An Okie Legacy

This is what we know of last weeks old time football players in the photo on the left: "Pillow Top, manufactured by The Harry M. Muller Co., Mfgs of Photo Pillow Tops, 411-413 Montrose Ave., Chicago, Ill." Agents Name - Phillips; ship by mail; town & state - San Francisco, Cal.; remarks - Zenobia satin. The football has "Pug Ugly Twins" written on it. Is the writing on the backside of photo, at the bottom "(either 104 or P04) Kanis 148 CO?" Could this "148 CO" have reference to the "148th CAC CO?"

David says, "The football uniforms are similar to U of Washington’s 1903 uniforms and 1903 Tampa. The city and state are San Francisco, Cal."

We were wondering if the picture of the two football players, allegedly taken around 1903, could be a couple of sixteen year olds? If so, one of these boys could be Constance Estella Warwick's younger brother, Robert Lee Warwick, whom was born November 5, 1887, Monterey, Virginia. Robert Lee Warwick son of John R. and Signora Warwick was born Nov. 5, 1887, at Monterey, Va. In 1914, he enlisted in the U. S. Army where he served three years with the Coast Artillery Corp. 5th Company. He then joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force at Toronto, Canada and was sent to France with the Canadian Army. He served through World War I and received his discharge June 29, 1919.
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148th Coast Artillery Corp WWI

The 148th Company of the Coast Artillery Corp (CAC) was in operation during WWI. The photo on the left shows a baseball team with the emblem of the 148th CAC on their shirts and equipment laying down front of the seated group of men.

Since the photo was amongst some of our grandma's keepsakes, we assume that one of the young men is Robert Lee Warwick. BUT... Alas! We are not sure which one that is, because we have no recollection or photo to compare it with.

Is there anyone out there that remembers the Coast Artillery Corp Company & the soldiers that fought in WWI with the Canadian/British forces?

Robert Lee Warwick enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary forces, April 12th, 1917, serving in France.

We know Robert Lee Warwick was with the C.A.C. in 1914 before he joined the Canadian Expeditionary forces. He enlisted at Fort McDowell, California, January 19th, 1914 and furloughed to the western department in Class A reserve, 18 January 1917, Fort Terry, New York. About four months later he enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force under the name of "R. Lee Warwick."
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Bayfield, Colorado Heritage Day

In Bayfield, Colorado this Saturday morning about 9 o'clock in the morning the ewes and lambs were back traveling south on Buck highway, in Bayfield this year, as they make they fall trek to the valley pastures. The Heritage Day parade followed at 10:00 that same morning.



Attendance at the Bayfield Heritage Days was nearly double this year, thanks to rancher J. Paul Brown, who brought his herd of about 2,200 sheep out of the mountains a few days early for Bayfield's annual recognition of its rural roots.

J. Paul Brown said he's grateful to the residents who have to wade through his herds several times each year as he relocates them on county roads and highways. With a few exceptions, most drivers, he said, are polite and patient.

"(The sheep) balled up on the Buck Highway a few times this year," Paul Brown said. "Some of them aren't used to it. We appreciate the community putting up with us."

Brown said the festival is a reminder to the community of how things used to be. Ranchers and their herds have been trekking down from the high country for more than 100 years.
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Insight Into Grandpa Bill McGill

William Jacob (John) "Bill" McGill was born 29 June 1880. Bill played baseball in the Major (St. Louis Browns, 1907) and Minor (Austin Senators, 1906 ) Leagues. In his later life he encouraged sports in his two sons (Gene and Robert).

One of the Baseball leagues he played for was the St. Louis Browns around 1907. During and after his baseball days, he came back to Alva, Oklahoma (1909); married my grandmother in 1910; and continued in the furniture business with his Older brother (James Acel McGill, bachelor).

Do your ancestors recall listening to the World Series at the McGill Brothers Furniture Store, in Alva, Oklahoma, where Bill and James McGill brought out their radio and a electronic board that they had fixed up in shape of a baseball diamond and would invite the whole town to keep tabs on the World Series game. I am told everyone shoved into the store during that time of the World Series. I wonder what ever happened to that "electronic board" they used back in the early 1900s?

Vital Statistics From Grandpa's Li'l Notebook

* 27 & 29 March 1931 -- That night there was snow in and around Alva, Oklahoma. Altogether there was 12 inches of snow that year.
* Alva High School building burned. All musical instuments burned. Bob had his horn at factory.
* Oct 29th, 1932 -- Old man Bob took his Marcella Metcalf out for a little model A Ford ride... his first.
* Sept 11, 1934 -- Well! Merle started for OU this morning (ma took him) am anxious to see what the kid is made of. He says he is going in for real work! Guess we will know in a few months. Yes we know! Bob also started to College.
* July 2, 1935 -- Merle went to N. Mex to a little school. Trying to make the grade to go to Dr. School at Okla. City.
* Sept 9, 1935 -- Ma is taking Bob to school at Norman. Merle going to OKC to see about school. Sure hope he gets in. Again time will tell. Here's hoping.
* Sept 7, 1936 -- Bob left for Kemper and Merle went back to Norman.
* Sept. 3rd, 1939, Sunday, 5am, England - War declared - US Germany. Just as well be now as any time. It has to be with "Old Hitler" in there. Guess we will be in there soon.

Click the following link for more on Grandpa Bill McGill's legacy
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1880 - Political Events

"War is Hell," said a U.S. Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman, who was 60 in 1880, in an address to a Columbus, Ohio, reunion of the G.A.R. (Grand Army of the Republic). Sherman went on to say, "There is many a boy here who looks on war as all glory, but, boys, it is all hell. You can bear this warning voice to generations yet to come."

Old Guard Republican "Stalwarts" try to gain a third term for President Grant, a deadlocked G.O.P. (Grand Old Party) convention selects James Abram Garfield, 48, of Ohio on the 36th ballot. He wins 214 electoral votes to 155 for the Democrats, but he beats hero Winfield S. Hancock by only 9,464 votes.
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1880 - Human Rights & Social Justice

Tennessee's 1875 "Jim Crow" law was called unconstitutional by a Federal Circuit Court.

The word "Boycott" was introduced to the English language by an incident in Ireland's County Mayo. Tenant farmers organized by the Irish Land League refused to harvest crops on estates managed by Charles Cunningham Boycott, 48, a retired British Army captain.

The Land League waged a campaign of economic and social ostracism against absentee landlords and their agents, but the word "boycott" would take on a wider meaning as a weapon in economic warfare.

Britain's first employers' Liability Act is passed by Parliament September 13, 1880 and granted compensations to workers for injuries.
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1880 - Energy

Thomas Edison's 1879 incandescent bulb was patented.

All of Wabash, Indiana, was lighted by electricity in an April demonstration of the Brush arc-light system and a mile of New York's Broadway was illuminated by Brush arc lights December 20, 1880.

Wood remained a major source of energy in the United States, but use of firewood began to decline.
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1880 - Transportation

A pooling agreement signed February 2, 1880, resolved disputes among the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe; the Union Pacific; the Kansas Pacific; and the Denver, Rio Grande and Western.

The Denver, Rio Grande obtained exclusive rights to build a line from Pueblo through the Royal Gorge to Leadville via a 3-foot narrow-gauge line, which it paid the Santa Fe $1.4 million for work done by the Santa Fe on the Royal Gorge, and it agreed not to build a line to Santa Fe, provided that the Atchison, Topeka kept out of Denver and Leadville with its standard 56.5 inch track.

The "Chattanooga Choo Choo" got its name March 5, 1880 from a newspaper reporter covering the resumption of through passenger service between North and South. A Cincinnati Southern Railroad wood burner chugs out of Cincinnati and passes through Chattanooga, Tennessee, en route to New Orleans.

Elevated steam trains rumble up and down New York's Second, Third, and Sixth Avenues.
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1880 - Economics & Finance

Leadville, Colorado, storekeeper Horace "Hod" Tabor, 53, grubstakes two starving prospectors to $64.75 worth of provisions and ends up 10 months later owning silver mines including the Matchless that would earn him as much as $4 million per year. Tabor takes as his mistress the blonde, blue-eyed divorcee Elizabeth McCourt "Baby" Doe, 23, by buying off her previous protector. He divorced his wife and marries Baby Doe for whom he will build a Denver opera house and a mansion graced with nude statuary and 100 peacocks.

Some 539,000 Singer sewing machines were sold, up from 250,000 in 1875.

The DeBeers Mining Corporation was founded by English diamond mine operator Cecil John Rhodes, 27, and English financier Alfred Beit, also 27. The Barnato Diamond Mining Company was founded by English speculator Barnett Isaacs "Barney" Barnato, 28, whose firm would be consolidated with DeBeers in 1888 to give Cecil Rhodes a virtual monopoly in the South African diamond industry.
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1880 - Technology

A bush roller chain patented by Swiss engineer Hans Renold improved on the the James Slater drive chain of 1864. Renold had acquired Slater's small textile machine chain factory at Salford and had devised a chain with an arrangement of bushes that prodded a much greater load-bearing surface than did the Slater chain.

Warner-Swasey Company was founded at Chicago by former Pratt & Whitney toolmakers Worcester Reed Warner, 34, and Ambrose Swasey, 34. The epicycloidal milling machine invented by Swasey in 1879 was a gear-cutting device that produced true theoretical curves and thus made possible the production of silent gears.
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1880 - Education

The University of Southern California was founded by educators who included Marion McKinley Bovard, 33, he became the university's first president.

Manchester University was created by a reorganization of England's Owens College.

England's first high schools for girls opened.
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1880 - Communication & Media

Parcel Post service begins in Britain.

The first British telephone directory was issued January 15, 1880 by the London Telephone Co. It listed 255 names.

The first wireless telephone message was transmitted June 3, 1880 by Alexander Graham Bell on the photophone he had invented.

The Kansas City Evening Star was founded by publisher William Rockhill Nelson, 39.

Halftone photographic illustrations appear in newspapers for the first time.
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1880 - Agriculture

Tenant farmers work 1/4 of U.S. farms, which number just over 4 million.

The Northwest Alliance had its beginnings in a local founded by Chicago editor Milton George whose organization would become a leading political activist group among farmers (Farmers Alliance of 1882).

U. S. Wheat production reaches 500 million bushels, up 221% over 1866 figures. 80% of the wheat was cut by machine, but wheat prices had dropped 27% since 1866.

U.S. export of wheat and flour combined reach 175 million bushels, up from 50 million in 1871.

Sacramento Valley, California, wheat grower Hugh Glenn harvests a million bushels. Glenn had a thousand men working for him and they used enormous steam-powered combines to harvest 100 acres per day for as little as 25- cents per acre.
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Insight Into Grandma & John C. McClure

This week's insight into Grandma & John's letters brings us up to February 9 & 26, 1906, Alva, Oklahoma Territory.

February 9. 1906 -- John's short letter is handwritten in ink on The First National Bank letterhead, and begins, "Miss Constance Warwick, Connie, Okla. The envelope is addressed to Miss Constance Warwick, R.F.D., Alva, Okla.

The body of the letter begins, "Dear Connie, I rec'd your letter today. I did not hardly expect to ever hear from you again. I am very sorry that I can not except your invitation to come out Sun. I promised my sister to come up to Capron since I have only seen her about three minutes. We were going out last Sunday but it was to cold. You know I can not stand the cold.

I will come out a week from Sunday though, but you must write me a long letter in the meantime, and tell me how I must behave. You must not forget that I like, well you know. Lowe is going to California soon. I amy go along. Write me a long letter Sunday. Jno McClure."

February 26, 1906 -- This one-page ether addressed to Miss Constance Warwick, RFD, Alva, Oklahoma Territory, it begins, "Alva, O.T., Sun. Eve, Miss Constance Warwick, Connie, O.T.

"Dear Connie, I will write you a little letter this Eve., but did not know for sure whether you would be at home or in town. I saw you yesterday Eve in town, but you disappeared so quick that I did not get to see you.

"I thought perhaps I would have a chance to take you home. I was out to my sister's the 22nd. Had a big time. Please write me a long letter this week some time. Yours Lovingly, Jno."
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Inquiry - Tressie Lorene Paris Jordan

Mary Jordan Pollack says, "My mother's name is Tressie Lorene Paris. I am trying to trace her family for her 90th birthday party next month. This is a longshot but here goes. Her father's name was Albert Paris. Her mother's name was Maude Bell Franklin Paris. Her sisters were Lela Paris, Zella Paris, Mary Paris, Treila Paris and her twin sister Tessie Morene Paris. Tressie Lorene Paris was born on October 9, 1919, in Pratt, Kansas.

If there is any relationship I would be thrilled to hear from you. Thanks a lot. I am looking for family history for my mother’s 90th birthday party. I would appreciate any information. Thanks." -- mehellen@neo.rr.com

[Editor's Note: NW Okie's PARIS connection to Albert & Maude Bell Franklin Paris is as follows:

NW Okie shows, "Albert Franklin Paris, b. Mar 6, 1880, Harrison, MO; death Feb 14, 1958; son of Zeaphanie "Zeph/Sephanie" Paris, b. Jul. 25, 1856, Chandlerville, Cass Co., IL; death Dec. 26, 1926.

Zeaphanie was son of James Franklin Paris, b. Apr. 25, 1830, Madison Co., KY; death Jan. 31, 1913, Chandlerville, Cass Co., IL.

James Franklin Paris was a brother to Henry Clay Paris(NW Okie's great grandfather), b. Jul. 5, 1844, Foxtown, Madison Co., KY. Vada Paris McGill and Albert Franklin Paris were cousins.

So … Albert Franklin PARIS is NW Okie's 2nd cousin once removed. Here's how:
1. Vada Eileen (PARIS) MCGILL is my mother
2. Ernest Claude PARIS is the father of Vada Eileen (PARIS) MCGILL
3. Henry Clay PARIS is the father of Ernest Claude PARIS
4. James Franklin PARIS is a brother of Henry Clay PARIS
5. Zeaphanie "Zeph/Sephanie) PARIS is a son of James Franklin PARIS
6. Albert Franklin PARIS is a son of Zeaphanie "Zeph/Sephanie) PARIS

Here is a link to myheritage.com paris/hurt/conover genealogy. If your have some dates or information that needs to be included or corrected, please let me know.]
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Alva's WWII POW Camp

Marty says, "I am reading the book The Yard Dog by Sheldon Russell and the setting is the Alva POW camp and Waynoka Rail yards and Ice plant. I know I have seen information about Camp Alva on the OkieLegacy ezine letter but can't seen to find it. Can you help me? The book is great."

[Editor's Note: If you do a "Freefind Search" for "alva pow camp wwii," located on our OkieLegacy, you might find the following information and possible pages containing pow camp information. Click this following Link: Alva pow camp WWII. ]
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Remembering September '43

Lou says, "In September 1943, my family was living on Mountain View Avenue, in Orange, NJ, awaiting the birth of your husband, David. Anita, our mother, had been hospitalized for some time. I think we visited her in August or September at a hospital out in the country. She had been in poor health with the pregnancy for some time during the summer and was finally hospitalized toward the end of her term.

"I did not realize that her poor health was due to her pregnancy. She had told me that she was having problems with her heart in the heat of the summer. I was surprised when my father told me I had a new baby brother. Although, that did explain a lot of what had gone on the prior 6-7 months.

"As an aside: my Dad borrowed a friend's car to drive out to the hospital. He did not realize that the rear door of the car had a defective lock. When we pulled out of the hospital driveway onto the highway after our visit, Joan fell out of the car spread eagled onto the next lane. She was not seriously hurt, but it scared us all."
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September 1943

James says, "Linda, you asked what we were doing in September 1943. This is what I was doing in Alfalfa County.

"In 1943 World War II was getting up to speed. In January Churchill and Roosevelt held their Casablanca Conference on the 14th-24th. General Monty Montgomery took Tripoli. In September the Italian surrender was announced and the Allies landed at Salerno. On December 24-26 the Leaders Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin met in Tehran.

"Meanwhile, in the spring of 1943 in Alfalfa County, I was finishing second grade in the Jet Public School. My father was already back to his hometown, Goltry (10 miles south of Jet) where he was the new manager of the F. J. Gentry Lumber Company's yard there. He replaced Eugene Mills who had been called into the Navy. We moved to Goltry once school was out. I began third grade in the Goltry Public School.

"At Goltry, cursive writing was taught in the second grade. I arrived from Jet where cursive was taught in the third grade. So I was a year behind my classmates. My teacher pointed out to me that I was so "stuck in the mud that not even a log chain could get me out!" But I did get out of the mud and moved on through the school on schedule, graduating in 1954.

"The home we moved into in Goltry had "outdoor plumbing" and indoor chamber pots. We took a bath in a wash tub in the kitchen floor. Mom heated water on the kitchen stove and used the hot water to temper the cold bath water in the tub. We four kids took turns bathing in re-warmed water—smallest/youngest first. Later, after finishing the sixth grade in the spring of 1947, we moved to a different home in Goltry. It had indoor plumbing and had a hot water heater. Woo Hoo!"
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