Mattie Roberts Whitson Was an Awesome Grandmother

I was blessed that my grandmothers were still living when I was growing up and both had quit house-keeping and would come to visit for extended lengths of time. My mom was a teacher, so she especially would love when Grandma Whitson came to stay… and I have to say, some of my best memories of Grandma was helping her in the kitchen.

Matilda Roberts Whitson in New Mexico 

Fran at 15

One precious memory was making a boiled spice raisin cake from scratch with her. She let me help with every step. First, we boiled the spices (wow the kitchen smelled fabulous), then we added raisins to “plump them up” (her words).  While the spices were boiling, we mixed the dry ingredients together.

We did let the boiled mixture cool, and knowing Grandma, I am sure there was something we did in the meantime. She was always busy.  

[While we are waiting on the spices to cool, I will digress and tell another funny memory I have of her. She was, in my father’s words, obsessed with washing clothes. I think she was just obsessed with automatic washers.  😉 Back to the story, she would twist the knob too many times (may have been because she had coke bottle bottom glasses) and my dad would end up having to fix the washer, so he was say…’Mom don’t do any washing.’ Before the day was through, she had done a couple of loads and hung them out on the line. Probably one of the sources of my stubbornness.]

Back to our recipe. After the spices cooled, we added it to our dry mixture, then mixed well. We then poured the mixture in a greased and floured 9 X 13 baking pan and set our timer for 35 minutes. When the timer went off, she let me take the cake out. I was devastated. The cake looked like a ski slope. She just laughed and said, “Sweetie the best tasting cakes are failed ones.” She was right it still tasted great. Never figured out what caused the cake to do that but learned from her nothing was a failure if you found a bright side and learned from the experience.

Years later I wanted to make the recipe for my kids only to discover that Grandma never wrote her recipes down. We lost the best tasting roll recipe because of that too.  I searched cookbooks thinking maybe I could find a recipe that someone else had done that was the same.  Unable to find one, I used my memory and basic cake making skills to recreate her cake.  It was as close as I could get, but the real reason I sought the cake was centered around the memory of being in the warm kitchen after school with my grandmother and just having fun with something great tasting to share with my parents. Ah, days gone by. 

Now the kids have another Matilda Roberts Whitson story. (I have read that the boiled spice cake was invented in the depression when eggs and milk were a premium. 

This was NOT how our turned out.

Boiled Spice Raisin Cake

Ingredients:

Wet mix:

1 cup water

1 cup molasses

2 cups brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon allspice

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

2 cups raisins

1 cup butter or margarine

1 tsp pure Vanilla

Dry mix:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium saucepan, mix water, molasses, brown sugar, raisins, butter, and the spices. Bring to a boil and let simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.

In a separate bowl, mix, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until well mixed.

Pour into a 13x9 inch glass dish or cake pan that you have greased and floured.

Bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center of the cake.

You can frost or not. Makes a great breakfast cake (high in iron).

(the vanilla is my addition... I use vanilla. 😀) franE

Private Harry O. Whitson, Company B 38th Infantry Battalion, Philippines War

This is my journey of discovering my Grandfather Harry O Whitson’s military years. 

It started with finding his pension in the Civil War Files.  He served in the Philippines War in 1899, but they have their pension indexes mixed in with the Civil War indexes.  This discovery was on Fold3. I now knew that he was in Company B of the 38^th Infantry Battalion.  I also had his muster in and muster out dates, as well as his death date. My mom said he died when she was 2 months old and so he did.

On Ancestry.com, I found him and his 2 brothers, Robert C Whitson, and Oscar Whitson on the 1900 US Federal Census at Battalion at Batangas, Philippine Islands, Military and Naval Forces in the same battalion. 

The next process was to go to GenealogyBank.com and search the newspapers of that time to see what was being said.  Sad to say, the press was very negative about this war and coverage wasn't great, but the political cartoons were rampant.  The worse was to see about a battalion being charged with atrocities. I breathed a sigh of relief that my grandfather was not in that battalion.  His service summary card said service Honest and Faithful.  A description I would not mind to have. Finally I found an article that told of the end of the volunteer army. It described when they would come home, and the transports that would be involved. 

A Google search using the names of the transports gave me the dates and places that they arrived in. I also found the book AnnualReport of the Secretary of War, Volume 1, Part 3 US Gov. 1901.  In there was the chart that gave the exact ship ‘Thyna’ that his battalion came home on, the date in port and the date they were discharged on which matched his pension card.  Someone (there wasn't a name) had transcribed 2 Oregonian Daily articles that included the arrival of the ship.

THE MORNING OREGONIAN, THURSDAY, JUNE 13, 1901.

Thyna And KINTUCK.

Two Big Transports Will Return to Portland From Manila.

“The United States transports Thyra and  Kintuck will both return to Portland

from Manila, and the former has already sailed for Portland with a company of

volunteers, which will be mustered out in San Francisco. The Thyra was turned over

to the Government in this city, and It is supposed that she Is coming back to Port,

land to be returned to her owners. Otherwise, she would probably go direct to

San Francisco with the troops. Just why the troops should not be mustered out In

Portland is a matter which is not easily explained, except that the San Francisco

pull is heavier than that of Portland. The Kintuck will probably bring a few

soldiers when she returns. She had excellent luck with her outward cargo of

horses and mules from Portland, losing but four animals on the voyage.”

THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN, PORTLAND, JUNE 30, 1901.

ASTORIA:  June 29. Arrived at 8:50 A.M. and left up at 12:30 P. M.

 Norwegian steamer Thyra, from Manila. From San Francisco.

“The Norwegian steamship Thyra, which has been In the Government transport

service for several months, arrived at Astoria yesterday morning, and after a

short stay at quarantine, proceeded up the river. She brings 237 passengers,

nearly all, of them returning volunteer Infantrymen. The officers on board were

Captain D. F. Allen, Captain Ross A. Nichols, First Lieutenant A. J. Brown,

Second Lieutenant A. C. Davis, First Lieutenant S. Friedman and Captain W.

G. Fleischhauer. The present trip of the Thyra will be her last

 in the Government service, and she will probably drift back

into the merchant service.”

From this, I was able to see they had a long hard trip aboard a steamer.  They had to wait another

month before they were discharged to go home.  It was amazing to see they were transported to the upper North West of the United States to be able to get back to their homes.  The newspaper article said they still had to wait for their last 5 days of pay because of not being mustered out until 5 days after the expiration of the time the congress had set for the volunteer army.  

I hope they got it.

These men did not get a ticker tape parade or a pat on the back.  I know from my great uncle, and what my mother said that my grandfather volunteered because he wanted to serve his country. During WWI, he couldn’t volunteer to go serve as a soldier, so he went and volunteered to drive a taxi at Fort Sill, Oklahoma to help the soldiers.  He apparently kept hitting his knee on the door. When his knee hurt enough, he went in to the doctors and they discovered he had cancer in his knee.  His service days were over. According to his Pension Index card, it was the 19^th of June 1920 that they deemed him to be sufficiently handicapped to receive his military pension.  My grandmother, continued to receive, thankfully, as a widow, since they lost everything because of medical bills.

I close saying that I am grateful my grandfather was a man who stood for his country and desired to serve to help other’s be free.  He was a good man.  I made a scrapbook page to depict his military journey, from where he lived when he volunteered to where he returned to the United States.  

Created by Fran Ellsworth

Amanuensis Monday Letter of Ray Whitson to Little Sister second installment

Harry O Whitson

We left off with Ray telling Mary that his father didn't know the tarp was coming off the quail until the game...







Page 3
warden passed by and looking back saw it and almost fainted.  "I would think".  Dad shipped them back fast and to Guthrie, Okla.
One time at Fay, he shipped two truck loads and the deputy tried to arrest him; Dad told him to come and take his guns, he wore pistols at that time.  By the was the deputy was a man by the name of Boyd. Later became Lester Morse's father in law, your cousin dad's , married a Morse.  Boyd never liked Dad after that.
Page 4
Historical thought.
Jessie James married a Whitson, "his only wife" in Missouri.
So by shirttail relation we are related to him.
After he met mother he settled down and became foreman of the Davidson ranch, just out of Arnett Okla.  There were over 350,000 acres in the ranch.  Part of it was government land.  Today over half of it is a game reserve.
The day Dad married...to be continued Monday Jan 31.

I researched the Davidson Ranch on page 43 of Notes from Ellis and Cimarron Counties
it says part of the land was 12 miles southeast of Arnett.

Amanuensis Monday Letter of Ray Whitson to Little Sister

My mom and her twin sister.

My mother was the baker's dozen in her family. She was a twin.  Her 5 older brothers left home to join the service when she was still little and never came back to Oklahoma.  When she was in her 60's she began to reach out and search for her brothers.  She never knew her dad Harry O. Whitson and hoped they would help her know about him.
It was a good thing, because they were all gone with in 5 years of her calling or visiting with them.  I will always be grateful, because their knowledge would have been lost.  This letter is 14 pages long, I will do just two pages at a time so the reader's eyes won't glaze over.  Which means, you will have to come back Monday the 24th to see more of the story.  : )


The Letter from Ray Whitson to Mary Langley
Page 1
This is a few things that I remember about our dad.
He was born in Terre Houte Ind. Had five brothers, (to my knowledge he never mentioned any sisters) [this was added to the side in his handwriting... but one]
They scattered going to Missouri, Luisianna, Texas, and so on.  Uncle Lute and his sister settled in Custer Okla., just south of Fay about 40 miles by the Frisco RR.
Page 2
Most of the boys served in the Spanish American War.
Dad was a "Sooner" He cowboyed a lot. For a while he ran a 'quail route'.  He would furnish the shells and pay them about 75 cents a dozen.  One time while going over the route he had a large wagon load of quail, the tarp that covered them had come loose and the quail could be seen.  Dad did not know it until a game.....to be continued

Amanuensis Monday Letter of Ray Whitson to Little Sister Fourth installment

The last post left off with Ray telling Mary about cotton seed cake...'would pour the cake out the back of the wagon on the the ground'...
Page 7  ...for the cattle to eat.  One time we were at the watering place (windmill and tank).  Mr Davidson and dad had pure alcohol from Canada hidden near by.  They would delute the alcohol with water and sugar.  They were very secretive about it.
One time just as the moon was coming up, dad let us kids fire his pistol.  I thought I had hit it because of the fire from the gun.
Another time he came racing up on a beautiful ...
Page 8....blaze faced horse, grabbed and kissed mother and told her about the *Champion Jack Johnson being whipped by Jefferies.  He always brought us kids something. 
One time he brought me little red cowboy boots, they were too small.  Shortly before that I had gotten caught in a cyote (coyote) trap, a large bump had formed and I couldn't get the boots on.
Dad was quite a bronc buster.. He had many fine horses.

(There are not any pictures I can find of Harry Whitson on a horse I did find a picture of a blaze horse.)
...See you next week. Hope you are enjoying.  I am finding out history I didn't know.



 

*[This was "The "Fight of the Century" in 1910 and my grandfather apparently had not stayed to the end.  Champion Jack Johnston was the first African American world heavyweight boxing champion (1908–1915) Click here to read more about him.)

Obituary for Mary Lee Whitson Langley

My mother died in Hospice at her granddaughter Christina's home in Houston, Texas on March 21, 2018 with myself and her granddaughter Christina sitting by her side. It was a peaceful passing.
Her obit was penned by her granddaughter Aine.

Mary Lee Langley, a long time resident of Montgomery, Texas, peacefully passed away at the residence of her granddaughter Christina Whitworth of Humble, Texas. 

Mary was born on May 4, 1928 in Fay, Oklahoma along with her twin, Marley Heggan.  She was the thirteenth and last child of Harry and Matilda Whitson.  Mary married her husband Lester Langley in 1947 and had one child, Frances.  

When Frances went to school Mary got her teaching certificate and taught school for twenty-five years in Oklahoma City.  In 1979 Lester and Mary moved to Montgomery Texas to be near their only child and her twin sister.  Mary was hired as a teacher at Montgomery Elementary in Montgomery, Texas until she retired in 1993.  She was active in the Montgomery United Methodist Church.  She wrote weekly devotionals for the Montgomery County News and articles for The Courier and the Montgomery County News.

Mary loved art, hot air balloons, Macy's parades, bird watching, fishing, watching basketball, and football, along with Olympic figure skating and gymnastics.  Her favorite tradition was having the family over for Sunday lunch.  

She is survived by her daughter, Frances Ellsworth of Montgomery, Texas, and her six grandchildren:  Aine (Russell) Schulmire of Idaho, Christina (Douglas) Whitworth of Texas, Edward (Marian) Ellsworth of Oklahoma, Emily (Joel) Ellsworth, Sarah (James) Smith, and Sean Ellsworth.  She is also survived by thirty great-grandchildren, her beloved twin sister Marley Heggan and her sister-niece Jeannine Houchin, as well as many nieces and nephews.  She was well loved and will be missed.

The viewing will be on Monday March 26th 2018 at the Cashner Funeral Home at 801 Teas Road, Conroe, TX. at 11 am followed by a graveside service in the Garden Park Cemetery officiated by Reverend David Lindwall of the Montgomery United Methodist Church.

Her memorial will also be held on Monday March 26th 2018 
from 2:30-4:30 pm at the  

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on 

1516 Wilson Rd, Conroe, TX 77304

Call or text 936 229 8291 if you need directions.

Her Funeral Card... 

The front is her painting of the original Montgomery United Methodist Church in 2001 that she loved so very much.

Amanuensis Monday Letter of Ray Whitson to Little Sister Sixth installment

We left off with Ray trying to convey to his sister what kind of father Harry Whitson was...
Page 11: 
We moved to Fay in three covered wagons, took several days, onto grandmother's homestead.  It was close to the Frisco River Bridge.
World War one broke out and dad went to Fort Sill to help as a taxi driver, his own cab, The car did not have a door on the drivers side.  He would climb out over his side of the car hitting his knee on the mechanical horn, bruising it.  Which caused the cancer to start in the knee area.
Page 12:
Doctors didn't know much about cancer at that time.  They thought at first it was only pain cause by the continued knocking.
He had a nervous breakdown and had to be rushed to Oklahoma City where they cut the leg off at the knee. 
They tried to get him to cut the leg off at the hip.  He wanted to have an artificial leg, being an outdoors man all his life.  I think he would have lived many years longer if had.
It was at the time...
TO be continued....
Surgery would have been done at St Anthony Hospital.  I will have to investigate this further.  This was where I was a Inhalation Therapy Tech during the Viet Nam War.

A snippet view click here to read more about St Anthony Hospital

Ancestor Approved Award

I have procrastinated all day thinking on this award.  I do thank Joan at Roots 'n' Leaves   ,  Carol from Reflections From the Fence , Lindalee at Flipside  , and Karen at Ancestor Soup  for this award.  I don't know why I would deserve it, but I will honor their gift. Now I am trying to hurry (sure, it just took me a day to get this done) so I can go visit the other blogs they awarded it too.



As a recipient of this award, I am to list 10 things I have learned about my ancestors that have surprised, humbled or enlightened me and then pass the award on to 10 other genealogy bloggers who I feel are doing their ancestors proud.
I can not imagine doing this quickly.  I include my husband's genealogy with mine.  As we became one when wed, our families became one in my mind.

1. I was surprised to find a son of John G Porter that had never been known before.  Extensive research had   been done on this family, but they apparently had never read the actual probate records.
2.  I am frequently humbled by the story of my grandmother Matilda Roberts Whitson who persevered  raising 6 of 13 children and 2 grandchildren after her husband died of cancer and the creditors took everything.  It helps me keep things in perspective.
3.  Enlightened by my study of the Mason's Apron which belonged to Thomas Thorn and the amount of interest of others that was generated by the story.
4. Surprised by a newpaper article I found at Genealogybank.com that points to a possible change in the history of my great grandfather and who his father was.  I am still exploring this.
5. Humbled by the history of the times my ancestors live through.  As my own children have moved many states away from our home, I have developed empathy with the mothers that must have sobbed at night knowing they probably would never see their children again that had gone west.
6. Surprised when I found the true story of my grandfather Charles Gildon moving west from Georgia.  My father had some of the truth, but it was steeped in lore that was not true.
7.  Enlightened when I read the book "Of Plymouth Plantation" by my ancestor Governor William Bradford.
It was wonderful to hear the story of the pilgrims in the words of one who had lived it.
8.  Surprised and elated when after 3 years of searching for the Hero's great grandfather, I looked on the opposite side of the index page and found him out of alphabetical order.  Silly me.
9. Enlightened by new methods of research.  DNA nailed an ancestor James Alexander Vance that many were sure about, but much had been circumstantial.
10. Enlightened, when I discovered in Old Wyoming Newspapers the true nature of my great grandfather Richard Whitson's death.  Family had always said he died in a gunfight...Highly romantic, he died of pneumonia.

Hmm looking at my list I would say not much has surprised me, but I have been greatly enlightened by study and certainly new facts can surprise one.  LOL

Now the 10 bloggers to pass the award on to and then the fun part of going to their blog and letting them know.  They are not in any particular order and you can visit them by clicking on their Title.

1. Lisa at The Faces of My Family
2. Travis at TJLGenes:Preserving Our Family History
3. Robin at Where I Come From
4. Jo at Those Who Went Before
5. Terri at The Next Chapter-Page 2010
6. Heather at Nutfield Genealogy
7. Barbara at Life From the Roots
8. Laura at It's All Relative
9. Kathy at I Will Remember
10. Donlynn at Homestead Origins

Some Left Some Didn't

The 1930's was the time of the Dust Bowl for some of my folks in Oklahoma. (If you click on Dust Bowl it will take you to Wikipedia for the subject.)  They were marginal farmers.  Thus when the drought hit, followed by the dust storms, they left for California.  I have been through a dust storm in the panhandle of Texas in recent years.  It lasted just an hour, but it was enough for me to understand the panic and suffocating feeling of the heat, dirt in the air you breathe and no visibility. It makes me thankful that after the disastrous events of the 1930's better conservation farming and irrigation techniques were developed to reduce the possibility of a recurrence of that time..

Clinton Oklahoma 1930's

Charles Langley was a gas station owner in Clinton, Oklahoma.  An area that was overcome by the dust storms.  His brother-in-law Lowery Bowen and sister Bessie moved with their 6 children to California for work.  Charles is said to have gone to California with them.  I tend to believe that he stayed and operated his gas station as it was on the legendary Route 66.  There are lots of interactive sites about that.  If he did go, he came back because he died in the Clinton, Oklahoma area.


 Lowery and Bessie stayed in California, as well as their children.  Their granddaughter was the person who contacted me and and let me know where they and gone.
Charles's nephew John moved to Missouri and stayed there.  The rest of the family stayed in the Pawnee County area.    
My mom's mother, Matilda Roberts Whitson, was a widow of 8 years at that time. She had 6 of 13 children still at home and 2 grandchildren. Their home was in Fay, Oklahoma.  If you have been to Custer County or Dewey County, Oklahoma then you know how sandy it is and dry and hot in the summer time. My grandmother owned a creamery and ironed and washed clothes during that time to make ends meet. Leaving was not an option.  They did not have transportation. Things of necessity were bought at a local grocery or a cousin or uncle would pick things up for them in the "big cities".  She would look at the Sears catalog and make dresses for the girls out of flour cloth.  I was told by her, she even cooked the squeal of the pig.  Thrifty and amazing person, I am glad to have her genes.

Mattie Whitson  Fay, Oklahoma 1930

Where Are Your Roots?

That is a good question and one that many are seeking an answer to by doing DNA test to find their "ethnicity". I did this too, and found that there were parts of my DNA that point to an area I had never consciously looked for. Sweden. My grandfather's name was Whitson. That should have already triggered a way point. As I have been involved in helping others used DNA to try and get past brick walls as well as myself, I have also been considering this question "Where are your roots?"

I considered the question and I realized that for me, my roots are not where my family "came from" rather it is the people I associated with. I, as you know if you have read my blog, had both of my grandmother's live with our family as I was growing up. You might think, "that must have been awesome to have them around to tell stories.". It might have been had I known what to ask. There weren't prompts to do so, or places like FamilySearch to give prompts like #52 Stories Weekly Questions when I was growing up. Oh what a difference that makes today. My grandmother's didn't talk about their past, and the few questions I did ask were quietly moved to the side and answered in a way that, I suppose, was where their minds lay. What I did learn was as I have said before was being spiritual, serving, and cuddling from one. The other was perseverance,  fortitude, and getting along with others.

Thus my roots were planted and nourished by two women who not by words, but actions shaped what kind of person I would become. They were women who had been shaped by both pioneer parents and raising large families. They were of the land and had lived their adult lives during the settling of Oklahoma through the Great Depression. I am sure that is where my tendency to save and never throw anything away comes from. 

on Left Matilda Whitson on right Lenorah Langley

Transcription of Ray Whitson's Letter Describing His Father

Page 1: This is a few things that I remember about our dad. He was born in Terre Houte Ind. Had five brothers, (to my knowledge he never mentioned any sisters) [this was added to the side in his handwriting... but one] They scattered going to Missouri, Luisianna, Texas, and so on. Uncle Lute and his sister settled in Custer Okla., just south of Fay about 40 miles by the Frisco RR.

Page 2: Most of the boys served in the Spanish American War. Dad was a "Sooner" He cowboyed a lot. For a while he ran a 'quail route'. He would furnish the shells and pay them about 75 cents a dozen. One time while going over the route he had a large wagon load of quail, the tarp that covered them had come loose and the quail could be seen. Dad did not know it until a game...

Page 3: warden passed by and looking back saw it and almost fainted. "I would think". Dad shipped them back fast and to Guthrie, Okla. One time at Fay, he shipped two truck loads and the deputy tried to arrest him; Dad told him to come and take his guns, he wore pistols at that time. By the was the deputy was a man by the name of Boyd. Later became Lester Morse's father in law, your cousin dad's , married a Morse. Boyd never liked Dad after that.

Page 4: Historical thought. Jessie James married a Whitson, "his only wife" in Missouri. So by shirttail relation we are related to him. After he met mother he settled down and became foreman of the Davidson ranch, just out of Arnett Okla. There were over 350,000 acres in the ranch. Part of it was government land. Today over half of it is a game reserve. The day Dad married...

Page 5: Mother they had to cross over the south Canadian River. They attempted to cross just below the Fresco RR Bridge. The bridge had been washed out earlier. In crossing one of the horses drowned the other horse in a deep pot hole. Dad cut the horses loose, lost nearly everything. Mother had to strip down to her red flannels, "it was in the winter". If the men working on the bridge had not come...

Page 6: to their rescue, mother might have drowned. The river was near flood stage. My memories of him. Cotton Cake I was the fourth child. At my first recollections as I look back dad was a kind family man, and was until his ordeal with cancer. On the ranch he took me (only 4 or 5 years of age) with him. Sometimes on the saddle with him, sometimes in a wagon loaded with cotton seed cake. They would pour the cake out the back of the wagon onto the ground.....

Page 7: ...for the cattle to eat. One time we were at the watering place (windmill and tank). Mr Davidson and dad had pure alcohol from Canada hidden near by. They would delute the alcohol with water and sugar. They were very secretive about it. One time just as the moon was coming up, dad let us kids fire his pistol. I thought I had hit it because of the fire from the gun. Another time he came racing up on a beautiful ...

Page 8: ....blaze faced horse, grabbed and kissed mother and told her about the *Champion Jack Johnson being whipped by Jefferies. He always brought us kids something. One time he brought me little red cowboy boots, they were too small. Shortly before that I had gotten caught in a cyote (coyote) trap, a large bump had formed and I couldn't get the boots on. Dad was quite a bronc buster.. He had many fine horses. We left off as Ray was telling Mary that their dad was quite a horse buster and always and fine horses.

Page 9: Dad decided to move to Arnett so the kids could be close to school. There were only one seven miles from home. There were about 6 kids by then. Mr Davidson offerd dad a junior partnership if he would stay, but dad wanted us kids to get an education. Ive always thought he could have hired someone to take us. He went into the freight business. It never turned out like he thought it would. He tried farming...

Page 10: He had a model T FORD rigged up with tractor wheels in the back, also had a barrel of water connected up to the radiator o keep it from heating up. He would take one of us kids to be with him while he plowed. On time I got sick on eating too much of the lunch. In the winter time, he would come in from the cold and warm himself at the kitchen wood stove. Often he would let me sit on his lap during these times. This shows the kind of father he was.

newspaper article from that time period. Must have been what the tractor looked like.

Page 11: We moved to Fay in three covered wagons, took several days, onto grandmother's homestead. It was close to the Frisco River Bridge. World War one broke out and dad went to Fort Sill to help as a taxi driver, his own cab, The car did not have a door on the drivers side. He would climb out over his side of the car hitting his knee on the mechanical horn, bruising it. Which caused the cancer to start in the knee area.

 Page 12: Doctors didn't know much about cancer at that time. They thought at first it was only pain cause by the continued knocking. He had a nervous breakdown and had to be rushed to Oklahoma City where they cut the leg off at the knee. They tried to get him to cut the leg off at the hip. He wanted to have an artificial leg, being an outdoors man all his life. I think he would have lived many years longer if had. It was at the time...

Page 13: that he became irritable and short tempered. No one will ever know what he went through in the suffering, later he would hold his stump in his hands to keep it from jerking. He didn't have the pain pills we have today. His body finally rejected aspirins. He got to where he would take a dozen at one time and it did not help much. I think this would adversely affect anyone, don't you?

Page 14: Dear Mary I will quit for now. I will tr to fill in gaps that I have overlooked. I have always loved the memory of my kids but like my dad I have accepted it as something I had to give up and live with. Your Brother Ray P.S. it the other kids would like to read the details of dad's life will you let them?

(My notes on the historical background: I researched the Davidson Ranch. On page 43 of Notes from Ellis and Cimarron Counties, it says part of the land was 12 miles southeast of Arnett. This Popular Science in 1894 explains about Cotton Cake and Cotton Seed. *This was "The "Fight of the Century" in 1910 and my grandfather apparently had not stayed to the end. Champion Jack Johnston was the first African American world heavyweight boxing champion (1908–1915) I researched and found that there was a kit sold that utilized the Model T and a tractor wheel. I have made a collage of newspaper articles and ads. Surgery would have been done at St Anthony Hospital. This was the hospital I worked as an Inhalation Therapy Tech during the Viet Nam War.)

Amanuensis Monday Letter of Ray Whitson to Little Sister Third post

We left off with Ray telling Mary The dad married....
Page 5
Mother they had to cross over the south Canadian River.  They attempted to cross just below the Fresco RR Bridge.  The bridge had been washed out earlier.
In crossing one of the horses drowned the other horse in a deep pot hole.  Dad cut the horses loose, lost nearly everything.
Mother had to strip down to her red flannels, "it was in the winter".
If the men working on the bridge had not come

Page 6  to their rescue, mother might have drowned.  The river was near flood stage.
My memories of him.

Cotton Cake

I was the fourth child.  At my first recollections as I look back dad was a kind family man, and was until his ordeal with cancer.  On the ranch he took me (only 4 or 5 years of age) with him.  Sometimes on the saddle with him, sometimes in a wagon loaded with cotton seed cake.  They would pour the cake out the back of the wagon onto the ground.....
see you all next Monday Feb 7th. 
This Popular Science in 1894 explains about Cotton Cake and Cotton Seed. Click here to read.

Post Christmas Whew... Finally Some DNA Responses.

This year was another hard one.  You would think after 5 years it would be easier at Christmas not having the Hero with me. I guess not, because I really wasn't motivated to put up the tree. On the other hand I had fun Christmas Eve putting the tree up and decorating it when my son came over.  I have to wonder how my grandmothers felt each year after the death of their spouses. Especially my mom's mom who still had 6 children to raise at home and had a need to make holidays as normal as possible.

                                                                                                                                         

Mattie Roberts Whitson 1930

Lenorah Gildon Langley 1958

There were a couple of unexpected Christmas presents.  Two responses to my DNA tests.  
One was from Gedmatch.com that still has me wondering.  "I notice on Gedmatch that your DNA matches my three kits (F#, F#, and F#) on Chromosome 14 between about 69 and 80.  The segment is of particular interest to me because the admixture tool Dodecad World9 shows that it contains Native American ethnicity."  I can not find the person on Gedmatch myself, nor any information about this statement.
This has been a hope of mine to prove Native American ancestry or disprove it. This is my William B and Mary Burleson Self line.  Mary's father is Moses Burleson and his mother's line Weatherford are supposed to of Native American ancestry.  Some debate going on here.  Then there is William B Self''s mother who is said to be of Native American Indian ancestry... No proofs found here, that I can see.  Wish a gene Fairy would come along with real source.  Sigh.
The second response was much clearer. A solid match for William Hatcher b 1680 in Virginia .
Both are on my dad's side.  Hmmm looks like DNA maybe heavier on the dad's side... or just no one doing my mom's side; time will tell.
Learning about the searches, and different areas of DNA research is a Big learning curve.
Let you know if anything comes forth.

A Tribute to My Mom

Mom is still living albiet she is not active any longer.
As I was sitting watching her in ICU and talking with younger cousins on Facebook, thoughts of how it was I knew cousins and aunts and uncles in my family strode through my mind.  Those thoughts were intertwined with my mom and her love of family. Being number 13 in a family of 13 and all of her brothers and a few sister being gone by the time she was in school, must have given her some sense of need to keep in touch with family. There never was a picture of the whole family. I know her mom taking in two of her grandchildren and raising them with mom made an affect on her for opening your door to family.
When I was very small, due to my dad losing the lower portion of his leg, we lacked funds for a house. We lived with my Aunt Lynn for about a year when we moved from Iowa back to Oklahoma. I guess my cousins and I slept in the living room on pallets and the parents had the two bedrooms. I just remember the house and playing outside. Another example of family helping family in my mom's early married life. She was able to go to college and dad supported her by washing dishes. Since the college was a few hours away, she chose to stay there during the week and come home on the weekends. She worked for a lady to pay for her room and board during the week. We missed her, my dad's family said she would leave him, which he poo pooed at (using a slang term of the time  😉) 
and it didn't happen.

mom me and dad

We moved to Edmond, Oklahoma where my dad was able to get training in HVAC. She finished at Central State College (it is a University now) and did some of her student teaching there. Their first house they bought was a duplex because my dad's mom needed to be close to someone. Mom was kind and helpful to her. Eventually they bought a separate house and moved it in on the oversized lot next to us. Dad remodeled the duplex into a three bedroom home, one of the bedrooms was a converted screened in porch that doubled as wash room and guest room. I was an only child.  Mom taught 5th and 6th graders in Millwood School  from 1955 to 1980. (I need to write about my mom learning to drive...that was a trip).
When holidays came, we would usually go to Pawnee, where my aunts and uncle lived. It was always fun, the women in the kitchen, the guys talking about hunting or a game on the tv and the kids playing outside. Then two of my aunts had a disagreement, my dad didn't want to go anymore, but mom insisted that we go and take a day going to visit each one individually. We did not lose contact.

Dad and two of his sisters

On her side of the it wasn't that easy. Her sisters were all over, and three of her brothers she had not seen since she was 9 lived on the Pacific Coast. The youngest brother was in the Service so he would come visit when they were in the country. We would drive over to her niece Jeannine's in El Reno, who was just a year younger than she was to visit with her and her family or down to Oklahoma City to visit with Aunt Edna and her children... This family would come and visit at our house. One year dad bit the bullet and saved enough so we could drive to Albuquerque to visit her sister Lola at Christmas. That was a treat. Aunt Lola's husband was Polish, so she fixed Polish dishes one meal and then Southwestern dishes of New Mexico at another meal. Great memory.

Lola and my Grandmother Whitson

During the summer, I remember we would have cousins from either side of the family come at different times to stay for a multiple of reasons. Mom opened her door for anyone in need. Older cousins came with their families and lived with us in the small house while they were getting on their feet. One cousin, the son of the brother in the Air Force, came and stayed with us for a short time until he got an apartment while he went to college. Grandmothers on both sides came to live with us.

My dad's mother longer, that is another story.
When they moved to Texas to be near me, the cousins and aunts and uncles came down to make sure that Ned and I were treating them right. 😊

Mom was always on the phone with someone or writing to them. After my dad died, she had enough money to travel. One of the first trips was to California to see her brother George. She love that. Then she and her sister and niece went to Washington to see the brother in the Air Force that had settled near Spokane. While up there they met with her oldest living brothers Elbert and Ray and made contact with their son Ray who was an artist. Since mom loved art and was dabbling in painting, this was exciting to her. Ray and his wife Caroline kept in touch through mail until she couldn't think well enough to write. Even after Ray has passed away, Caroline and she still send Christmas cards to each other.

Mom, Meadie, Marley, Lola, and Jeannine

When it was time for Fay, Oklahoma's bicentennial celebration, she was instrumental in collecting pictures and stories for a personal book called Fay Day's [a book of poems about family and acquaintances she remembered from growing up]  which was illustrated by her cousin's husband William "Bill" Shotts  and  Fay History Book.
Her heart and arms have always been open to love on family. Even now as she lies trying to overcome pneumonia, she keeps coming back the same question... Naomi and Melvin are gone? This is my dad's nephew and his wife that were the same age as mom. She loved them greatly.

At 89, she has seen all but herself and her twin pass away in their family. My dad and his brothers and sisters are gone. She loved on all of them at some time and held on to the nieces and nephews. She has been my example to gather family like a hen gathers chicks, and to not be selfish.

In closing, I will tell you... She taught 35 years as a elementary teacher. She taught all subjects but her love was reading and art. When she retired, she took up writing and was published in newspapers and a couple of magazines. Kids she taught still remember her and projects she did with them. She also tried painting. Many of the family have her paintings still in their homes. When she started developing dementia and anxiety, my aunt and I went through a period of denial because it was so foreign that she could be such an active mind and all of a sudden not even pick up a pen to write with or a book to read. She is a lovely lady and I am grateful for the example she sat for me through the years. It has made me a better person.

A note: I have the original Fay Days book. If anyone would like one, let me know.

Sharing Memories Week 14 Grandmothers

I have been joining The Olive Tree Genealogy Blog  (clicking on this will take you to her memory)in the Sharing Memories on my personal blog because they were associated with my personal memories of myself.  This prompt was to share memories of our grandmothers, so I thought this blog would be a better place for my participation. 

My Grandmothers were alike but different.  Interesting you say.

My mother's mother talked some about her youth, and she was always engaged in doing something.  She was not a sit still person.   I have looked at some newspaper clippings of her activities as a community hostess for Eastern Star meetings, Methodist Church Women's meetings, etc.  She was actively engaged.  I will give you some background on her. 

Mathilda Roberts Whitson is on the right.

If you click on the picture you can view it in a larger size.

She was born in Elk Falls, Kansas.  She was the ninth of 11 children.  They moved to Oklahoma after some very hard winters in Kansas.  When her father obtained land in Oklahoma, they lived in a tent near an Indian reservation.  One of her favorite story to tell, was of her sister (who is shown with her above) and her going down to a near by village.  The Indian women were cooking and doing other chores.  They ventured near one tepee, and the woman smiled at them and while stirring the pot, gestured for them to get some bowls for food.  Then she said, as they started to dip the spoon in," hmmm, dig deep, puppy in the bottom".  My grandmother would give a hearty laugh when she told this.  It was almost always when we were stirring a pot of stew.  

She loved sports.  I don't remember days associated, but if there were a bowling league on TV or baseball game (she loved the Yankees) she was there watching it.  Interestingly she had arthritis all her life.

She was a good cook.  Her rolls were to die for.  I think that the recipe book her recipe was written in was ruined when in storage.  My favorite cooking memory was of making a spice cake with her.  We did it together, and some how when we took it out, it looked like a ski slope.  I was distressed.  She laughed and said, 'failed cakes taste the best' and proceeded to show me how good it tasted.  That stuck with me to share when my grandchildren have been distressed when a food did not come out as they planned.  

Her other talent was sewing.  She pieced quilt tops, and when she was young, quilted them also.  When I was 15, she gave me two quilts.  One for then, and one for when I would get married.  The admonition was:  I was to use them, not put them up in a box.  I used them, and now I am salvaging pieces to make pillows for my children to have a piece of their great grandmother's handy work.

She died when I was 16.  She was a mother of 13 and raised 2 grandchildren a widow when my mom was 2.  That subject will be for other posts.

 

Lenorah Gildon Langley with youngest daughter Lillie

My dad's mother was around a lot more than my mom's mother.  My dad kept trying to take the roll as care giver of her by purchasing homes for her live in.  We ended up having 4 rent houses near ours, because she would live in one for a while, then go off to another child's home.  I had fun while she was there.
She was a quiet person.  She didn't talk about her youth or family at all. [ I did know her mother.  She lived with my grandmother until I was 5.  I remember she always had nickels  in a pocket book and gave one to a great-grandchild when thy came to visit.]
My grandmother would sit daily and read the scriptures.  She had a devotional calender every year that she would mark off the scriptures as she read them.
She would take me to church with her.  My dad said his father was a Church of Christ evangelist. 
Her favorite thing to do was to make fried bread and jam for me when I got home from school.  I can still remember the great taste.
She loved sewing.  She would embroidery, piece, and crochet.  I learned my love of sewing creativity from her.
If you gave her what she considered a treasure, the gift went into a trunk.  When she died, my aunt  gave some pillow cases my grandmother had put back in the trunk for when I got married.  She died two years before I married.  I was to have been given the trunk, but lightening burned the barn it was stored in at my aunt's farm.
They were two similar women in that they loved creating and cooking, but different in that one was out going and the other was not.  I was blessed to get to know each.

Amanuensis Monday Letter of Ray Whitson to Little Sister Last Installment

We left off last Monday with Ray telling his sister Mary that  their father had cancer and they had to amputate his leg...
Page 13
that he became irritable and short tempered.  No one will ever know what he went through in the suffering, later he would hold his stump in his hands to keep it from jerking.  He didn't have the pain pills we have today.  His body finally rejected aspirins.  He got to where he would take a dozen at one time and it did not help much.
I think this would adversely  affect anyone, don't you?
Page 14
Dear Mary I will quit for now.  I will tr to fill in gaps that I have overlooked.  I have always loved the memory of my kids but like my dad I have accepted it as something I had to give up and live with.
Your Brother Ray
P.S. it the other kids would like to read the details of dad's life will you let them?

Taken in front of Service Station. 

[My mother made copies for those that had been too young to remember their father and gave it to them.  She was very grateful to Ray for sharing, and had an empathy for the pain her father had with his leg loss as my father lost his leg also.  I have empathy for both. I grew up watching the challenges an amputation gave my father, and then the pain the Hero had with cancer...I can only imagine how bad it would have been before the pain medication of today.]
So grandchildren, what do you think?  Would you have wanted to have known your great grandfather? I wish I had known him, and my mother does too.  Thank goodness for those who share their memories.

Amanuensis Monday Letter of Ray Whitson to Little Sister Fifth Installment

We left off as Ray was telling Mary that their dad was quite a horse buster and always and fine horses.
Page 9:
Dad decided to move to Arnett so the kids could be close to school.  There were only one seven miles from home.  There were about 6 kids by then.  Mr Davidson offerd dad a junior partnership if he would stay, but dad wanted us kids to get an education.  Ive always thought he could have hired someone to take us.  He went into the freight business.  It never turned out like he thought it would.  He tried farming...
Page 10:
He had a model T FORD rigged up with tractor wheels in the back, also had a barrel of water connected up to the radiator o keep it from heating up.
He would take one of us kids to be with him while he plowed. On time I got sick on eating too much of the lunch.

In the winter time, he would come in from the cold and warm himself at the kitchen wood stove.  Often he would let me sit on his lap during these times.
This shows the kind of father he was.
To be continued next Monday.....
I researched and found that there was a kit sold that utilized the Model T and a tractor wheel. I have made a collage of newspaper articles and ads.

Sources for the Model T Conversion: 
1. Vintage farm tractors: the ultimate tribute to classic tractors in google books
http://bit.ly/gSG5on

2. 1915-07-08;Paper: Perry Republican on Genealogybank.com
http://bit.ly/e24eY7

3. Website Antique Farming.  http://www.antiquefarming.com/fordtractors.html