman, he' ; s deceased. But it' ; s George Wade Wittman Jr. GS: Okay, and what year did you get, or when did you get married? CW: We got married August the 29th of 1989. GS: Aw, your anniversary' ; s coming up CW: Yes, it is GS: How many children did you have? CW: We had four, he had one son and I had two sons. It was both our second marriage and then between us, we had our youngest son, which was Jeramiah Joseph Wittman (ph). GS: Okay, now tell me about what brought you in today to see me CW: Well I wanted to talk about my grandmother' ; s house that was built in 1925, and I don' ; t-- GS: And who is your grandmother? CW: Her name was Conniesenny Tiger, she would' ; ve been my great grandmother, and she--this was a part of the original allotment where the house is built, and back in the--with the removal act from when everybody was removed from the southeast, they were brought here and then the, all the Indians were brought here for, which you would refer to Native Americans today, but we still say we' ; re Indian because we' ; re the natives of this time. We' ; re still in this era, this age group that I live in, and-- GS: Was your grandmother part of the journey, great grandmother? CW: Yes, my great grandmother was. She said that she was--she was Conniesenny GS: Conniesenny CW: Senny, and she was--yes she was. And my mother said she arrived here when she was 9, when she was 9 years old she-- GS: She made that trek when she was 9? CW: She arrived when she was 9, so we don' ; t know anything prior to that GS: Would you spell Conniesennys' ; name for our typist? CW: Yes, let me get the card, let me see if I brought it. It' ; s C-O-N-N-I-E-S-E-N-N-Y GS: Tiger CW: Tiger, T-I-G-E-R GS: Okay, very good. Okay well tell me about all of your memories of your grandmother Conniesenny CW: Well I have no actual memories ; I just have stories to where what is related to my mother. She was--my mother was born in 1923 and so she was raised in the house that Conniesenny had built GS: And where is that house? CW: That is actually--it' ; s 5.3, I think 5.3 miles south of Bristow, and I was told, so of course she had the original allotment, and back then you were allotted 160 acres. Each individual native American was allotted this called the Original Allotment, and she was an allottee, so this was her land and they struck oil on this land and then this-- GS: That' ; s marvelous CW: Yes, it was marvelous, and anyway according to the history, they said that what we would call the Bureau of Indian Affairs today, but it was called the Indian Department back then GS: Okay CW: Had, I guess they had their own architects and their own builders and their own people that went in and built different homes for native Americans, and she had this house built in 1925, according to History I think, I don' ; t know. GS: Was this before or after she struck oil? CW: It was after she struck oil, so prior to that, and 1889 to I think 1906 is when they had the Dawes act (ph) was in commission and they began to record the history. At that time, they each individual had their row numbers and where their allotment was and where they were enrolled at, there was a census just like it is now, the 2020 census is going on, this census was taken for the Indians. But they kept track of all the Indians at that point. GS: Okay CW: So they were allotted this land through that row number, and so they were registered and had their allotments. Actually I think their allotments were given out before the enrollment. Anyway, she was, this land was hers and she--and years later, ' ; cus she was enrolled I think in 18, in the 1890' ; s, I wanna say 1896 she was enrolled, she was already--she had already received her row number at this time, that' ; s why she was documented GS: How old was she then? Do you-- CW: It does--it says she was 45 at that time and age GS: So had she been living south of Bristow? CW: We don' ; t know where, I don' ; t know GS: You don' ; t know where CW: I don' ; t know when--I need to do some more digging and find out myself to where she--when she was actually allotted the land, I don' ; t know that part, I don' ; t know that date, and I don' ; t know what time frame there was between her--for her age, what her marriage she was, and all that type of, before she had the house built. GS: Okay CW: Because she was 45 in the late 1890' ; s and so she died in 1944 GS: Okay CW: So the house was built in 1925 GS: Okay CW: So they struck oil on her land and at that point and time, and fast forward, so my mother was raised in that house, my grandmother was born on 1905 and there' ; s a whole other history that goes with that, and so my mother was born in 1923, and her siblings, she had--there was Martha Marie and John Wesley and they were all three raised, they were Hannah Browns (ph), my grandmother was Hannah Brown and she was shown, three children were raised there in that house, which one of those were my mother. GS: In Conniesenny Tigers house CW: In Conniesenny Tigers house GS: Okay CW: And my mother was her translator because my mother had gone to school because she was a full blood Yuchi, I need to probably specify that. They were all full bloods and my mother wasn' ; t a full blood, but my grandmother, my great grandmother were full blood Yuchi GS: That' ; s--That is awesome CW: And so my mother and her siblings were raised in this house so she was the oldest of the three, my mother was. And they just all through life and I don' ; t think they sold the house until in the late 50' ; s, before they sold the house. GS: Now were you ever in that house as a child? CW: No, I just remember coming by there as a child growing up and as I was returning back to Bristow, because by this time we had moved to Muscogee, and life goes on and my brother and my other sisters they were--they could have been but, and my oldest sister, she was born in 1949 and yes, she was there. She had memories, she just recently passed away this past June. GS: Aw, I' ; m sorry CW: I lost her in June of 2020, she passed away, but she grew--so when we got the house back, she was just amazed, she remembered all the memories of playing in the barn and in the house, what the house looked like, everything, all of her childhood memories. So she was there but I wasn' ; t GS: Now I have heard that this house has been called the Tiger mansion, can you describe it to me, the house? CW: Well, it' ; s a very sound. It' ; s so well built, it was built to last and I remember the story that my mother said that Conniesenny told her which she called her grandma, she didn' ; t call her Conniesenny, she called her--she said " ; grandma tell me" ; , she wanted this house to last a lifetime, a hundred years. Build it to where it will last a hundred years is what she was thinking, and it has lasted a hundred years, it' ; s still well built, it' ; s very sound, still the beautiful concrete pillars. It' ; s a brick home, it' ; s a large three bedroom, has a huge basement, and it has six windows in each room, all this original wood is still there, the original doors, the original hardware, the original flooring, everything it' ; s just--it' ; s just still beautiful, beautiful as it' ; s ever been. The baseboard, everything' ; s still original. GS: And you were fortunate to be able to purchase this recently CW: Yes, I was, yes I was. And the people that had it previously, they did sell I think two or three times before [Indecipherable] was able to Lomous (ph), or Lumous (ph), I' ; m not sure how you pronounce it, her and her husband was Jack and they purchased it and they were caretakers, they--it was their home, you know. They treasured it, they took well care of it, and it was just preserved and that was dated, very dated in the kitchen. But apart from that, because it' ; d been remodeled and sort of 80' ; s stuff, 70' ; s and 80' ; s but, you know, apart from all that, it' ; s just a beautiful. The land itself is beautiful, the original fence is still there. Conniesenny, she also had a, this being her original allotment, she allotted one and a half acres to be our families cemetery, and it' ; s still fenced off to this day with the exact same fencing that' ; s around the house that the property sits on. GS: How many family members do you have buried there? CW: Oh a good twenty, a good twenty people GS: That is wonderful CW: My mother' ; s there, my grandma Conniesenny' ; s there, my husband' ; s there, my father' ; s there, my uncles, my aunts, everyone there. Of any importance ; my mother-in-law is buried there, yeah it' ; s a beautiful family and family history there. GS: Can you tell-- it gets emotional, does it yeah? CW: Yeah, yeah it does GS: Can you tell me anything about, you might not know since you weren' ; t here then, but about the Indian culture that was south of town at that time? CW: Well now the culture goes deeper than people even know and realize that it' ; s still there today, not only just within the property, so I' ; ll back up here a little bit. So the 160 acres had already been--some of it had been sold off in the 50' ; s, like I said when they sold the house, and they' ; d been divided up I think like in the, oh I' ; m not sure exactly what year all this had transpired, but there' ; s different sections of the land has-- is, was gone, but there was still the 40 acres that the house sits on now. And that Jack and Burla (ph) were able to purchase. So it' ; s the house and 40 acres, and so after Burla back to the house, she--a little bit of the history here, she I think ended up going to a retirement home or something and then after she lost her husband, and then she stayed there for years by herself. Well she--my nephew and different ones would stop in, my sister, different ones and I always stopped in and visited her and ask her if, how she was and if they could see the house because there was so much nostalgic memories that go there. My mother' ; s memories have been there with my dad and him proposing to her and all kinds of beautiful memories that go there. And anyway, so we were able to purchase it again, it came up for sale but they hadn' ; t listed it on the market yet and we had always requested that if you please, if anybody decides to sell it, please let us know before it goes out so we can get it back into our family. GS: Yes CW: And as it turns out, my husband and I went down in October and, of 2018. We went down there 2018 and we said " ; Oh let' ; s go see it, let' ; s go see it" ; and the opportunity came so we went and he said " ; Yeah, let' ; s do it, you think you wanna do it?" ; I said " ; Of course you know I wanna do it" ; GS: (Laughing) CW: And so of course we were happy and I was able to get a few pictures that day with my husband and I and little did I know that a few months later that he would pass away GS: Oh CW: So-- GS: I' ; m sorry, know it' ; s hard. How long were you married? CW: 35 years GS: 35 years is a long time. CW: Yeah. I have it, I have it right here. GS: Okay, I was trying to look around to see if I had Kleenex CW: I' ; m sorry, I' ; m sorry about that GS: No, you' ; re fine. CW: So my sons, of course by this time [Indecipherable] my husband had a stroke in 2016 and I resigned from my job to take care of him and so--and in 2018 like I said, we decided to purchase the house and we put a down payment on it and everything so one thing happened with the other then we went into the holidays, November, December, ya know. But January he got sick and went to the hospital, and he died February the 8th of 2019, and so we were in the process of selling our other house to get everything done, and so my sons, I have two older sons, and they picked up the ball and-- GS: Bless their hearts CW: They knew I couldn' ; t do it financially by myself, now when my husband was here we could' ; ve done it GS: Right CW: But he had retired from the American Airlines and had other incomes so, but my sons were able to pick up the ball and purchase it for us, and I moved there now and my sons and I are all entitled together--without my husband, but I' ; m there GS: That' ; s wonderful CW: And he' ; s down the road at the cemetery GS: That' ; s right CW: And that comforts me GS: He' ; s close CW: He' ; s very close GS: Yes, he is CW: So him and my mother and my dad and everyone so I' ; m there with everyone, and I live there in the house and it' ; s, it' ; s just absolutely beautiful. The house is beautiful, and I remember them calling it, referring--I' ; m probably talking too much GS: No you' ; re fine, not at all CW: I remember them referring to it as the Tiger mansion when I was growing up, just the different nostalgic stories that my mother would just say " ; Oh we would do this, and oh we would do that" ; and you know, they had--they had what we would refer to as a nanny today and a housekeeper, she was a live in and her name was Ma Smith, she was a black lady. And her and her husband was Mr. Smith, I don' ; t remember his first name ' ; cus momma never called him by his--she always called him Mr. Smith. GS: Mr. Smith CW: Mr. and Mrs. Smith GS: Very respectful CW: Yeah she didn' ; t call Mrs. Smith ' ; Misses' ; , she always called her Ma, Ma Smith. Maybe they called him Paul, I don' ; t know, but I don' ; t remember that. I always say Mr. Smith and Ma Smith but I would refer to her husband as ' ; Alright now, Mr. Smith' ; s gonna be coming in pretty soon and so you girls need to do this' ; because she was their nanny and momma said she bathed them and took care of them, but she was a live in because she--now there was a servants' ; quarters there on the property, but they didn' ; t live there, they lived in the basement GS: Okay CW: So she could be near Conniesenny in case she needed anything GS: Oh CW: And she was the caretaker, she did everything. She did the cooking and took care of the--her, whatever her needs were, she was there and helped with the kids and helped with raising my mother. GS: How wonderful CW: And she was very hands on and very affectionate. And so Mr. Smith was the groundskeepers and now I know why he, they had a full time groundskeeper, because it' ; s a lot, it' ; s a lot to keep all, everything done and we have weed eaters nowadays and he did it by hand, but at that point in time, there was a fenced in area that was like an orchard and so there was fruit trees and gardening and all of those things that they had. And so anyway, but I think this was the first house to have indoor plumbing S: Oh CW: So it had indoor plumbing and my--the story goes, now this is what my mother told me, that Conniesenny Tiger paid to have the, the first one to pay to have the electric strung five miles, and so the electric that' ; s out there now, everyone has benefited throughout the years because she' ; s the one that had it installed GS: Because she got it started, well I imagine that' ; s true, she had the money to do it. CW: Yes, she did, she did. GS: That' ; s exciting CW: Yeah, and they said that when she died, she had six hundred thousand dollars in her checking account GS: Wow CW: Not what she was worth, because they house, the land, everything that went all together and that day was, of course, doesn' ; t even account for today' ; s money GS: No, yeah CW: But back then, that was a lot of money GS: I' ; m sure, so was that money then distributed to your mother CW: Yes GS: And CW: No, not my mother GS: Your grandmother CW: My grandmother GS: Yes CW: So my grandmother had another son, his name was--his name was Porter Tiger, and so they had a real soft spot in their heart for the depot because he was killed in Colorado and that took his body--took them two weeks to get his body shipped back to Bristow GS: And they did it by rail? CW: They did it by rail, and he came here and they and to come to the train station and pick him up, and so it just broke my grandmothers heart, her heart was just broke, and my great grandmother--I said my grandmother, but it' ; s my great grandmother GS: Conniesenny CW: Conniesenny, yes. Her heart was just broken, and he has two children. He had two children, still does, so--or he has great grandchildren and great grandchildren from her two as well, and she had--so it was the land and, but my grandmother, Hannah Brown (ph) was able to get the house and the land, she inherited that and I think the money and different parts, different sections of that land was inherited to the Porter Tigers children GS: Okay, okay, so that' ; s when it started getting divided up? CW: Yes, after her death so [Indecipherable] GS: You were gonna tell me a little about the Indian Culture around here CW: Oh I' ; m sorry about that GS: No that' ; s--you' ; re fine! CW: The culture here is still strong today, it is--there' ; s still ceremonial ground that is out here south of town and, which is referred to as Iron Post, or there was an original ceremonial ground that was called Sand Creek, so now younger generation refers to this particular Iron Post as Sand Creek so it' ; s kind of changed along the way, but there' ; s still thick native Yuchi culture here out of Bristow and Kellyville between here and Mounds GS: And what do they do there? CW: Oh we have our green corn ceremonial, we have green corn ceremonies here, and all of the--it' ; s a fasting where you fast and pray and dance and sing and all these things that you go then we celebrate with fresh green corn and tomatoes, you know, everything all of your fresh fruits and vegetables at that time of year. And it' ; s usually done in July and August GS: That' ; s--you know I' ; ve lived here all my life and never heard of that CW: Well there' ; s a full blood Yuchi community in Bristow, it' ; s one of the largest ones where everyone if you were from the area, you know between here and--there was a lot of Yuchis that married in with the Sac and Foxes and the Absente Shawnees is as well GS: Are the Yuchis creek, or is that separate? CW: It' ; s actually separate GS: Okay CW: They were--they were band together with the creeks back during the removal, so back then you were just Indian. It didn' ; t matter what you were, you' ; re so--but the majority of, so when they were band together during the removal, they were moved with the creeks because we were neighbors back in the homeland GS: Do you know what state your grandmother Conniesenny came from? CW: Georgia GS: She did come from Georgia, that' ; s very interesting CW: Yeah it' ; s from Georgia GS: Okay CW: So there was the northers Yuchis and the lower Yuchis, southern Yuchis, the northern and the southern since you had the Yuchis that was up in the Appalachians so those were like the northern ones and then you have the southern ones GS: Okay. I never knew that. CW: Close to it GS: Very nice CW: It stretches all the way around from all the way down like where Pensacola and Destin Florida is today GS: Yes CW: Yeah GS: Wow CW: All the way there, all the way. Then once you start getting into Alabama, there was the Georgia, the creeks were there in Georgia as well. But all through Georgia and Alabama was creeks and the Tennessee GS: Fascinating, just fascinating CW: It goes all the way to the east coast all the way back, so there was a huge, huge-- GS: So the Yuchi nation was a big tribe CW: It was--yes and our language is still alive, not it' ; s almost extinct to this day, but there is a younger generation that has really grasped hold and had become faithful and steadfast and we have two elders right now that are still full blood, living full blood. GS: Oh that' ; s marvelous. CW: Yeah it' ; s still, and there' ; s some right here in Bristow is Ethaline Washburn (ph), she' ; s still alive and well and just a beautiful, beautiful lady. GS: She' ; s probably someone we should interview CW: Yeah, you probably should. And she' ; ll say " ; Oh I don' ; t know about that" ; if you know, she said, she' ; s very modest about it, but she was very, very wise. GS: Do you have relatives still living here in Bristow? CW: No I don' ; t GS: Okay, because when we heard the name Tiger we thought " ; Well there' ; s some tigers" ; we' ; ve heard the name tiger in this area CW: Okay so now that they' ; re, they are Conniesenny descendants first for the Tiger, Lucian Tiger, Lucian Tiger the III, they are her grandchildren and great grandchildren. GS: So they' ; re distant relatives to you maybe CW: Yes, to me, but to her they' ; re direct descendants GS: Right, are they still here? CW: Yes, uh-huh yes GS: Okay, yeah, that' ; s what I was asking. CW: Yes, okay so they--they mainly bond, I' ; m sure they bonded with Conniesenny too, but they had their own history here through their mothers' ; side GS: Okay CW: [Indecipherable] And a lot of them made, like that' ; s how the enrollment goes, and any most of your upper whatever, usually followed by the mother [Indecipherable] GS: I' ; ve read that, I just love that, yeah CW: Everything' ; s about Gelenium (ph), and like if you' ; re gonna go with your clan or you' ; re gonna go you follow your mothers clan. (Laughter) GS: The woman in me loves that CW: Yes GS: Okay let' ; s see, okay you told me that you have memories of visiting here because you weren' ; t raised in Bristow CW: Nuh-uh GS: But your grandmother was, your mother was? CW: And my husband was from Bristow GS: Okay CW: He was actually from Bristow from Gipsy corner, my husband was so yeah I have those families from him as well as from his family, but when I was a child, we would come back to visit his family GS: Okay CW: So-- GS: So you knew his family CW: Yes, yes. GS: Well before you every were romantically involved with him CW: Yes, he' ; s Yuchi too GS: Okay CW: We' ; re all--they were all Yuchis, all of them. There' ; s a Yuchi committee that, like the [Indecipherable] Church GS: Yes CW: Okay so anyway, my mother and my grandmother we would always come back here to visit their friends, I don' ; t know, I couldn' ; t tell you there' ; s certain friends, but like one lady was a seamstresses, and we' ; d come back here to pick up the quilts or whatever, or we would come back to go to the ceremonial dances that they had, but anytime we would come to eat, and I would remember coming through town and all of the, you know brick streets, I just loved that as a kid being in the back seat loving that, and I remember them talking about a CR Anthonys that was here on Main Street, I remember just all the old buildings and going in and out of the stores, but I don' ; t remember the names of them. GS: Yeah CW: The pool hall, seems like I remember where there was a pool hall GS: There was, there were a couple right up there CW: Yeah, so I remember that as a child coming through there and the Anchor-In where the hamburgers were, so it' ; s coming back forward another twenty years you know, but-- GS: Well we' ; re so glad that you' ; ve moved back here CW: Oh gosh I am too, I am too. GS: And it' ; s nice, do you have any of your husbands' ; relatives who live around here that you know? CW: They don' ; t live here, no they live in Norman and in Oklahoma City, but they were raised here, they were raised here. When their grandmother, their mother and grandmother passed away, they moved away. They moved away actually before the grandmother passed away, but they of course came back every weekend I remember to always see her because she was a pillar here in the community as well. She, her name was Polly LongGS: Polly Long CW: She was, her native name was Ah-La-Quan and so she lived here for years. She couldn' ; t speak English either, and they chose not to, you know back then they chose not to because they had it so hard, they knew what others were attempting to say but all of her-- she raised three boys, they were her grandsons, she raised them all here. And you know back then the mothers would have to leave home and go off to work if they weren' ; t married, so. And then anyway as time goes on-- GS: Okay let me see, now since you' ; re not from Bristow, I' ; m gonna concentrate on some other area here CW: Okay GS: Church life, your grandmother or any of them, did they attend church, were they religious people? CW: Yes, they were, she was a devout Christian number one, and they-- back then they didn' ; t have church homes, houses, church buildings, a place of worship all over, so back then you traveled to your home to have church GS: I' ; ve heard that CW: So I have pictures of them having church inside the house where I lived now, she had church every--all the time so I have pictures in there in front of the fireplace that still exist today, the exact same windows and everything is in the pictures, GS: We would probably love to have a digital copy of that if you wouldn' ; t mind CW: And my--the lady I mentioned Ethaline Washburn (ph) was in that picture, and my husband was in that picture GS: Aw CW: At that particular church service, he showed one picture of the pastor standing at the pulpit and preaching and the ladies having their hymnals out and singing and then you have another one of them against the wall back over to the dining room where they had the chairs set up for church, and my husband was sitting right in the middle of the row GS: And about how old was he? CW: He was about six, maybe seven. Six or seven GS: Oh how wonderful, how wonderful is that picture! Oh we would love to have a CW: Copy of that GS: A digital copy of that if it' ; s possible, I love that. CW: We have pictures of Conniesenny, she' ; s just a beautiful and the things about it is, we don' ; t know when this picture was taken, but it was taken there in the house GS: The one where your husband was six, or are you talking about a different picture? CW: I' ; m talking about a different picture GS: Oh CW: We have a portrait of Conniesenny Tiger herself, yes it' ; s beautiful. GS: Yeah we would love to have that too CW: Yes, that' ; s beautiful. But all of our childhood memories and all the pictures that my mother would talk about that she could just get the nostalgic, you know somedays she she' ; d just sit there and cry because of her memories that was taken place there at the house and when grandma did this and grandma did that and how grandma was and what they had for supper or you know, just things like that and my--all of the family photos that we have are all taken there at the house with the same entrance, everything' ; s still exactly the same, the front entrance, the from steps, everybody took pictures there GS: It was the gathering place for your family CW: It was, it was. And then we said when we were able to come back and purchase it, we said you know, 70 years since this bloodline has been back in the house GS: Who was the last relative of yours to own that house? CW: Hannah Brown (ph) GS: Hannah Brown, and she was your grandmother? CW: Mhm GS: And she married who? CW: She married Joe Yarbrough (ph) GS: And was he Indian also? CW: Yes, but he was from--there was not no recording of that, you know back then when you got divorced or when you got mad or whatever, you just said you' ; re a half GS: Oh okay CW: So it was one of those deals, there was a divorce GS: Okay CW: And, but he was from Newbie? GS: Yes CW: I think he was from around Newbie GS: Okay, okay. CW: I don' ; t know any, I don' ; t remember--now my mother remembered just talking about his mother, which would have been her grandmother, but I can' ; t, we can' ; t remember her--their names. We don' ; t know who they were or, you know. Some things you just as a kid don' ; t ask, and then even when you got older, before momma died, we-- GS: You don' ; t think to ask until it' ; s too late CW: Until it' ; s too late, it is not as important as it is now GS: Exactly, exactly. What about holidays, what kind of festivities did they have at holidays like Christmas and Easter? CW: Just the same thing GS: Same thing CW: The same just like everybody else did GS: yeah CW: Yeah, my mom always had a tree and my grandmother always seen to it. Back then, we used to come, I remember coming as a child to my lucky Methodist church out here and her bringing--we' ; d come from Muskogee and she' ; d bring baskets of--baskets of oranges and baskets of apples to help set, pass out for the candy sacks for the bags of candy, and she would do stuff like that. GS: That' ; s wonderful. CW: But we would always come back to Bristow GS: Was your grandmother Conniesenny benevolent with her money? CW: I' ; m not really sure, I' ; m not really sure, but I just know that on one hand, she was very free hearted and on the other hand it was always like--actually things were just stolen from her, just stolen. Her money, her mineral rights, everything. It was a lot that was stolen. It was underhanded things that happened. GS: From--from family members CW: No, no GS: or from other [Indecipherable]? CW: Yeah ' ; cus back then, you had to guardians over your money, and then like, they took like over half of her fortune. So it was, it was a lot--it was a lot of hard--I hate that part to be recorded, so I mean it' ; s deeper than you can imagine, but whenever she signed her oil lease away, she was thinking she was selling it and my mother was not there to interpret for her that particular day GS: They took advantage of her CW: They--oh yeah, they actually conned her into signing away her mineral rights, they stole her oil. And so I' ; m sure she was grieved, can you imagine how grieved she was, so you don' ; t know when that took place, we don' ; t know how it did but it' ; s gone now, it' ; s all gone. My mother, we still have a portion of royalties but it' ; s not a lot. And then they act like that we' ; re--I mean it' ; s just too much to put on tape, so. GS: I' ; m sorry. CW: Yeah it' ; s a lot GS: I' ; m so sorry CW: Yeah. When my mother, when my grandmother when I was a child, I remembered going and sitting at in Tulsa in the car all day long and, because the guardian wasn' ; t gonna give her any of her money, and she said " ; well he thinks I' ; m not--" ; GS: Was it because she was Indian? CW: Oh yeah it was because she was Indian, and you know they had kept her money, they guarded the money, they had the government set up to where they appointed guardians over individual people since they thought they were ignorant and dumb Indians, so that' ; s what they did they just, you know, so Indians and dogs are the only ones that are registered with a dog tag with a number on it. If you registered, that' ; s how you get registered. So back then, they had--they took care of all their individual-- audio 0 https://bristoworalhistory.org/ohms/viewer.php?cachefile=OHP-2020-03_Wittman,_Cecelia.xml OHP-2020-03_Wittman,_Cecelia.xml
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Cecelia Wittman
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In this 2020 interview, Cecelia Wittman shares her families history in the Bristow area. She discusses the Tiger Mansion and Indian Culture.
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OHP-2020-03
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2020-08-18
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audio
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Bristow Historical Society, Inc.
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Bristow Historical Society, Inc.
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Bristow Historical Society, Inc.
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English
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sound, oral history
Dawes Act
Iron Post
Native American allotment
Native American guardianship
Native American removal
stomp grounds
Yuchi
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Family Histories
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Oral History
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Oral accounts of various family histories
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Bristow Historical Society, oral history collection
Oral History
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Debbie Blansett
Interviewee
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Lydia Taryole
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5.4 July 7, 2020 OHP-2020-05 Lydia Taryole OHP-2020-05 0:00-50:14 'Bristow Historical Society - Oral History Archive' Bristow Historical Society, Inc. Lydia Taryole Debbie Blansett MP3 1:|59(2)|98(6)|156(2)|188(6)|243(2)|264(9)|315(2)|337(1)|365(3)|407(11)|453(7)|480(4)|526(3)|565(8)|606(4)|639(2)|683(4)|702(13)|719(14)|749(5)|774(12)|812(9)|846(4)|863(3)|892(6)|925(1)|939(1)|952(17)|985(10)|1024(6)|1055(2)|1080(1)|1119(14)|1140(9)|1184(2)|1215(2)|1253(5)|1275(4)|1296(7)|1337(3)|1377(5)|1397(12)|1416(1)|1436(11)|1469(6)|1504(4)|1535(19)|1540(12)|1551(10)|1578(2) 0 https://bristoworalhistory.org/interviews/Lydia Taryole.mp3 Other audio 0 Introduction and Family History DB: This is Debbie Blansett with the Bristow Historical Society in Bristow Oklahoma, and this interview is part of the Historical Societies on going Oral History Project. The date is July 7th, and I am sitting here with Lydia Taryole at the Community Bank Board Room in Bristow Oklahoma who’s going to tell me a little about their—her history in the Bristow area. Her daughter Natalie Hogner is also in the room with us. Now I’m gonna ask each of you to give me your full name so that the transcriber will know your voice when you talk. So Lydia if you’ll say your name LT: Lydia Barnett Taryole NH: Natalie— LT: [Indecipherable] Barnett NH: Natalie Lynn Hogner DB: Alright, so we’re ready to start. Lydia’s brought some pictures today with her LT: That’s my son Barbara Ann ; Bristow Historical Society ; Bristow, Oklahoma ; Bunji Norman Taryole ; Christopher ; Clairview ; Clearview ; Debbie Blansett ; James Barnett ; Lizzie Star Barnett ; Lydia Barnett Taryole ; Michael West ; Natalie Lynn Hogner ; Newman Taryole Jr. ; Nicolas Hogner ; Weleetka ; William Barnett 348 School DB: What do you remember about school in Bristow? LT: Mr. Lester, I went to school every day and I didn’t know my math, he passed me DB: That’s a good one LT: Mr. Lester NH: She remembers Mr. Lester LT: I remember that DB: Mr. Lester LT: I didn’t know my math, or les—arithmetic’s. I went to school— DB: And he passed you anyway Audrey Bigpond ; Chilocco Indian School ; Eufaula ; Lydia Barnett ; Mr. Lester ; Navajos ; Newkirk ; Norma Jean 810 Young Adulthood DB: Well tell me about your husband, how did you meet your husband? LT: Ohhh DB: Oh is that a bad story? (Laughing) LT: My cousin told him about me DB: Did he play ball? LT: Who? DB: Your husband? LT: Yeah, he [Indecipherable]. That’s him in the army DB: Oh, he was in the army Baseball ; Berryhill ; Carl West ; Fort Louis ; Newman ; Newman Taryole ; Statewide Tree Service ; Thomas Nick ; Warehouse Market ; Whinie Lowell 1209 Businesses DB: Oh my goodness, you were the ringer? That’s the good thing. What do you remember about Bristow, like what were the big businesses here when you came back to live in Bristow? LT: Uh, momma, what was his name, Abraham? DB: Uh-huh LT: He had a grocery store I think, Abraham I think, mhm DB: Yes, yes, on main street? LT: Mhm DB: What did main street look like? LT: I had a picture of it with them old cars, and I was looking for it and I lost it DB: That’s alright, but lots of places to shop? Lots of things to do? Abraham ; Burris ; Four-mile corner 1427 Childhood DB: Well, there’s just so many things ; what other stories do you have? Let’s surprised Natalie, what other stories can you remember from—did you do any ornery things when you were a girl? LT: I ran around with that O’Brian (ph) girl NH: What does that mean? DB: Did you get in trouble with that? LT: Her mom was a bootlegger DB: Oh my goodness LT: Down on the highway DB: Now those are the kind of stories we want to hear, so the O’Brian girls’ momma was a bootlegger LT: And I was going to school and she come and wanted me to run around with her and I go “No I gotta go to school” she left Kellyville ; Lizzie Star Barnett ; Model-A ; O'Brian 1628 Greatest Inventions and Differences in the World DB: If you think back all the way from 1933 until now, what are the greatest inventions, or the greatest things— LT: My daddy tried to farm DB: He tried to farm, that was a pretty big deal! Did he have luck? Did he grow things? LT: Yeah he had watermelon and people come stole them DB: Oh my gosh, I think it might’ve been, I think I might’ve known a person that was involved in that. He tells stories about stealing watermelon anyway. But y’all had a wagon, how long until you had a car? LT: Well mom had a model-A and she bought a truck, cus’ she had money. She got 160 [Indecipherable] DB: She just bought it or she was left that land? LT: Yeah they gave it to her, I don’t know what year. Daddy got 160 DB: And this was all through Indian Land grants? Creek ; Indian Land Grants ; Okemah ; Okmulgee ; Original Allottes ; Springfield ; Springfield United Methodist Church ; Tulsa 1962 Baseball DB: Do you go to any of the Pow-wows or Stomp Dances or anything like that? LT: My father-in-law did, he belonged to Nuyaka (ph). Me and Newman was out playing ball or he was running the ball with his team and basketball, he had a baseball team. DB: Oh wow NH: Yeah that’s where I grew up on the Stomp Grounds in Nuyaka, it’s on my dad's land, the stomp grounds. Then of course in the fields they built their own little baseball– softball field LT: Newman's dad belonged to it, he [Indecipherable] him and his wife, she cooks. NH: Oh yeah she cooked out on the fire outside LT: They cooked outside NH: Yeah Barbara Ann ; Baseball ; Buckeye ; Joe Barnett ; JoJo ; Nuyaka ; Pow-Wow ; Softball ; Stomp Dances ; Stomp Grounds 2220 Family History (Continued) and Conclusion DB: Well, I sure have enjoyed it. And you know this is gonna become part of the oral history and you can see it LT: Oh I hope not DB: Oh yes it will and it will be available online if people wanna know things about you or about your family LT: I told Reba, I said “That highway is 65 miles an hour”, I told her that’s old 66, she don't believe me. She said “Oh you know, that’s not true”, she didn’t believe me. That’s old 66 DB: Yup LT: Now that’s 48, and it’s 65 miles, they pass each other DB: Where you live on 48, that used to be old 66? LT: Yeah [Indecipherable] by the four-mile corner then turn up there east 55' Ford ; Barbara Ann ; Bristow ; Chicoma, Washington ; Delores ; Eufaula ; Four-Mile Corner ; Haskell ; Haskell Indian College ; Home Ec ; James Barnett ; Jennetta Barnett ; Jennetta Scott ; Junior 4H ; Junior Red Cross ; Lizzie Barnett ; Mrs. Dire ; Mrs. Dyre ; Navajos ; Okemah ; Pinehill ; Tahlequah In this 2020 interview, Lydia Taryole shares her experience growing up in Bristow. She discusses her childhood, family history, and baseball. Interviewer: Debbie Blansett Interviewee: Lydia Taryole Other Persons: Natalie Hogner Date of Interview: July 7, 2020 Location: Bristow, Creek County Oklahoma Transcriber: Abby Thompson Organization: Bristow Historical Society, Inc. Original Cassette Tape Location: OHP-2020-05 at 00:00 to 50:14 Abstract: Preface: The following oral history testimony is the result of a cassette tape interview and is part of the Bristow Historical Society, Inc.' ; s collection of oral histories. The interview was transcribed and processed by the Bristow Historical Society, Inc., with financial assistance from the Montfort Jones & ; Allie Brown Jones Foundation. Rights to the material are held exclusively by the Bristow Historical Society, Inc. The reader should bear in mind that he or she is reading a verbatim transcript of spoken, rather than written prose. Insofar as possible, this transcript tries to represent the spoken word. Thus, it should be read as a personal memoir and not as either a researched monograph or edited account. To the extent possible, the spelling of place names, foreign words, and personal names have been verified, either by reference resources or directly by the interviewee. In some cases, a footnote has been added to the transcript in order to provide more information and/or to clarify a statement. Some uncertainties will inevitably remain regarding some words and their spellings. In these scenarios, a (ph) follows a word or name that is spelled phonetically. The notation [indecipherable] is used when the transcriber has not been able to comprehend the word or phrase being spoken. The notation [inaudible] is used where there is more mumbling than words, or when interference on the tape has made transcription impossible. DB: This is Debbie Blansett with the Bristow Historical Society in Bristow Oklahoma, and this interview is part of the Historical Societies on going Oral History Project. The date is July 7th, and I am sitting here with Lydia Taryole at the Community Bank Board Room in Bristow Oklahoma who' ; s going to tell me a little about their--her history in the Bristow area. Her daughter Natalie Hogner is also in the room with us. Now I' ; m gonna ask each of you to give me your full name so that the transcriber will know your voice when you talk. So Lydia if you' ; ll say your name LT: Lydia Barnett Taryole NH: Natalie-- LT: [Indecipherable] Barnett NH: Natalie Lynn Hogner DB: Alright, so we' ; re ready to start. Lydia' ; s brought some pictures today with her LT: That' ; s my son DB: She' ; s showing me pictures of her son LT: And they used to have this at school, who' ; d you say? NH: That' ; s Christopher, that' ; s her grandson. DB: Oh NH: So, that' ; s Nicolas DB: Okay, she' ; s got pictures of her grandsons, her son--grandson Nicolas Hogner, her son-- NH: That' ; s Newman Taryole Jr. DB: Newman Taryole Jr, oh my who is this? NH: That' ; s my brother Bunji Norman Taryole (ph) DB: Normal Taryole LT: He' ; s got long hair now (Laughing) DB: And she' ; s got--is this a grandchild or a great? NH: That' ; s grandchild Christopher DB: Christopher her grandchild NH: That' ; s Bunji, see how they look alike? DB: Yes, very much LT: This is Mike, he graduated here NH: She knows Mike DB: I know Mike LT: No, you know-- DB: This is Mike LT: Mhm DB: Michael West LT: Mhm, here' ; s my oldest daughter when she was young. DB: And this is her daughter NH: Barbara DB: Barbara, what grade was she in in this picture, do you remember? How old was she? LT: She was young DB: She was young LT: Now I don' ; t know DB: She was very young LT: She didn' ; t put it down NH: Yeah write it on the back, sometimes write them on the back, nope. LT: This is my mom and dad when they were young DB ; Okay tell me about your mom and dad, what were their names? LT: Lizzie Star Barnett (ph) DB: What was the first name again? LT: Lizzie DB: Lizzie? LT: Mhm DB: Star LT: Barnett DB: Barnett, and your dads name? LT: James Barnett DB: Do you know where this picture was taken? LT: I think at my grandma' ; s house DB: At your grandma' ; s house? LT: Mhm NH: Was that the house out north or was that after? Probably after. LT: Before, yeah. NH: She brought me and I learned a lot from this abstract that was her dads, James Barnett, or he was a lot of land as a newborn creek when he was two years old DB: Oh wow, yes I wanna get pictures of that so we can attach it to our-- NH: Yeah that' ; s what I was going through it and trying to see everything and you know, learn that his--my great grandpa was named Daniel DB: Huh NH: I learned a lot from just reading through this and then-- DB: And she just had this all the time? NH: Mhm, just said " ; Hey, I have this" ; LT: It had William Barnett on there NH: That' ; s her brother LT: And I thought I found it in my trunk NH: Yeah this is their original land out North DB: Well Lydia when were you born? When were you born, do you remember when you were born? NH: What' ; s your birthday? LT: 6/17/33 DB: July seven--I mean June seventieth LT: Uh-huh, 33' ; DB: 1933 LT: Mhm [Inaudible] DB: Were you born at home or in a hospital? LT: In a hospital DB: You were born in a hospital? LT: In Weleetka DB: In Weleetka! NH: They had a hospital in Weleetka? LT: Probably DB: If she was born there! NH: Okay, well it says place of birth I was waiting, I' ; m gonna put Weleetka DB: Well when-- LT: They said Clarview but I don' ; t wanna put Clairview DB: Oh is that the name, the actual name probably of the city where you were born? NH: That' ; s not really a city LT: Weleetka BD: But you lived in Clareview-- Clairview-- Clearview? LT: My grandma did DB: Your grandma did. What did your dad do? What kind of work did your dad do? LT: He was rich, he had oil wells out there on ol' ; 66 DB: On old 66 LT: six-seventeen, I used to remember--nine. Six-seventeen-nine, that was his 20 acres DB: 20 acres NH: six-sixteen-nine LT: When he was young, he was--he had oil wells out there on ol' ; 66, but it' ; s 48 now DB: Okay, and what did your mother work outside the home? Was--she was a homemaker? LT: We had an old home and we didn' ; t have no water or electric, she cooked on the wood stove DB: Cooked on a wood stove LT: And sent me to school DB: And did you go to school in Bristow?LT: Mm DB: What do you remember about school in Bristow? LT: Mr. Lester, I went to school every day and I didn' ; t know my math, he passed me DB: That' ; s a good one LT: Mr. Lester NH: She remembers Mr. Lester LT: I remember that DB: Mr. Lester LT: I didn' ; t know my math, or les--arithmetic' ; s. I went to school-- DB: And he passed you anyway LT: Yeah, momma got us up and I went every day, all I had to do was catch that bus. My brothers wouldn' ; t go to school. DB: How many brothers did you have? LT: Four DB: And how many sisters? LT: One DB: That' ; s a--that' ; s a lot of kids LT: [Indecipherable] Mhm. She graduated with the Chilocco (ph) DB: Graduated what? NH: Chilocco Indian School [Indecipherable]. Is that Norma Jean? DB: Oh, who was this sister? NH: Norma Jean, yeah. LT: That' ; s the only sister I had NH: And she was the youngest DB: And where was that school? LT: On the other side of Newkirk. I don' ; t--can' ; t remember that [Indecipherable] NH: Chilocco, I think they' ; ve shut it down LT: Mhm DB: Was it a creek school? Or-- LT: No it was a-- DB: Just any Indian? NH: Just any Indian LT: Yeah, I think I got a book, I brought my book. We had good teachers and good kids, that' ; s when I graduated. DB: Oh my heavens NH: Oh wow, I' ; ve never even known she had that, those are [Indecipherable] DB: Okay she' ; s showing me now the--is this the word you' ; re saying? NH: Chilocco DB: Chilocco yearbook LT: Yeah that' ; s when I graduated. You know, I come here and I--they hired me as the, where you work? DB: They hired her at? NH: The garment factory LT: Yeah garment factory, he hired me I forgot his name. When I graduated, I went to work. DB: So you didn' ; t graduate from Bristow? LT: No DB: No. LT: I was going to Bristow and a man came into our Indian home, they had to build it for us, and he asked mom if she had any kids that would go to Chilocco, I was crazy I said " ; I will" ; and that' ; s way down there! DB: Did you--so you had to go live there? LT: Yeah, uh-huh DB: And then they would come get you to come home and visit or was it all the time or-- LT: Yeah when we were home on holidays and summers, they came after us. Graduation. DB: How many people were in your, well I guess I could look, but how many people went there? How many were in your graduating class? LT: Even the Navajos went there, they were in groups on--in that book. We had good teachers. DB: Barnett LT: Let me find that DB: Lydia Barnett, there you are! LT: Really? DB: Right there LT: I didn' ; t even know it! I was looking for it! DB: I think it says Lydia Barnett, is that you? LT: Yeah, that' ; s me. DB: My goodness, it' ; s like looking at Natalie in that picture NH: Let me see (Laughing) LT: I was looking for it in our-- DB: Or one of your boys. Down at the bottom. NH: Yeah that' ; s-- LT: That' ; s my mom DB: Oh my goodness LT: She always cooked NH: Audrey Bigpond (ph), she' ; s from Bristow. LT: Yeah, she went to [Indecipherable] with us, mhm. Coming home cause our parents couldn' ; t come after DB: Your mother stayed at her home, did your mom--how old was she when she passed? LT: 75 I think DB: Did your father go first? LT: No DB: He lived after she did? LT: Yeah, yeah, he went first. NH: He passed first, ' ; cus I never met him but I met her. LT: He was laying on the bed, he' ; d been hospital, he told me he said " ; They said I had an enlarged heart" ; DB: Aw, what was the best thing she cooked for you, your momma? LT: Yeah she was-- DB: What was your favorite thing? LT: Her biscuits DB: Her biscuits? What' ; s the best thing you cook? Biscuits? LT: Chicken NH: Fried chicken DB: Chicken! LT: Fried chicken [Indecipherable] DB: Well I' ; ve had your fried corn and I know that' ; s pretty good, this is-- LT: That' ; s my sister DB: This is the same girl LT: Oh I' ; ve got two of them, I was gonna take that out. DB: Yes LT: I' ; ll give it to Natalie. This is my daddy' ; s sister DB: Your daddy' ; s sister NH: She lived here, yeah. DB: So the Barnett' ; s in Bristow, that' ; s your dads side of the family? LT: Mhm. I went to school at Eufaula and my sister, she was in kindergarten, that' ; s in Eufaula. DB: This is in Eufaula LT: I was on the third floor DB: When did you go to school in Eufaula LT: 32' ; I think, I don' ; t remember DB: Like you were in grade--elementary school like young? LT: Yeah, mhm. And she was in first--kindergarten DB: Kindergarten, so you probably were in the second grade or first grade or something? LT: Yeah, mhm. DB: Again, did you live there in the school? LT: Yeah I was on the third floor. DB: Hm, where were your parents? LT: At home DB: At home? LT: Mhm DB: With the boys, who wouldn' ; t go to school LT: Yeah (Laughing) LT: They wouldn' ; t catch that bus, that' ; s me in our old house. DB: This is your old house or when you were a-- LT: We lived there DB: Your mommas house? LT: My daddy' ; s house DB: Your daddy' ; s house. Look at that old truck LT: Do you see a truck? DB: A truck back here LT: I didn' ; t even see that DB: That' ; s pretty neat. LT: That' ; s when I was younger DB: This is how I remember, when our boys were young LT: There' ; s Natalie' ; s picture DB: There' ; s Natalie as a senior. There' ; s Jarrett looking at me from that [Indecipherable] NH: Is that Jarrett? LT: Jarrett [Muffled Noises] LT: She went to Sequoya, she left Bristow DB: Oh, Natalie did for a while? NH: I thought my brother [Indecipherable] Kinda like her, they said " ; Wanna go somewhere" ; and I got up and go. It was an Indian school too DB: Well tell me about your husband, how did you meet your husband? LT: Ohhh DB: Oh is that a bad story? (Laughing) LT: My cousin told him about me DB: Did he play ball? LT: Who? DB: Your husband? LT: Yeah, he [Indecipherable]. That' ; s him in the army DB: Oh, he was in the army LT: Yeah NH: He went to the army to play baseball DB: Oh LT: They let him play baseball DB: Wow LT: Hey, after-- DB: He' ; s a very handsome man! LT: That' ; s when he was younger, here' ; s when he' ; s--he had friends. He did good, we got married and he picked me up and took me to California and he got drafted. DB: Oh wow and left you in California LT: Yeah DB: And went off to basic training LT: Mhm DB: Did he have to go anywhere? Was he-- LT: He said " ; I don' ; t want to go to army" ; and I said " ; Well you just have to stay there two years at Fort Louis" ; DB: At Fort Louis LT: Mhm NH: Yeah there' ; s a story, I don' ; t know the whole story, but he almost made it to the minor leagues, or major leagues, something in baseball. LT: Yeah I found that picture, but I don' ; t know where it' ; s at NH: And then his brother, I guess him and his brother was real good, and they--his brother got sick and wanted to come home and then he came home with him instead of staying DB: And he' ; s also from Bristow? What' ; s your husband' ; s name? LT: Newman DB: Is he from Bristow also? LT: He' ; s from Okemah DB: He' ; s from Okemah LT: Here' ; s when he was-- DB: Oh my goodness LT: I had my daughter out there DB: Have you seen this picture? LT: [Indecipherable] NH: Let me see, no LT: She' ; s got mommas picture when she was young. Newman worked, he worked in Tulsa at warehouse--was it-- DB: Warehouse Market LT: Yeah, he was good DB: Such a handsome man LT: That' ; s my oldest daughter DB: This is the one married to-- LT: Hey here' ; s his army picture DB: Mr. Carl West? LT: Here' ; s his army picture DB: Oh his baseball team from the army LT: Mhm, he didn' ; t wanna go I said " ; Well you just have to go two years" ; and it was peace time, his momma, she worried because he was in the army. Here' ; s his mom and dad DB: And what were their names? LT: Whinie, Lowell NH: Nick, Thomas Nick, is that grandpa Nick? LT: Yeah NH: Yeah, Thomas Nick, that' ; s who Nicolas is named after DB: And the mothers name? NH: Whinie (ph) DB: Whinie? NH: Mhm, [Indecipherable] DB: Was this their home? Was this taken at their home? LT: Yeah, uh-huh NH: She was, one you know when they talk about, she' ; d go out there and catch them chickens and we' ; d be like " ; how' ; d she do that?" ; and we' ; d be running chasing them, and she' ; s just go ' ; Kch' ; and she' ; d take it inside and start plucking ' ; em DB: Oh my goodness NH: That' ; s what I remember LT: This is our preacher from [Indecipherable], he' ; s in Berryhill, that was momma' ; s preacher DB: This was taken in 1955, there' ; s a date on that one NH: Who is this? DB: Preacher NH: Oh the preacher LT: Berryhill, that' ; s his daddy. DB: Uncle [Indecipherable] LT: There' ; s his daddy and that' ; s his daddy' ; s brother DB: Now who' ; s dad am I looking at? Oh this is Newman' ; s dad LT: Mhm. There' ; s Newman, I don' ; t know who that boy is. His friend, cousin probably. DB: Oh these pictures are so wonderful LT: Here' ; s me and Newman and our kids. I had three daughters and two sons. DB: Okay now I' ; ve got more questions for you NH: [Indecipherable] was asleep DB: He has his eyes closed. So did you live, did you live in town? You said you--when you were growing up, you lived-- LT: We lived in Tulsa when Newman was working DB: Okay, and then you moved back to Bristow when the kids were born? LT: We moved to Okemah with his folks then my brother said if you pay for that house, y' ; all can have that house. They didn' ; t give it to nobody else but me and Newman, and he paid for it. He worked at Tree Service, Statewide. DB: Statewide Tree Service. LT: Mhm DB: So many questions, so many different ways I could go with this. You were born in a hospital, so did you go to the doctor for other things when you were a child and did they have doctors' ; offices or--? LT: I had Gallbladder surgery, she had to take me DB: But when you were little NH: When you were little DB: When you were really young NH: When you were little DB: Do you remember going to the doctors' ; offices? LT: No I played softball with the Alcorn girls, they were good DB: They were good, you played with all the Alcorn girls LT: Yeah, I was the only Indian DB: You were the only Indian on the team? LT: Mhm DB: Oh my goodness, you were the ringer? That' ; s the good thing. What do you remember about Bristow, like what were the big businesses here when you came back to live in Bristow? LT: Uh, momma, what was his name, Abraham? DB: Uh-huh LT: He had a grocery store I think, Abraham I think, mhm DB: Yes, yes, on main street? LT: Mhm DB: What did main street look like? LT: I had a picture of it with them old cars, and I was looking for it and I lost it DB: That' ; s alright, but lots of places to shop? Lots of things to do? LT: She shopped at four-mile corner, Burris (ph) had that store, she had [Indecipherable] there DB: The Burroughs (ph) had the store? LT: Burris, Burris DB: Oh Burris. LT: Uh-huh DB: Well let' ; s see LT: Four-mile corner DB: At the four-mile corner LT: These are business there NH: Yeah I seen her when she [Indecipherable] who she owed money to, we' ; ll try to look LT: Probably Burris NH: I thought I saw something like that but--she owed community states bank $43 LT: Really? DB: Oh my goodness. So now your dad was the oil man? LT: Mhm DB: And so he would' ; ve been involved in the big oil boom that happened LT: A long time ago DB: In Bristow and in Slick when they had all the oil and stuff like that LT: He didn' ; t know how to save his money DB: He didn' ; t know how to--so he just spent it? LT: Yeah DB: Did he spend it on anything in particular? LT: He bought his mom a house DB: Where? LT: In Clareview, and that place was sandy. He built her--his mom DB: It' ; s hard to build a house in the sand LT: A long time ago, he didn' ; t build us none. We lived in that old house, we didn' ; t have no electric, water, that was a long time ago. DB: And a wood stove LT: Yeah DB: What was that like, cooking on a wood stove? LT: It was good NH: She still likes to do that, she liked to go outside and set up the wood and have a little area, she likes to cook outside DB: Because you are an Indian, were there any problems or did you ever feel like you didn' ; t have the same things everybody else had? It sounds like you were pretty well off. LT: Well they were going with the preacher in Sapulpa and he said " ; Why don' ; t y' ; all sign up for an Indian home?" ; and they build it in seventy, that' ; s when me and mom was in living room and that man came, it was in seventy, I don' ; t know when it was DB: In your home you live in now? LT: Yeah, mhm. I said " ; I' ; ll go" ; , which is crazy DB: I' ; ll go ; there she is volunteering again. That' ; s me, I' ; ll go NH: That' ; s it. DB: Well, there' ; s just so many things ; what other stories do you have? Let' ; s surprised Natalie, what other stories can you remember from--did you do any ornery things when you were a girl? LT: I ran around with that O' ; Brian (ph) girl NH: What does that mean? DB: Did you get in trouble with that? LT: Her mom was a bootlegger DB: Oh my goodness LT: Down on the highway DB: Now those are the kind of stories we want to hear, so the O' ; Brian girls' ; momma was a bootlegger LT: And I was going to school and she come and wanted me to run around with her and I go " ; No I gotta go to school" ; she left DB: She left, and you went to school and still didn' ; t learn your arithmetic LT: No, I went every day. DB: Did you have animals? Cows, pigs, chickens? LT: They gave momma them fantasy horses, and we' ; s coming to town in a wagon. We came to town and a train was going by and I though them horses would take off, them fantasy horses, they bought them from mom. She had mules, they kicked the barn down DB: That' ; s not a good thing, so you brought the wagon to town? LT: Yeah, that was a long time ago, I was scared cause that old thing was making noise and I thought they' ; d take off. My daddy was-- DB: Was driving it? LT: Mhm, we didn' ; t have no car. DB: So you had to use the wagon to get to town? LT: To get to town. She had a model A, it was real neat and good DB: Who had a model A? LT: Mom DB: Oh NH: Is that her? LT: Yeah, I thought I didn' ; t have no pictures. NH: I remember that' ; s the last thing I remember of my grandma Lizzie (ph) cause she was sick whenever I was four I think, and I remember I used to always rub her head because she always had those scarves on DB: Scarves on LT: [Indecipherable] NH: And I would sit and rub her head, that' ; s all I remember LT: We went to Tulsa and we were driving mommas truck and we broke down in Kellyville, she was--mom had money and we had to rent a house because our truck broke down and Natalie was small and she' ; d jump up and down on the bed. She was active NH: Yeah until my brothers roped me and cut me and put a big scar on my head. And she just " ; Ah pour some sugar on it" ; , said " ; you' ; re good" ; DB: Oh my goodness, pour some sugar on it NH: Pour some sugar on it LT: Yeah, my brother had to come and get her because our truck broke down and we left it there and he come and got it. Jake was oldest, Joe was next. DB: If you think back all the way from 1933 until now, what are the greatest inventions, or the greatest things-- LT: My daddy tried to farm DB: He tried to farm, that was a pretty big deal! Did he have luck? Did he grow things? LT: Yeah he had watermelon and people come stole them DB: Oh my gosh, I think it might' ; ve been, I think I might' ; ve known a person that was involved in that. He tells stories about stealing watermelon anyway. But y' ; all had a wagon, how long until you had a car? LT: Well mom had a model-A and she bought a truck, cus' ; she had money. She got 160 [Indecipherable] DB: She just bought it or she was left that land? LT: Yeah they gave it to her, I don' ; t know what year. Daddy got 160 DB: And this was all through Indian Land grants? NH: Yeah LT: Mhm NH: What do they call it, the original allottees LT: Mhm, she got 160 acres in Depew DB: She still has--you still have that? LT: I' ; ve got 20 acres, mhm. DB: But what has happened to this land in the abstract? NH: All the brothers split DB: All the brothers have it? NH: Split, yeah. DB: But the land, you still own the land as far as you know? LT: My sister got 40 acres, mhm. DB: Oh so the 20 she' ; s talking about it part of this? NH: Mhm LT: And I' ; ve got 20 out there on oil-- NH: They have land in Bristow and Depew DB: Anything else different? What' ; s the world like? What would you think--what' ; s different about how everything is in the world right now? LT: Virus DB: The virus (Laughing) DB: the virus is very different LT: I have to stay home DB: We all have to stay home LT: That' ; s bad, it' ; s getting bad. DB: Have you ever been on an airplane? LT: No, when he was in the army, he was scared. He got drunk and got--and got-- DB: And got on LT: Yeah he was scared to ride the airplane No I' ; ve never-- DB: Never been on an airplane. Been on a train? LT: Yeah, mhm DB: What' ; d you take-- LT: We went to a train here with my daddy DB: Where' ; d you go? Tulsa? LT: Tulsa I guess, [Indecipherable] was on that train. DB: Think hard. Natalie is there anything? NH: That you missed? DB: That we' ; ve missed? Were you in clubs in high school? LT: I was in something? DB: Were you in choir? LT: No NH: What is this? DB: Were you in speech and debate? She also brought a calendar that' ; s got pictures-- that has pictures of creek LT: Yeah. Hey that' ; s the [Indecipherable] house in Okmulgee DB: Yes, and this is-- this is how you say January in Creek? LT: I can' ; t talk creek DB You don' ; t speak creek NH: Can you understand it? LT: I can' ; t read that, mhm DB: No but do you understand if somebody is speaking creek? Do you understand them? LT: Newman was mad at me because I couldn' ; t talk creek and he was Fluent NH: Fluent LT: And he had that stroke in 96' ; and it took it-- he can' ; t talk DB: And he can' ; t speak it anymore LT: Mhm NH: He can LT: A little bit NH: Like if we go somewhere, like when there' ; s other people or speakers, he' ; ll sit there and have a conversation with them now. Whether he knows he' ; s speaking right or not, we don' ; t know. But my oldest sister, she can understand it, she just doesn' ; t speak it. LT: That' ; s the way my brother was DB: There' ; s a church in Okemah LT: Oh is that in-- NH: That is Springfield LT: Oh that' ; s our church, mhm DB: This was the church you went to in Okemah? LT: Yeah, mhm DB: These words have to be creek for the days of the week LT: Mhm DB: Because this is Sunday LT: Spring, it' ; s Springfield DB: That' ; s the name of the church? LT: Mhm DB: Springfield United Methodist Church? LT: Mhm DB: Do you go to any of the Pow-wows or Stomp Dances or anything like that? LT: My father-in-law did, he belonged to Nuyaka (ph). Me and Newman was out playing ball or he was running the ball with his team and basketball, he had a baseball team. DB: Oh wow NH: Yeah that' ; s where I grew up on the Stomp Grounds in Nuyaka, it' ; s on my dad' ; s land, the stomp grounds. Then of course in the fields they built their own little baseball-- softball field LT: Newman' ; s dad belonged to it, he [Indecipherable] him and his wife, she cooks. NH: Oh yeah she cooked out on the fire outside LT: They cooked outside NH: Yeah LT: It was called Nuyaka NH: [Indecipherable] LT: That' ; s in Okema, Nuyaka DB: Well, this was all just pretty interesting Mrs. Lydia NH: No see she was excited about this digging stuff out LT: I said " ; How come she wanna interview you?" ; you know what she said? DB: What' ; d she say? LT: She wants an older person (Laughing) DB: Well we want to know the history of Bristow LT: I' ; m 87 DB: 87 years old LT: Newman' ; s 87 DB: Well y' ; all are just spring chickens NH: Yeah LT: My daddy said " ; when you gonna quit playing softball?" ; I said I don' ; t know, [Indecipherable]. She started playing, she' ; s an outfielder. NH: Yeah I used to just go with her and then one day they didn' ; t have enough people so they threw me in the field and then that was over with, I was out there all the time. LT: That' ; s what my oldest daughter, she' ; s an outfielder. Barbara Ann DB: So baseball, softball, that was a big part of your life. LT: Mhm, well my brother Joe Barnett NH: You know Joe, Joe and all them DB: That' ; s your brother? LT: Mhm NH: Joe, [Indecipherable] DB: Oh LT: Well Newman was his coach, and Joe drank, he come to play ball, he set him on the bench DB: There you go LT: And he quit drinking, he wanted to play baseball DB: Absolutely. Now Larry, my Larry, played with JoJo (ph), so that would' ; ve been Joe' ; s son in Tulsa? NH: Yeah LT: Yeah mhm, he was a catcher NH: Jojo [Indecipherable] DB: JoJo? LT: Yeah, he was a catcher. I never could play catcher. DB: I just know he could hit the ball NH: I remember him catching [Indecipherable] LT: Yeah, now he' ; s-- DB: Played for a really good team, they were hard to beat. [Indecipherable] LT: He was a good catcher DB: I think Carl played with Larry in lots of things, Carl. LT: West? DB: Played with Larry in lots and lots of things. They would invite him to play ball, and said-- Larry would say " ; But I' ; m not Indian" ; and they said " ; You look enough like one, come on and play" ; NH: You get dirty real quick (Laughing) DB: And we would go to, out there by IXL back east, there' ; s a place. NH: Hm up on the hill DB: Do you know the name of the place? NH: Just IXL DB: No, there' ; s a name-- there' ; s a ballpark NH: Buckeye DB: Buckeye LT: Oh yeah, Buckeye DB: And they had the brush [Indecipherable] set out and those ladies would come in and cook and cook and it was like, are we here for base-- are we here for softball or eating? Because they cooked all day long. LT: Remember that ball game you played at, them women didn' ; t cook NH: No LT: That was a reason-- DB: What' ; d you pull out here at the end? LT: I was just looking at it DB: Oh this is just from a hospital, we don' ; t need that NH: We don' ; t need that DB: Well, I sure have enjoyed it. And you know this is gonna become part of the oral history and you can see it LT: Oh I hope not DB: Oh yes it will and it will be available online if people wanna know things about you or about your family LT: I told Reba, I said " ; That highway is 65 miles an hour" ; , I told her that' ; s old 66, she don' ; t believe me. She said " ; Oh you know, that' ; s not true" ; , she didn' ; t believe me. That' ; s old 66 DB: Yup LT: Now that' ; s 48, and it' ; s 65 miles, they pass each other DB: Where you live on 48, that used to be old 66? LT: Yeah [Indecipherable] by the four-mile corner then turn up there east DB: Well, I' ; m ready to wrap this up unless there' ; s something else. LT: [Indecipherable] what was her, her grandma was 100 years old when she had to take care of her grandma DB: And who was this? LT: Pinehill, she' ; s got land on Pinehill road DB: Pinehill road LT: Mhm DB: Well I appreciate you, thank you for sharing your time LT: Good thing I could remember DB: Well I' ; m glad you could, alrighty. NH: Get over there and I' ; ll take y' ; alls picture, scoot closer together DB: I' ; ll move over here by [Indecipherable] LT: Hey I' ; m for OU (Laughing) DB: I know I am too! NH: Look up, [Indecipherable] DB: Okay now, let' ; s see. Let' ; s get these older pictures. Now who was this? LT: My aunt, my daddy' ; s half-sister, or his sister, I don' ; t know half-sister. You want one of these? DB: Your dad' ; s sister? LT: Mhm DB: You don' ; t know her name? LT: Jennetta NH: Scott? Was that Jennetta? Jennetta Scott (ph). JEA DB: JEA LT: She had one daughter NH: [Indecipherable] I remember Jennetta DB: Yeah, Jennetta Barnett (ph) I guess NH: Scott is her last name LT: Scott, she [Indecipherable] DB: She was a Barnett? NH: She was a Barnett DB: Then a Scott? LT: Mhm, she had one daughter DB: And then this is important because this is Newman to the far right over here, way over here? NH: Yeah DB: This is Newman LT: You know what I did? DB: No LT: We had a 55' ; Ford when I was in California and I drove to Fort Louis in that Ford, my aunt-- his aunt had to go with me because he didn' ; t want me to go by myself, I was pregnant. DB: And this was the-- NH: Is that the army base mom? DB: The 22nd, LT: I don' ; t know ; can you see? DB: Yeah I have to get my bifocals, I don' ; t know which one, I' ; m looking. LT: Yeah he didn' ; t wanna go, he said " ; I don' ; t wanna go to the army" ; and I said " ; well it' ; s just two years" ; back then DB: [Indecipherable] because I can' ; t find him LT: He' ; s on top NH: Yup on top, very top. LT: Here was a picture! DB: He was a picture? Very top? NH: Right LT: He got to heavy, he' ; s a heavy DB: I can see him there, oh here it is, 22nd infantry LT: Oh is it [Indecipherable] DB: Right 1957, Newman LT: Yeah [Indecipherable] DB: [Indecipherable] LT: Yeah it burnt my school down. Christmas, they left a Christmas tree, the light on and it burnt my school down. Do you got one on that? I mean Norma NH: I might have in that package you gave me DB: This is the school in Eufaula? LT: Cause I got two of them NH: Oh okay DB: And you, we don' ; t know what year this was, maybe the 50' ; s, late 50' ; s LT: Yeah, she was in kindergarten DB: This is James Barnett and Lizzie Barnett LT: That was probably in Walitka DB: Look at the clothes, where was the other one at? NH: Which one? DB: I need that manual over there. Oh I don' ; t know these old ones, they have a really really good scanner at the historical society and if you would allow me to get these scanned, then I will get them back to Natalie NH: Yeah here' ; s the army LT: That was Barbara Ann, my oldest NH: The oldest DB: So do you know when she was born? How much older-- NH: She' ; s older but I don' ; t have her birthday DB: How much older is she than her? NH: She' ; s 14 years older than me. When' ; s her birthday, April-- DB: Well I don' ; t know when you were born LT: 70 DB: So she would' ; ve been born in 54' ; , 56' ; ? LT: That' ; s when we built our house, 70' ; s DB: 56' ; ? NH: I was gonna say 56, that sounds right. DB: I just can' ; t get over you and your husband, so young and beautiful! Your hair was perfect. LT: We' ; ve been married, what, 64 years? DB: And I can so see your boys NH: When was you born? It has date of marriage on here, I mean when was you married? DB: When' ; s your anniversary, do you know? LT: Anniversary NH: 11/8, November the 8th is her-- DB: So this is in California NH: What year did y' ; all get married? LT: We got married in Okemah, this is all he bought me for $10, I never did take it off DB: That' ; s the same one? LT: Mhm DB: And how long have they been married? NH: What year did you get married? How old were you? LT: 50' ; - I can' ; t remember that NH: How old were you? DB: My mom and dad got married in 56' ; LT: I was 22 NH: So she was born in 33' ; , 22, 55. Yeah because then Barbara was born in 56' ; , yeah. DB: And she was born in California? Was Barbara born in California? LT: Chicoma, Washington NH: Washington DB: Oh I thought they went to California NH: They did but somehow she ended up in Washington for a little bit LT: I drove out there DB: So was this in California or in Washington? LT: Chicoma, Washington. That' ; s Barbara NH: Yup, and [Indecipherable] DB: So we figured she and her husband have been married how long? 65 years? NH: 64, 65 years? 64 because November, yeah. LT: Barbara and what' ; s his name? DB: She' ; s the one married to Carl. She' ; s the oldest NH: She' ; s the oldest LT: She was-- look here! DB: This is her baby, not her baby LT: That is her baby NH: Yeah DB: One of her babies LT: She lived here and said " ; mom, I' ; m hurtin Brandon" ; DB: Brandon is the one after [Indecipherable] LT: I had a van, well she' ; s been to Tahlequah but they didn' ; t keep her. And I-- she said " ; Mom I' ; m hurtin, take me to Bristow or Okemah" ; I said no I' ; m taking you back to Tahlequah, because that' ; s where she was having her appointments. They didn' ; t keep her, I got her up there and it was foggy and I had that old red van. I bought her here, we bought her here, we paid for it, and I took her to the Tahlequah and she said " ; mom, I had him an hour and a half later" ; it was foggy, my aunt had to go with me to take care of her oldest son Carl [Indecipherable], Jennetta took care of him. She-- I had to wait for her, pick her up, good thing I had a van and it was foggy, and that nurse [Indecipherable] She' ; d been there that day before " ; No I' ; m taking you back to Tahlequah" ; and I drove to Tahlequah and that' ; s Cherokee country. DB: Not in music LT: That school was a agriculture school and Delores, what was her name, had me and her go and milk that cow and said " ; Can you milk a cow?" ; I said " ; Yeah I guess" ; . DB: This school had many different because there' ; s Navahos-- LT: Yeah they were in groups, they were Navajos. Norman, he graduated in Haskell, that was a college DB: Haskell Indian College LT: Mhm. And them Navahos [Indecipherable] and he brought one home, he said Norman won' ; t stick up for himself NH: He was quiet, he' ; s still quiet. LT: He was talking to a chairman when Jane she comes home " ; I don' ; t know what he was saying, he talks quiet" ; DB: Oh it says that you were in Home Ec, Junior 4H, and Junior Red Cross. LT: Oh, I didn' ; t know that DB: It says right there LT: I didn' ; t see that one DB: For Bristow LT: Mhm DB: I might ought to take this so they can scan this one page and then-- LT: She was music teacher, Mrs. Dire (ph) DB: Teacher of local music LT: We had good teachers DB: I' ; m gonna it that in there, the rest of this--LT: I had them in here I think [Indecipherable] audio 0 https://bristoworalhistory.org/ohms/viewer.php?cachefile=OHP-2020-05_Taryole,_Lydia.xml OHP-2020-05_Taryole,_Lydia.xml
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Lydia Taryole
Description
An account of the resource
In this 2020 interview, Lydia Taryole shares her experience growing up in Bristow. She discusses her childhood, family history, and baseball.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
OHP-2020-05
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2020-07-07
Format
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audio
Creator
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Bristow Historical Society, Inc.
Publisher
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Bristow Historical Society, Inc.
Rights
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Bristow Historical Society, Inc.
Language
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English
Type
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sound, oral history
Chilocco Indian School
Native American allotment
Native Americans
Nuyaka
Sequoyah Indian School
stomp grounds