Oakie's NW Corner...
Since transcribing NW
OK Marriages and spending lots of time around the mid-1930s
the last few weeks, it finally dawned on me to revisit some of my
parents, grandparents old letters from that period.
It was a time during the dirty thirties, stock market crash, and
WWII heating up over in Europe. My dad was putting himself through
pharmacy school at OU in Norman and graduated Dec., 1937. Gene was
also farming his Grandpa Warwick's land. His grandpa was not in
the greatest of health and was dying of cancer around December,
1937.
It was May, 1938... My folks were a part of the young college
crowd back in the mid-1930s. Dad was getting serious about a lady
named Flora. He even bought an engagement ring to give her when
he popped the question. In his 4
May 1938 letter that he wrote to his brother, Gene mentions
that he and Flora were going to be married around the middle of
July or 1st of August sometime and live on the Benton place for
awhile. So... was Benton her last name? What happened that the marriage
never developed? Where was the Benton place located? If anyone out
there reading this knows of anyone or memories concerning Flora
or the Benton Place.... Please Contact
Linda? I would love to know the rest of this story. Thanks!
From readings of my mother's diary (Vada's
Diary) it was 9 July 1938
when Gene first called upon my mother for their first date. Was
it on the rebound for both of them? During that time, my mother
was working at Warrick's Shoe Store -- going to school at Northwestern
on a government grant in 1938 -- dating other guys like: Lester
Gallon, Kenneth (Wilson) and John Wenzel. By October of that year,
Gene had won my mother's heart. They were married two years later,
24 March 1940.
My Dad's younger brother, Bob McGill, was at Kemper Military Junior
college in Booneville, Missouri while my dad was going to OU and
farming for my grandmother in 1937.
Sometimes I wish… or would have paid more attention when my
folks talked about their younger days back then. BUT… when
you are a shy, naive, scared teenager and more into yourself than
others, those things don’t even cross your mind. Now…
I’m trying to piece everything together from unlabeled photos,
letters, etc. I guess eventually I will get it all sorted out one
of these days, huh?
Let's backup to 7 August 1934, Monday... the old letters
that my Grandpa
and Grandma
McGill wrote to their two sons (Gene-19 & Bob-18)
that were at summer boot camp with the 45th Signal Co., Ft. Sill,
Oklahoma.
Grandpa talks about how hot it is for them all and he was going
over to Woodward with Mr. Briggs to see some pups. Grandma mentions
Jim, Uncle Gus coming over to the house. Grandma also mentioned
the heat is the same each day and that Elaine Nichols & Charles
Harzman were married Sunday (1 August 1934). On the backside
of Grandma's letter, she mentions that her mother (Signora
Warwick) seems to sleep more and Grandpa Warwick doesn't
have much to say. Gr-Grandmother Warwick died November 16, of that
same year.
Grandpa Bill's
letter dated 5/5/37... From the sounds of the letter it seems
Grandpa was giving his youngest son some advice from experience
-- which he knew was the best teacher.
During those dirty years of 1930s with the drought, Grandpa Bill
is telling his youngest son who is enrolled in Kemper Military school,
in Booneville, Missouri -- "Don't go in debt -- at least for
the things you can do without. At least wait till it comes a rain
and the farmers commence turning the cale loose. I tell you it is
beginning to look pretty scarry about the wheat. If it doesn't rain
very soon there will be a furniture store for sale -- and no one
to sell to. It seems that the drought is reaching further and further
East every year."
On the second
and third
page of that letter Grandpa Bill writes, "Yesterday Mrs. White
- mother of the
girl (Esther Marie White) Dwight Anderson is going to
marry (1 August 1937) - was in the store. She introduced
herself to me and we had quite a talk of her daughter and Dwight.
She was so proud of her daughter and Dwight too. Well, in about
9 hours from the time I was talking to her and she was feeling so
good -- she was dead. Some kind of urinal poisoning I think....."
You can read more family legacies from around the mid-1930s at
Grandma's Legacy, Grandpa's
Legacy, Gene's Legacy, Vada's
Diary and Uncle Bob's Legacy.
What is happening this week? It seems Hurricane Lili packed
100 mph winds when it went ashore along the Louisiana Coast. NW
Oklahoma was under a tornado and thunderstorm watch most of the
day on Thursday. Friday morning Oklahoma got a much appreciated
cool front that dropped the Highs to the 70s.
The San Juan mountains of SW Colorado have been getting snow in
the higher elevations for the last three or four days. Snowstorm
warnings were out for Thursday of this week for 12 inches of snow
likely to fall around the 9000+ feet elevation in SW Colorado. Will
the bears be hibernating? Or.... Scrounging for their last few bites
of 30,000 calories per day? Somebody needs to check this out, huh?
~~ Linda "oaKie" ~~
NW OK Marriages of 1930-45...
Geeslin-Hesser
-- May 24, ca. 1935-36 - Northwestern Graduate Is May Bride
- In the presence of thirty friends and relatives Miss La Verne
Geeslin became the bride of Mr. Peter Hesser at 4:00 p.m. Friday,
May 24, in the home of her parents, Mr. and Mrs. E. C. Geeslin,
of Stillwater, who celebrated their silver wedding anniversary that
day. The vows were read by the Rev. Isaac Hesser of the Christian
church in Hydro (Oklahoma). Rev. Hesser is the father of the groom.
George-Certain
- March 3, 1935 -- George-Certain Wedding Announced -
A marriage of interest to their friends is that of Miss Pauline
George of Jet, Oklahoma, to Lynn Certain, son of Mr. and Mrs. W.
L. Certain of Alva. The wedding was solemnized at Buffalo, Oklahoma
on March 3, 1935, with the Reverend Boyles officiating. Attending
the couple were Miss Marguerite Swingle of Cherokee and Mr. Glen
Marcum of Alva.
McClain-Lee
- August 14, 1936 -- McClain-Lee Nuptials Performed in Enid
- Mr. and Mrs. Fennis Lee, Kingfisher, announce the marriage
of their daughter, Miss Bernice Lee, to Chester E. McClain, son
of Mr. and Mrs. John McClain, 818 Choctaw, of this city. The wedding
was quietly solemnized on August 14 in the study of the Rev. Oscar
Evanson, pastor of the First Methodist church at Enid with Mr. Evanson
officiating.
Fisher-Bartz
- 1936 -- Miss Fisher Becomes Bride of Mr. Bartz In Quiet
Nuptials Sunday - In a quiet nuptial service at 2:30 o'clock
Sunday afternoon, Miss Pauline Fisher, daughter of Mrs. Jessie Fisher,
818 Maple Street, became the bride of C. DeWitt Bartz of Hardtner,
Kansas. The ceremony took place in the Evangelical church at Hardtner
with the Rev. Werner, pastor, officiating. The bride's mother, Mrs.
Fisher, and the bridegroom's father, Frank Bartz, were the couple's
only attendants.
Hurley-Wilson
- ca. 1937 -- Post-Nuptial Shower For Mrs. Wilson - As
a post-nuptial courtesy to Mrs. Arthur Wilson, the former Miss Gladys
Hurley, whose marriage was an event of last month, Mrs. Cecil Hood
of Covington and Mrs. Preston Abbott entertained at a bridal shower
Friday afternoon in the home of the latter, west of the city.
Shroyer-Allman
-- May 26, 1937 - Nadine Shroyer Is Pre-Nuptially Honored -
In pre-nuptial honor of Miss Nadine Shroyer, whose marriage to Schuyler
Allman will be an event of May 26, Mrs. Franklin J. Schuhmacher
entertained Saturday evening with a lingerie shower.
Ewert-Elkins
- 1937 -- Ewert-Elkins Nuptials will Take Place Today - Of
paramount interest in the city is the wedding of Miss Valois Elkins,
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. E. J. Elkins, 417 Center Street, and Jonathan
Ewert, son of Mr. and Mrs. A. A. Ewert, 201 Flynn Avenue, which
will take place at 5:30 o'clock this afternoon at the Christian
Church parsonage.
Heaton-Webb
- 1937 -- Miss Nellie Heaton and New Mexico Man Married In
Prominent Ceremony - Popular City Girl Becomes Bride As Wedding
Vows Solemnized At Home of Sister Saturday Night - Of social
prominence in and outside state circles was the wedding of Miss
Nellie Heaton, daughter of J. H. Heaton, Alva, and Hulon F. Webb,
Albuquerque, N.M., son of Mrs. Elva Webb, Silver City, N. M., which
was solemnized Saturday evening at the home of the bride's brother-in-law
and sister, Mr. and Mrs. Earl Johnston, at Capron.
Murray-Otte
- August, 1937 -- Wichita Wedding of Interest Here - Announcement
has been received here of the marriage of Miss Ruth Murray, Pomona,
Calif., and Walter H. Otte, son of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Otte, of Alva.
The ceremony was performed at 4p.m. Sunday in the Presbyterian chapel
at Wichita, Kans., with Dr. H. V. Wheatly officiating.
Bailey-Gruber
- October 16, 1937 -- October Wedding of Popular City Couple
Is Announced - Miss Cleo Bailey Becomes Bride of William E. Gruber
in Service at Chandler (Okla.) - Mr. and Mrs. O. E. Bailey,
630 Center Street, announce the marriage of their daughter, Miss
Cleo Patricia Bailey, to William E. Gruber, Oklahoma City, son of
Mr. and Mrs. M. M. Gruber, 915 College Avenue. The wedding took
place on October 16, 1937, at Chandler, Oklahoma. The Rev. Clyde
J. Foster read the nuptial service in the First Baptist church there.
Callison-Henderson
- May 29, 1937 -- Former Alva Girl Is May Bride - Relatives
and friends here were notified the first of this week of the marriage
of Miss Lillian Callison, Gallup, N. M., daughter of U. S. Callison,
Alva, to Ritzel Henderson, Gallup, formerly of Indiana. The nuptial
service was performed at Santa Fe, N.M., on Saturday, May 29. Mr.
and Mrs. Arthur V. Sorenson, San Berndardino, Calif., brother-in-law
and sister of the bride, attended the couple.
|
"1936 -Miss Alva."
Miss Cleo Bailey... was the
daughter of Mr. & Mrs. E. O. Bailey, 630 Center Street, Alva,
Oklahoma. Somewhere in the "old letters" of Uncle Bob
McGill's I have 3 letters that Cleo wrote to Bob.
Two of the letters are dated August,
1935 and sent to Bob when he was stationed with the 45th Div.
Sig. Co. Oklahoma National Guard. The other letter was postmarked
December 13, 1937, Oklahoma City and sent to Bob at Kemper Military
College, in Booneville, Missouri.
I did figure out which box of goodies
the letters got packed away and stored. We can save that for future
items in "The Okie Legacy."... Maybe! If it ain't too
personal!
Menu:
Linda K McGill Wagner
c/o WWW Publishing Co
PO Box 619, Bayfield, CO 81122
Thanks! You can also view The OkieLegacy online. Copyrighted © 2008 by WWWPubCo & OkieLegacy.
All Rights Reserved.
|
