3/28/10

TWO ENEMIES NOW AS ONE


On the Prairie Grove, Arkansas battlefield park is an interesting sight. Two trees of obvious different species, intertwining, grown as a single living organism reaching high into the sky. The symbolism is as thick as the blood spilled and as heavy as the earth covering the bones of those sacrificed themselves for their ideals. The Civil War, the uncivil War of the Rebellion, was the most costly war in terms of human causalities. Brothers - literally in many cases - found themselves on two sides of some very important issues. One was States' rights and the power/limitations of the Federal Government in those states and the other issue was Slavery. Two emotional and combustible causes that when united served to forever change the nation. Yet, just as those two trees grew together as one, in the 1920's the last of the former enemies, now old white haired men, leaned toward each other to once more clasp hands as true brothers under one flag. They stood there, like those trees, different in views, history, and values, yet united in spite of those as brothers in a nation. Maybe we should require all politicians, and potential politicians, to tour the battlefields of America and weigh the costs of doing things to intentionally severe the ties of common unity for any purpose.

3/25/10

Autograph Album of Minnie Crandall: Contents, Part 1


AUTOGRAPH BOOK OF MINNIE CRANDALL, NEW YORK
Transcribed, scanned and annotated by Marilyn A. Hudson [2010]
Description: A Victorian autograph album
Contents: Various signatures and autograph entries by friends and family of Minnie M.Crandall of West Genesee, New York. According to the 1880 Federal Census a family matching the information in the album was located in the family of a James (K?) Crandall, 47, House Carpenter, b. NY. His wife (her name difficult to read) was listed as age 43, b. NY. Children: Harvey L., age 22; Minnie M., age 18, Ira B., age 12, all born in NY.
External Links for Information:
Genesee Genealogical Webpage

Page: 1
May your path be strewn with flowers. Your brother H. LeMonde Crandall. West Genesse, Dec. 29, 1879.

Page: 2
March 12, 1880
This album is a garden –spot
Where all my friends may sow.
Where thorns and thistles flourish not,
But flowers alone may grow,
With smiles for sunshine, tears for showers,
I’ll water, watch and guard these flowers

Page: 3
June 1, 1880
Esther R. Burdick Hebron Potter Olv Penn

Jan 4, 1880
Elizabeth Burdick Hebron Potter Co. Pa

John [ O, C, or G?} Burdick
Hebron Jan 1, 1880

Page: 4
Ella M. Burdick, Hebron, Jan. 1 ,1880

Page: 5
H. Ellis Yap, Portsville Cat. C.O.

Page: 6
Frannie P. Brudick, Hebron Potter Co. P.A. Jan 1, 1880

Page: 7
May your path be strewn with flowers
Elizabeth Randolph Place
Hebron, Potter Co., Jan. 1, 1880

Page: 8
Minnie H. Burdick
Hebron, Jan. 1, 1880

Page: 9
[Written in purple pencil]
Minnie:
“All golden thoughts, all wealth of days
True friendship, love surround you
So may you live till life be closed
Ad angles [sic] hand you have crowned you.”
Elvin G. Burdick
Hebron, Jan. 2, 1880

Page: 10
Lincoln Burdick
Hebron, Jan. 2, 1880

Page: 11
Dear Minnie
Accept granmothers offering
Lucy (T or C) Crandall
Smiths Mills

Page: 12
Minnie
Mid the storms of life
Should you need an umbrella
May you have to uphold it
A handsome young fellow.

H.A. Babcock
Ord Valley Co. Nebraska
Feb. 14, 1883

Page: 13
May your life be one of happiness
Is the wish of your friend.
Rehoby Osterstruck
Nov. 23, 1881

Page: 14
Minnie:
As ripples flow a bark at sea
So may happiness follow thee
Is the sincere wish of your friend
O.E. Chester
Feb 7, 1883
Rockville, R.I.

Page: 15
Minnie
Drop one pearl in memories casket for me…
Yours truly
Maggie Morgan
Portsville
March 8, 1880

Page: 16
Regards of Florence Nash
West Clarksville, NY
Aug 1, 1883

Page: 17
No tale of eleoquence [sic] have I to breathe
Yet, kind teacher, I fain would wreathe
A floral garland, whose leaves shall be
Emblems and tokens of love to thee.
Minnie Nash
Persia, NY
Feb. 16, 1882

Page: 18
[floral sticker]
Minnie
When the sun shines brightly
In thy pleasant home
Think of me not lightly
When far away I roam.
Truly your friend
Frank Roberts
NY
Feb. 5, 1880

Page: 19
Minnie
May joy and happiness
Ever follow you
Is the wish of a friend and schoolmate
Jason Hopkins
West Genesse
Jan 25, 1880
Page: 20
Please accept these forget-me-nots from your friend
Nora Armstrong
Portsville NY

Page: 21
Dear Minnie
At evenings close when darkened shadows
Are gathering thick and fast,
And brooding thoughts come slowly on
The memory of the past;
Then, when the lights of other days
Meets gently over there
Brings back the happy hours of yore –
Oh! Then think thou of me.
Your mother
West Genesee Jan 1, 1991

Page: 22
Minnie:
Not like the rose
Shall my friendship whither
But like the evergreen
Live forever
Nettie Hopkins
Genese
Jan 25, 1880

Page: 23
Edwin J. Babcock
North Loup, Nebraska
Afred Uni
Dec 4, 1883

Page: 24
Minne
The hill thou climbest is high
The prize is great and near
Write “duty” on thy heart and preserver
Your sincere friend
Mrs. S. M. Herrich
March 25, 1880

Page: 25
Minnie
A thousand volumes in a thousand tongues
Enshrine the lessons of experience
John F. Maxson
West Genesee NY Jan 22, 1882
Obit NY

Page: 26
Friend Minnie –
Excellent my friend these lines from me
They show that I remember thee,
And hope some thoughts hey will return
Till you and I shall meet again.
NY March 6, 1882
E.C. Babcocak
Ord, Neb

Page: 27
Dear Minnie
When the hours of sweetest silence
Brings the sacred hour of prayer
And you knell at morn or evening
Ask for one that is not there.
When the years of time are passing
Like a shadow o’er the sea
Ever shall my heart be asking
Dear friend, Minnie, think of me.
Jessie (Petter or Potter?)

Page: 28
Vera amacitia est semputerna
Amicus Tuus
Fred Johnson
Gowanda NY
March 27, 1880

Page: 29
[in purple pencil]
Minnie
May your dear friend be ever blest
With friends selected from the best
And in return my [sic] you extend
A gem of love to every friend
Mary M. Kenyon
West Genesse NY
March 3, 1883

Page: 30
Dear Minnie
Strive to learn through life (faint and unreadable)
To accomplish what you undertake
Aunt Ellen
March 25, 1880

Page: 31
Dear Minnie
Remember that your life will but reflect the good that is in your heart. May it – ever be as pure and guileless, as when a little child, you first won a warm place in my heart.
Ever your friend
Retta Babcock
Ord, Neb. Feb. 14, 1883

Page: 32
Do, re, me, fa, so [symbol] Feb 22 1881

Minnie
These few lines to you are tendered
By a friend sincere and true
Hoping but to be remembered
When I’ far away from you.
Adella A. Thomas
[Ports]ville NY

Page: 33
Sister Minnie
The following words apply to as a Christian
Found in Rev. 2:10 “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.”
Writen [sic] at the close of my pastorate with the West Genesee Church. With kind regards,
Geo P Kenyon
March 3, 1888

Page: 34
Remember me dear Minnie when on this lines you look
Remember it was Florence who wrote them in your book
Your friend and schoolmate
Florence Crandall

Page: 35
Minnie every cloud which may for a time dim your horizon, be found to contain a silver lining.
Mrs. C.C. Johnson
Gowanda, NY

Page: 36
To Minnie
Please accept the compliments and best wishes of CC Johnson
Gowanda March 26 1880

Page: 37
Minnie,
Remember me when this you see
And bitter tears doth fall
The pleasant days I’ve spent with thee
Beneath these old school walls
July 31, 1883
Estus Forster
West Clarksville Y
White school

Page: 38
[indecipherable]
Harman Rosentha

Page: 39
Dear Minnie:
As we journey through life Let us live by the way
Nettie Potter Andover West Genesee Dec 31 1880

Page: 40
“The darkest hour of night is just before the dawning.”
Ever your friend Nora D. Norton Portsville, NY March 25, 1882

Page: 41
Minnie:
Deem every day of your life a page in your history,
N.P. Reyes
Portsville
Arch 20, 1880

Page: 42
Dear Minnie:
May thy home be bright [unreadable due to fading]
Where’re in the wide world it may be
May peace and prosperity fall [two words, unreadable]
And ever smile sweetly on thee
Your friend
Mrs. M. P. Keyes
Portsville, NY
March 20, 1880

Page: 43
Dear Minnie –
Q: What’s the dearest to our heart?
A: “Home” “Mother” “friends”
Your friend H.Hirrick

Page: 44
Minnie:
Heaven is not reached at single bound
But we build the ladder by which we rise;
From the lovely earth to the vaulted skies,
And we mount to its summit round by round
Marie (Meridith?) Nash
Persia Catt Co.

Page: 45
Yours truly G. (G. or S.) Hicks
Trenton Oct. 11, 1882

Page: 46
That thy life may be one of usefulness
And prosperity and an eternity of happiness
Is the wish of your friend Mary Nash
Feb. 25, 1881

Page: 47
Minnie,
If wishes of mine can prove of worth
Be this my portion given
A blameless, joyous life on earth,
And a golden crown in heaven.
Yours sincerely,
K.T. McBride
Portsville Jan 18, 1880

Page: 48
Regards of Cora Peekham
West Clarskville, Allegany Co., NY
July 30, 1883

Page: 49
Minnie-
Those realms – how beautiful and fair Dear Teacher! A blissful meeting there.
Bell West Feb 27, 1882

Page: 50
Hope constantly. Labor faithfully, wait patiently, win surely.
O.J. Nash
Persia
Feb 22 1882

Page: 51
Minnie:
Life is a diamond rich and rare. Keep undimmed its luster fair.
Nellie Nash
Feb. 17, 1882

Page: 52
I am very respectfully your cousin
W.N. (or H) Vincent
Salamanca, NY
Mar 29 1880

Page: 53
If we have nothing but memory
To keep the chain of friendship bright
(then) let us never forget the scenes and days of the past
Your cousin
Edgar L. Vincent
Olean NY
“Times” Office

Page: 54
Compliments of Effie C. Nash
West Clarksville NY
Allegheny Co
July 31, 1883

Page: 55
“True friendship is everlasting”
Your friend forever
Dessie Norton
Nov. 23, [’87 or ‘81]

To be continued....






3/19/10

FOUND ANCESTORS: The Greatest Mystery of All

They sit in dark stores or lay forgotten in some corner of an attic and no one has a clue who they are. Sometimes they came with the house or property. Spruced up, a tag is attached and they grace some antique booth until someone stops and say, "Yes, that is exactly what I am looking for." Who are they? Where did they live? What did they do in their life? The lesson these forgotten ancestors leave is one that is plain and simple: write in pencil on the back of every family picture the name, date, place, and parentage of any and all. You may know but one day when cousin Hettie is having to dispose of things, or worse that impersonal lawyer or real estate agent, it will be very helpful for that information to be there.

HISTORY OBJECTS

This trunk came with a history. It had made the trip west via the Santa Fe trail, had been found out west, refurbished, and offered for sale by an antique dealer. One of the things notable about it was the key was still with the trunk. Having seen what poor condition some of these trunks can be in once found in that barn or that attic (rusting, crumbling, etc.) I have to give kudos to the restoration job here. It preserves the original in spirit and form.

HISTORY OF PENTECOSTALISM IN OKLAHOMA: A Work in Progress


PENTECOSTALISM IN OKLAHOMA: An Annotated Time Line
Compiled by Marilyn A. Hudson, MLIS
In progress August 27, 2010

The history of the Pentecostal movement in and around Oklahoma has been only sporadically recorded and in some ways ignored. Several rivers of Pentecostalism converged in the early days and were dominated by independent bodies and such denominations as The Fire Baptized Holiness, The Pentecostal Holiness, The Church of God (Cleveland, TN), and the Assemblies of God. The movement was met, like its parent the Holiness Movement, by ridicule, abuse, and name calling. The terms 'holy rollers', 'tongues folk', and other appellations were used and mis-used for decades. Cult groups were confused with members of these traditional Pentecostal congregations further tangling both the labels and the groups in the minds of the public.


1890-
Deleware, Ohio Daniel Awrey, who will be significant in ministry and schools later, receives the baptism of the Holy Spirit and speaks in an unknown language (note, some sources question this early but enough research exists to not totally discard it).

1895 –
Reports appear of possible Pentecostal experiences, mostly among the Fire Baptized Holiness (FBHC) people, in Iowa, Nebraska or Kansas.[ Martin, Larry. The Life and Ministry of William J. Seymour.” Joplin, MO: Christian Life Books, 1999.pg. 26]


1900-
Charles Parham speaks with a member of the FBHC discussing a spiritual baptism with tongues; this turns his attention to assigning his Bible College students to explore the scriptures over Christmas break.


1901-
Topeka, Kansas, Bethel Bible College, Agnes Ozman is the first of several students to speak in tongues in response to their study and prayer over the holiday break. [Synan, Old Time Religion, Advocate Press, 1973,pg. 92.; ]

1902-
Lamon, OK FBHC convened its General Council Meeting in the church at Lamont, Ok. This church was the one and only church in the FBHC work in Oklahoma. The conference, or state association as it was known, disbanded until Sept. 1909 when it was reorganized.

1904-
“Saloon Was closed Up by An Order of Court”, The Oklahoman (Jan. 22, 1904):9. Charges by a grand jury investigating corruption in city government were served to the owner of the Blue front Saloon, Dick J. Cramer ; “Jack du Bois choked a Boy”, The Oklahoman (Dec. 24, 1904): 5 About 8 p.m. one night local drunk Jack du Bois, was assaulting and choking a 12 year old boy, Joe Dishman, behind the Blue front Saloon and was arrested. The Saloon is clearly established as part of the infamous 'OKC Hell's Half Acre'.

1905 –
People experience the 'Pentecostal Blessing' in a revival at Billings, OK led by Harry P. Lott and an unnamed Free Methodist minister.

1906-
 Jan. 18, Richard Beall and Oscar C. Wilkens appear in OKC to start a mission work, start with a Sunday School on S. Robinson ;
 An African-American restaurant, Haynes CafĂ©, is located at 7 West Grand Avenue. In May edition of the Oklahoman there is a small news report of a fire that broke out in the middle of the night from an overheated stove. “Last Night’s Fire”. Oklahoman (May 9, 1906):5.
 Beulah Holiness School, or Emmanuel Bible College, established (Clancy, Bryon. The history of Beckham County. Accessed at http://files.usgwarchives.org/ok/beckham/history/carter.txt). Established by a group of Holiness people called, ‘The Indian Creek Band’ settled a community they called Beulah and there established a Bible school to teach holiness. Reports were it was a three story brick structure near a Baptist Church and they mailed a newspaper, Apostolic Faith, out of nearby Doxy, Oklahoma.
 Asuza Street revival starts in the spring in L.A. (Martin, pg.165).
 George G. Collins, one time farmhand for the 101 Ranch in Oklahoma, is ordained at Azusa Street (date unclear) and returns to minister (Martin, pg.13).
 A Reverend Cook, who had been in California at Asuza street now comes back and goes to Lamont to conduct a Pentecostal revival.


1907-
 Feb. 6 Harry Lott, Beall & Wilkins rent the Blue Front Saloon, 7 West Grand, for $40 a month [Muse papers; Campbell; Harold Paul]. The saloon was located on the edge of the wild center core of the city, known as OKC’s “Hell’s Half Acre”. Today the area between Santa Fe and Broadway and Sheridan to Reno is largely known as the area of the Cox Convention Center (the old Myriad Convention Center), a hotel, and the turn off into Bricktown. "Back in the day" this was the wildest place in the newly opened "Oklahoma Town" or "Oklahoma Station" ("City" did not come about formally till nearly forty years after the 1889 land run). It was so wild it earned - through blood, sweet, and tears - the nickname "Hell's Half Acre." If you stand on the platform of the Amtrack station and look west and slightly north that is where this wild town within in a town was located. If you walked west on Sheridan (called Grand back then), just past Santa Fe (called Front then) on the north would be "Bunco Street" with its gambling halls and con men. Look south and there would be "Hop Boulevard", perfect if you were thirsty. And just behind that, "Alabaster Row" was located on California, featuring brothels, gambling halls, and other businesses for the African-American population in those days.Walk up Santa Fe (Front) to Main and turn west and you would see a bit finer offerings with The Arlington and, in 1900, the Lee Hotel at the corner of Main and Broadway. Turn east and across the tracks and there were the depot and just beyond to the northeast "Old Zulu's" original brothell/saloon establishment in current Bricktown. Travel south to 312 E. Grand and you would have seen the spot of "Big Annie" Wynn's original land run tent brothel. It had grown into a two story building, and moved a few blocks east, by statehood. From at least 1902, a walk up Broadway (into the 100 to 300 blocks) would have found "fortune-tellers', "crystal ball gazers", "clairvoyants", "mediums", and "pyschics". All world traveled and well known, or so they said as they advertized their stay in the parlors of local hotels and boarding house along the street. [Hudson, M. Mystorical accessed at www.mystorical.blogspot.com]
 In this setting, the first Pentecostal work begins in Oklahoma City.
 Mary A. Sperry, a local woman, opens her home for ‘tarrying services” designed to provide prayer and support for those seeking the baptism experience. It was a model employed in teh famed Asuza Street Revival. (Campbell, Pentecostal Holiness Church history)
 Rev. Irwin opens a pentecostal church in El Reno, OK (Welch, pg. 36]
 May 1907, Bishop J.H. King holds a FBHC revival in Lamont, Ok [King, Yet Speaketh, PHC, 1949, pg. 127, he had received his baptism just the previous February back east];
 In the summer there is a revival at Beulah under once Nazarene and now Pentecostal minister Rev. Robinson. The 1st person to receive baptism there was an elderly woman named McClung (Campbell 210-211). Daniel Awrey goes to Beulah this year also as Emmanuel Holiness Bible College Bible instructor and then principal. That summer the Pentecostal experience is said to have arrived at the school. Dolly and Dan York, of the FBHC, go to Beulah where the “Pentecostal folk” were .[One nightclub]
 August, Beall, Lott and others are reported to have received ‘their baptism’ [Paul, pg. 12]
 As a result of these events, the FBHC reestablished its presence along with other independent Pentecostals . As a result numerous churches were started : Yukon, Billings, Drummond, Perry. Pawnee, Muskogee, Mazie, Witchita, McAllister, Quinton, Cowen, Hart, Stratford, Paul’s Valley, Castle, Swan Lake, Manitou, Faxon, Tipton, and also in KS, NE, TX, ARK, IA and AZ;
 Lott organizes the OKC Mission aka Blue Front Saloon Mission into the First FBHC of OKC. Oldest organized church in the OK Conference and one of the oldest Pentecostal churches in the Midwest
 November well known and colorful figure of “Old Zulu” aka Martha Fleming, a notorious OKC madam, prostitute, pick-pocket, and addict received salvation and was the next day baptized in the local river. Although, she appears to have later renounced her conversion, it is extremely interesting that in a day and age when Oklahoma and the nation was extremely racist, that an African American was welcomed into a mission service at the Blue Front Saloon Mission. This is extremely telling of how wide-spread the Azusa ethos might have been and the value racial and gender equity was esteemed in the early days of Pentecostalism. [McRill, A. Satan Came Also, 1955. pg. 4; Paul, p. 13]


1908 –
 Dan and Dollie York rec’d Pentecostal baptism summer at Foss under F.M. Brittain, FBHC
 JH King holds revival at Synder ;
 Harry Lott named ruling elder of the FBHC in Ok;
 Beulah School becomes fully Pentecostal.
 “Blasphemy and Gun Play Enliven Church Service” The Oklahoman (Nov. 10, 1908):10. Services disrupted at the “Pentecostal mission, 7 West Grand Avenue”, pastored by Harry P. Lott

1909 –
 September F.M. Brittain comes to Oklahoma to reorganize the FBHC in the state. Agnes Ozmen LeBerge is one of several women listed as ministers
 “Minister’s Wife Restrains Him”, The Oklahoman (Sept. 29, 1909):4, Lott’s wife Emma, filed a restraining order citing assault and lack of support. Lott, made $75 a month pastoring the German Holiness church (not sure if this is a typo or another congregation, cites rescue home at 300 Maple street His church is identified as located corner of Hudson and California, which would mesh with the 317 W. California address of the “First Church.”
 “Minister fined, sent to a Cell”. The Oklahoman (Oct. 3, 1909): 31. Harry P. Lott, supt. Of the Pentecostal Rescue Home for Fallen Women, 300 West Maple, OKC. Numerous newspaper accounts up to this time period underscored the challenges young women faced in the big city. In 1910, Shawnee, Oklahoma a 19 yr old Pierce Hammack, was jailed because his actions seemed consistent with "white slave traffickers". Hammack said he was employed by the Franklin Theatrical Company and either for them, or his own side line activity, he solicited girls through "mind reading" and "fortune telling". In an earlier incident from 1902, a Kansas father chased a "voodoo man" - a fortune-teller and/or magician - who he claimed had enticed his 15 year old daughter away in a similar fashion. Between 1903 and 1910 numerous incidents appeared in local Oklahoma City papers of girls met at the train depot and offered "jobs" as maids at local "hotels". The establishments, they soon learned, were staffed by working girls. Some were drugged, raped, and intimidated into staying. Some, because of previous abuse at home from family or friends, simply had no heart to move on. Others, were successfully "rescued" through various religious and social efforts. [Mystorical]
 October, Blue Front becomes the “First FBHC of OKC”

1910-
 Lott appointed ruling elder of the FBHC;
 Mary A. David appointed to a church in Manitou,
 “Divorces Given to Three Wives”, The Oklahoman Jan. 28, 1910): 12. Emma Lott granted divorce from Harry P., they had married in 1898 in Longmont, CO. He is described as being a pastor ‘’for the holy rollers.”

1911-
 FBHC and the PHC merge in Falcon, NC, January.
 August 30, the new Pentecostal Holiness Church convenes in sessions at the Capital Hill Park Camp under the oversight of Harry P. Lott (Paul, Harold. From Printer’s Devil to Bishop, Advocate Press, 1976, pg.16; Minutes of the Third Annual Session of the Oklahoma Pentecostal Holiness Church, pp.2-3]. Ministers listed included several women: Miss Mary K. Davis (later Shannon), Dolly York, Agnes La Berge, Pearl Burroughs. And Annie Aston (Campbell, pg. 214).
 The conference boosted 25 churches or mission stations, 17 pastors, and 12 evangelists.

1912-


1913
 May 1, 1913, future bishop Dan Thomas Muse attends his first Pentecostal Holiness Church meeting, held on the street at the corner of Grand and Robinson in OKC. He subsequently attended ‘the mission’ and received his baptism [Paul, pg. 22]
 PHC Convention held at Delmar Gardens; W.D. York gains approval to start a school at Stratford (One Nightclub)

1915
 Wagoner Literary Bible School (One Night Club)

1916-
 General Overseer of the Church of God Roy Cotnam

1917
 Harry P. Lott founds the Capital Hill Full Gospel Church. It was first the Apostolic Faith Church and in 1924 it was the site of a conference of the wider Apostolic Faith Church.


1920
 -General Overseer of the Church of God, John Burk
 -First Pentecostal Holiness Church Sunday School Convention held in OKC [Paul, pg. 43]


1924
 Kings College, Checotah, Ok (PHC)

1927
 Monte Ne, Ark Ozark Industrial College

1927
 Kings College, Kingfisher (PHC)

1946
 Southwestern Pentecostal Holiness College, OKC (PHC)






SOURCES:

Campbell, J. The Pentecostal Holiness Church, 1898-1948. P.H.C. Publishing, 1948.
Conn, Charles W. Like A Might Army. Church of God Pub. House, Cleveland, TN, 1955.
Hudson, Marilyn. “Mystorical” accessed at www.mystorical.blogspot.com; When Death Rode the Rails with Tales from Hell’s Half Acre (2010).
King, J.H. Yet speaketh. P.H.C. 1949
One Nightclub and a Mule Barn: the first 60 years of Southwestern Christian University. Tate. 2006.
Paul, Harold. Dan T. Muse: From Printer’s Devil to Bishop. Advocate. 1976.
Synan, Vinson. The Old-Time Power: a history of the Pentecostal Holiness Church. Advocate Press, 1973.
Welch, Kristen Dayle. ‘Women with the Good News’: The rhetorical heritage of Pentecostal Holiness Women Preachers. CPT, 2010.
Image is Oklahoma City four days after the opening land run of April 22, 1889

Autograph Book: Minnie Crandall, 1879



In the middle of the 1960's my mother came home with a small brown autograph book acquired at a local 'second-hand' store in Wellington, Kansas. The inscription on the inside read: 'Minnie M. Crandall a present from her brother H.LeMonde Crandell, Christmas Eve 1879". Her inscription reads: " To my friends, March 12, 1880. My album is a garden spot/Where all of my friends may sow/ Where thorns and thistles flourish not/ But flowers from above may grow/ with smiles for sunshine, tears for showers/ I'll water and guard these flowers. Minnie."

Based on the information gleaned from the volume itself I went to the Federal census records and located in 1880 a Minnie M. Crandall residing in Genese, Allegany Co., NY. She was listed in the home of James H. Crandall, 45, b. New York, and had family listed including a brother matching the signature inscription of H. LeMonde Crandall in one Henry L. Crandall, aged 22, b. in New York and a younger brother named Ira, aged 12.


Autograph Book: History of a Custom


Autograph books were once very popular, with young men and women memorizing clever couplets or making up their own for use in these autograph books. Small stickers or drawings were also added. Pressed flowers were also used to memorize special events and special people. As families migrated these became ways for loved ones to recall the 'good old days' and ones left behind. Read a general history overview here. Vist the RAAB site for info on collecting autographs.

Autograph Book: Decorated pages

This lovely page is decorated with small cardboard art sticker of a floral bouquet and reads:
"Minnie,
Though clouds may rest on the present,
And sorrow on days that are gone.
There is no night so utterly cheerless
That we may not look for the dawn.
And there is no human being
With so wholly dark a lot
But the heart by turning the picture
May find some sunny spot.
Your true friend,
Effie V. Roberts
Portsville Feb 16,1880"

Autograph Book: Some names

This page reads: "Minnie - Tis often hard to find a friend/On whom you always may depend/And when a friend you think you've got/a trial proves that you have not. Your true friend, Adell Roberts, Portsville, Feb. 15, 1880." To the side is written "Old sister Pheba" The autographs vary in style and skill and cover Feb. 1880 - Oct. 1882. One page has been torn/cut out raising questions of friendships or love affairs gone awry.

[Other verses and names to be added]


AUTOGRAPHS: A History in Signatures

Eve Scoudene of Portsville, NY wrote on April 17, 1880:
"Deem every day of your life a leaf in your history."

W.C. Vincent wrote (no date):
"Among those whose love is true, and enduring,
always remember to number me."

Edith E. Hatch and Lynn Measr (or Meass) of Farmington, Conn. wrote on Oct. 9, 1882:
"I pray the prayer of Plato old,
God make thee beautiful within
And may thine eyes the good behold
In everything save sin."

Lillian H. Spurr of "Ct." wrote on Oct. 22, 1882:
"The nymph who flirts and runs away-
Will sure be caught some lucky day."

H.A.Babcock, "Ord Valley" Co., Nebraska, wrote on Feb. 14, 1883:
"Minnie-
Mid the storms of life
Should you need an umbrella
May you have to uphold it
A handsome young fellow."

Minnie Nash, Persia, NY wrote on Feb. 16, 1882:
"No tale of eloquence have I to breathe
yet, kind treacher, I fain would wreathe
A floral garland, whose leaves shall be
Emblems and tokens of love to thee."



3/18/10

OKLAHOMA HISTORY: Forgotten People and Forgotten Past


Effie A. Ray and her husband Jess Hudson, left the tree covered hillsides of Butler Co.,Missouri in 1917. They loaded up the covered wagon Jess used in his log hauling business, attached the two study horses and set off for Oklahoma. The mining business, the hauling business, and something called 'oil' were making the area very attractive.


They arrived first in the Okmulgee area, where some other family members were also working, and Jess quickly went to work as a teamster. Times were hard, and for the first several months of their life in Oklahoma they lived in a tent with a wooden floor. Effie recounted the terror experienced during a strong and violent storm. The heat, the insects, snakes, and cold until they could afford a real home. He moved the huge boilers, the harness pullers, and other implements of business, oil exploration, mining, and timber. Sometimes Jess made long trips leaving Effie alone with the children and she had to cope as best she could in his absence.
[Pictured is Jess Hudson and his team after setting the cable rigging in place. Jess is the man in the middle leaning against the pole with the broad brimmed hat.]

Slowly, things began to look up as a home was found, friends made, and dreams begun. The real money, however, was in the growing energy field and by 1925 Jess put away his team and wagon and was working for a gas company. Family fortunes rose steadily as revealed in family photos, portraits, and even photos of family members with prize additions such as phonographs!


Disaster struck, however, when Jess went to work one early morning in August of 1929. The family was living in Bristow, Oklahoma. Effie's mother was living in town as was one of her brothers and his family. Jess, his 14 year old step-son Freeman "Red" Conner, and two others were sent to check a coupling on a line near the main entrance to the Bristow city park. The resulting explosion shot Jess some fifteen feet away and killed him almost instanteously, sending his young step-son into shock and wrecking the family in one terrible instant.


Faded yellow photos are all that remain of those days, but they show the equipment hauled, the team, and the man and the family who were the silent part of Oklahoma history. As long as people such as Jess and Effie remain forgotten people there will always be a pieace of past forgotten and lost.

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