1st Day of Winter 2007

How's this weekend and the first day of Winter, weatherwise, turning out for your Christmas traveling in your neck of the woods? Have you spotted any great Christmas decorations this week? Any gigantic snow drifts?

We heard that Clayton, New Mexico woke up to eight foot drifts this Saturday morning. NOW... that is windy, blowing snow! It's probably headed towards the "No Mans Land," Northwest Oklahoma and Western Kansas.

As to last week's rain, snow in Northwest Oklahoma... We hear from friends back there that Fairvalley, Oklahoma received 2-inches of rain last week, and we know how much that area of Northwest Oklahoma needed the moisture for its pastures and crops. What a great surprise and early christmas present for northwest Oklahoma.

Just heard in from our oldest son, Michael, who was taking the Southern route from Shreveport, Louisiana through Dallas and over towards Sweetwater, Texas last night as he continues his trek towards Southwest Colorado. This morning he headed up towards Hobbs, New Mexico, just east of there, the temp this Saturday morning was 33 degrees and the wind was blowing dust -- helping with the attack of the killer tumbleweeds.
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The Stuffed Christmas Pug

Sadie and myself, Duchess, would like to publicly give a special "Thank-You" to some Harper, Kansas four-legged animals and their Master, Rosalea, for the Christmas card and stuffed Christmas Pug that they sent to "The Girls (Duchess & Sadie)."

Loli, Mollie, Brande & Angel, Thank you so much for the stuffed Christmas Toy Pug! BUT.... that NW Okie, our master, won't let us chew, maul on it. She posed it in a wooden bowl on the coffee table -- we only get to view it from our cushioned ottoman position while seated by the cozy, warm fireplace. She did let us sniff it, though. It doesn't smell like a "Real" Pug! We sure did have this urge to grab a hold of it -- shake it around the room a bit.

BUT... NW Okie said, "It's too cute to be mauled and tossed!" So.... I guess we shall have to be satisfied in preserving our christmas present for eternity -- viewing it in it's little wooden bowl on the coffee table. It does almost look like this Duchess, though. Woof! Woof! Woof!

Thanks for a great Christmas card and stuffed Pug toy.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!
~ Duchess & Sadie and NW Okie ~
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Love, Generosity, Hope & Santa Claus

How dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence.

Not believe in Santa Claus! How ridiculous! Nobody sees Santa Claus, BUT... that doesn't mean he doesn't exist. The most real things in the world are those things that neither children, men or women can see. Only faith, poetry, love, romance and hope can push aside that curtain to view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond.

Hey! This NW Okie is going on 60 years and I still believe in what Santa Claus stands for -- Love, Generosity, Hope & Faith!
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Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus

This is the famous 1897 Editorial Page that appeared in the New York Sun. Is there anyone out there that remembers this famous editorial letter? Do you still believe in what Santa Claus stands for -- Love, Generosity, Hope & Faith in those things you can not see?

We take pleasure in answering thus prominently the communication below, expressing at the same time our great gratification that its faithful author is numbered among the friends of The Sun:

"I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, "If you see it in The Sun, it's so." Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?" - Virginia O'Hanlon, 115 West 95th Street

"Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a sceptical age. They do not believe except what they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge. Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.

"He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! How dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The external light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

"Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies. You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if you did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

"You tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived could tear apart. Only faith, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding. No Santa Claus? Thank God he lives and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

"Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!"
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1906 Woods County Atlas Reprint

The Waynoka Historical Society and the Major County Historical Society have accomplished a joint project of having the 1906 Standard Atlas of Woods County reprinted. It includes most of Woods, Major and Alfalfa Counties. It has plats of the towns, many of which no longer exist. The book is fantastic! A coffee-table book, green with gold lettering. It shows land ownership in 1906.

Two photos are attached. One shows the printing on the cover of the book, and a township, T26-R16, on the western edge of Woods County.

The books sell for $40. Oklahoma residents should add 9% sales tax, which is $3.60, if ordering from the Waynoka Museum Gift Shop. Add $7.50 for Priority Mail. To order from the Major County Historical Society, contact them at 580.227.2265 for sales tax and mailing costs.

This the same Atlas that was reprinted in 1997 with a maroon cover and gold lettering by the Waynoka Historical Society. We felt it was such a valuable book for people who are interested in family history or early Northwest Oklahoma history that it needed to be printed again. There are some special portrait and other pages that were also in the original.

Please call 580.824.1886 or email if you have any questions or comments, or would like to order with a credit card. Please leave a message if there is no answer. The Gift Shop will be closed until after Christmas. If you need a book sooner, please call 580.824.5871." -- Sandie Olson - EMAIL: waynokahs@hotmail.com
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Francis P. Church's 1897 Editorial

"Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Claus" was an immediate sensation in 1897. It became one of the most famous editorials ever written. It first appeared in the The New York Sun in 1897, and was reprinted annually until 1949 when the paper went out of business.

The following was taken from an interview in 1933, which Virginia O'Hanlon recalled events that prompted her letter:

"Quite naturally I believed in Santa Claus, for he had never disappointed me. But when less fortunate little boys and girls said there wasn't any Santa Claus, I was filled with doubts. I asked my father, and he was a little evasive on the subject.

"It was a habit in our family that whenever any doubts came up as to how to pronounce a word or some question of historical fact was in doubt, we wrote to the Question and Answer column in The Sun. Father would always say, 'If you see it in the The Sun, it's so,' and that settled the matter.

" 'Well, I'm just going to write The Sun and find out the real truth,' I said to father.

"He said, 'Go ahead, Virginia. I'm sure The Sun will give you the right answer, as it always does.' "

And so Virginia sat down and wrote her parents' favorite newspaper. Her letter found its way into the hands of a veteran editor, Francis P. Church. Son of a Baptist minister, Church had covered the Civil War for The New York Times and had worked on the The New York Sun for 20 years, more recently as an anonymous editorial writer. Church, a sardonic man, had for his personal motto, "Endeavour to clear your mind of cant." When controversial subjects had to be tackled on the editorial page, especially those dealing with theology, the assignments were usually given to Church.

Now, he had in his hands a little girl's letter on a most controversial matter, and he was burdened with the responsibility of answering it.

"Is there a Santa Claus?" the childish scrawl in the letter asked. At once, Church knew that there was no avoiding the question. He must answer, and he must answer truthfully. And so he turned to his desk, and he began his reply which was to become one of the most memorable editorials in newspaper history.

Church married shortly after the editorial appeared. He died in April, 1906, leaving no children.

Virginia O'Hanlon went on to graduate from Hunter College with a Bachelor of Arts degree at age 21. The following year she received her Master's from Columbia, and in 1912 she began teaching in the New York City school system, later becoming a principal. After 47 years, she retired as an educator. Throughout her life she received a steady stream of mail about her Santa Claus letter, and to each reply she attached an attractive printed copy of the Church editorial.

Virginia O'Hanlon Douglas died on May 13, 1971, at the age of 81, in a nursing home in Valatie, N.Y.
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Pioneer Porter C. Burge - Hopeton, OK

This is another Northwest Oklahoma Territory pioneer that settled around Hopeton, Oklahoma (about 7 miles South of Alva). This information came from the 1916 history book of Oklahoma, A Standard History of Oklahoma, by Joseph B. Thoburn.

Porter C. Burge was prominent among the men whose activities had lent encouragement to the agriculturists of Woods county. Burge was manager of the Hopeton Elevator company, at Hopeton, Oklahoma. This farmers' co-operative enterprise reflects the untiring zeal of Porter Burge, who had advanced its fortunes to the prominence of a necessary commercial adjunct.

Porter C. Burge was born December 23, 1865, on a farm in Bureau County, Illinois, a son of Reuben and Eliza (McDonald) Burge. Reuben Burge was born in 1833, in Ohio, and went as a young man to Illinois and setled inBureau County, where he passed the remaining years of his life in successful agricultural operations and died in 1867. Rueben was married in 1863 to Eliza McDonald, who was born in 1840, in Bureau County Illinois, daughter of Thomas and Martha (Perkins) McDonald, and to this union there were two children:

Pioneer George W. Wood - Cherokee, OK

Here is another history of an Alfalfa County, Oklahoma pioneer that we found in the 1916 history book, A Standard History of Oklahoma, pg. 1396, Vol. 4, by Joseph B. Thoburn.

George W. Wood was a member of the representative real estate and loan firm of Wood Brothers, at Cherokee, Oklahoma. Wood was a prominent factor in connection with the civic and industrial development and upbuilding of Alfalfa county; influential in public affairs and progressove and liberal as a business man.

When George Wood was a young man of about 18 years he came with his parents to Oklahoma Territory at the time of the opening of the famous cherokee Strip, in 1893. Mr. Wood had the distinction of being one of the framers of the constitution of the State of Oklahoma, as a delegate from the Eighth District, which was then a portion of Woods county, but which is now Alfalfa county.

Wood was state agent for Oklahoma of the Central Life Insurance Company of Des Moines, Iowa, and was a member of the firm of Wood Brothers as a prominent figure in the real estate & loan business in Northern Oklahoma.

George William Wood was born on 23 December 1875, on the old homestead farm of his father in Owen county, Kentucky. When he was a a lad of 9 years the family moved to Kansas, in which state he was reared to adult age and received the advantages of the public schools.

George Wood was a son of John Wesley Wood and Eunice (Conn) Wood, both natives of the old Bluegrass State. John Wesley Wood was born in Owen County on 20 october 1845, and his parents, who were natives of Virginia, were early settlers in that part of Kentucky. John W. Wood devoted his entire active career to the basic industry of agriculture, through the medium of which he won definite prosperity after coming to the West. John was a gallant soldier in the Confederate service during the civil war, in which he was a private in the Fourth Kentucky Cavalry, his service having covered a period of three years, during which he participated in many engagements, including a number of the important battles and campaigns marking the progress of the great conflict. In 1885 John removed with his family to Barber County, Kansas, where he purchased a farm in the vicinity of the village of Hazelton. John W. Wood continued his residence in the Sunflower State until 1893, when he took part in the opening of the cherokee Strip in Oklahoma and located a desirable tract of government land four miles distant from the present thriving little city of cherokee, the judicial center of Alfalfa county. John made improvements on his homestead until he sold it in 1902.

John was affiliated with the Mason Fraternity; a staunch supporter of the principles of the democratic party; and a birthright member of the Society of Friends. His wife was a woman of deep religious convictions, gentle, gracious personality died 9 march 1913. She was born i Kentucky in the year 1855 as a daughter of William and Elizabeth (Williams) Conn, natives of Virginia, and her marriage to John W. Wood was solemnized in the year 1873. John and Eunice Wood had five sons and three daughters:

Pioneer Sandor J. Vigg - Alva, OK

You will remember Sandor J. Vigg and the prosecuting attorney in the the 1910 murder trial of Nelson L. Miller (Old Opera House Murder of Mabel Oakes), in Woods County, Oklahoma, at Alva and later the venue was changed to Woodward, Oklahoma. We found this additional information on Sandor Vigg in the 1916 history book, A Standard History of Oklahoma, pg. 1501, Vol. 4, by Joseph B. Thoburn.

Sandor J. Vigg was born July 22, 1879, in Austria-Hungary, and was the son of Georgia and Elizabeth (Berekszazi) Vigg. The father, Georgia, was born in 1852, in the same country, and was a small farmer in his ative land, where the family had lived for generations. he could not see any promising future before him in austria, and accordingly, in 1891, came to the United States, of the opportunities of which land he had heard so much. he was without capital, but located on a farm in Barber County, Kansas, where through economy and thrift, united with tireless labor, he managed to secure a small property, and in 1897 moved to Woods county and settled on Government land, 12-1/2 half mile northwest of Alva. here he has since developed into a successful farmer, and his career was one worthy of emulation by the youth of the land, and worthy of the respect of all who admire self-made manhood. Georgia Vigg was married in 1876 to Elizabeth Berekszazi, who a]was born in 1852 in the same locality as her husband, and they became the parents of four sons and three daughters, as follows:

Old Alva Roller Mill & Hackler

"It is so good to see some of the history of Northwest Oklahoma. I was born and raised in Alva. My Grandfather Leroy Hackler, owned Alva Roller Mills from the early sixties. I still have the keys. The building has fallen into county hands due to taxes. My grandfather tried to give it to them for years. Due to the asbestos cleanup costs the county has never done anything with it. There is still some stuff from the old mill in the building. Vandels have been very hard on the old structure. I am in search of any old pictures of the structure outside and inside. I find Alva's History very fascinating. Thank you for your time." -- Brian Wallis - Email: brian.wallis@sbcglobal.net
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Where Was Skyer, OK? Beaver County?

"Has anyone every heard of Skyer, OK and where is it? On the newly released 1890 Census of Oklahoma, Skyer is listed as my father's birthplace and he was born in Beaver County in 1889. Would like to know exactly where." -- Grace Wessels - Email: glwessels@hotmail.com
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Oklahoma Sightseeing

Check out the new website added to the Oklahoma History Webring - Oklahoma Sightseeing. Tim Dowd and Elsbeth Dowd would like to welcome to their website about scenery in Oklahoma! They moved to Oklahoma in 2004 from the East coast, and it didn't take them long to learn to love it. They have aken a lot of pictures of their travels, and their goal is to see everything in it -- small towns, ghost towns, etc.
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Stella Academy & Alva Roller Mill

"My grandfather name was George Wallace DuBois and he attendent the Stella School in the years 1899 to 1902. His mother died when he was 12 years. I went to the Oklahoma History Museum in OKC before it moved to the new building. I found a letter written by a lady who I heard about her ancesters, because I only lived 9 miles from Cherokee. It tells about a family who was a quaker family, who had hard times. The father told them at a quaker meeting that he was going to give them some more money each month more than he already had been giving. It was for the school. The letter said it was the first high school in that part of Oklahoma.

The town of Alva has turned out to be a beauiful town with all of the painting -- even the water tower. I have a machine that was given to me. The person that gave it to me said it had to do with the Alva Roller Mill. I think it used with the sewing of the flour sack up. It looks like it has the needles that came with it. How can I give to Cherokee Strip Museum? This is what the person wanted me to do with it." -- Kay Gerber - sharongerber1718@yahoo.com
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Pioneer Rev. Samuel H. Raudebaugh

"I'm a relative of Samuel on my mother's side. He and Peter were cousins of my great-grandfather. You may wish to add to his bio that he survived in April, 1865 the explosion and sinking of the Sultana, a riverboat carrying Union soldiers -- many ex-POWs -- up the Mississippi River. He later testified before Congress in an effort to get wounded survivor benefits for the Sultana survivors." -- Garth Anderson - Email: ganderson1052@yahoo.com - Pioneer Rev. Samuel H. Raudebaugh
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WWII POW Camp at Windfall, Indiana

"I live at 400 Oak St., Windfall, IN, which means that the sight of pow camp is just across my driveway. It remains an empty lot with a trailer court the otherside. My family has lived on this property since 1930 and my grandparents have mentioned the camp many times. I will try to dig out that information." -- Jessica Stout - Email: wyattsmommy25@yahoo.com
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Oklahoma Independent History & Genealogy

Check out Oklahoma Independent History & Genealogy Home page. Check out ALHN/AHGP Oklahoma Genealogy and History County List.
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Icy Weather In Oklahoma

"Our weekend snow in Perry, Oklahoma began Saturday with a misty rain changing to tiny snowflakes. That afternoon there were slick spots on nearby highways and wrecks began to happen. Even our choir directors sister hit an icy spot and the car spun around into the other lane of traffic(fortunately no cars were approaching) sliding across the highway, hit a ditch and rolled 3 times before striking a fence and bouncing back to the ditch landing on its top. Her seatbelt prevented any injuries and she crawled out of a rear passenger window. Using her cell phone, she called her sister and asked her to call Dad in Anadarko. She didn''t want to hear the alarm in his voice. The OHP trooper working the accident said that if she'd been going faster than 40 mph, it would have been much more serious than 'just' totaling the car. She was able to go to work later in the day.

Sunday the sun came out. It warmed up and melted our 1-1/2" of snow and that evening we had a large attendance at our church''s Christmas Village for our cantata, and both the choir director''s sister and her dad were there to enjoy it." -- Roy Kendrick - Email: roykendrick@oklahomahistory.net
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Roy's Contributions

"I look forward every week to Roy's contributions. His input is always interesting and well written.' -- SBW
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Pioneer Omer Schnoebelen - Mooreland, OK

Some of you out there in Northwest Oklahoma near Mooreland, Oklahoma might remember the surname of Schnoebelen connected with the Mooreland Leader newspaper. Here is what we found in a 1916 history book of Oklahoma, A Standard History of Oklahoma, by Joseph B. Thoburn.

Omer Schnoebelen was an active participant in the life of Mooreland, business and civic, since his arrival in 1903. Schnoebelen made himself a necessary factor in the development of this thriving Oklahoma community. As a publisher of the Mooreland Leader he was foremost in advancing movements of a beneficial character, while in various official capacities he had rendered his fellow citizens signal service. In 1916 he was in the office of postmaster, handling the Mooreland mail.

Omer Schnoebelen was born February 10, 1884, at Riverside, Iowa, and was a son of Nicholas and Mary (Bouquet) Schnoebelen. Nicholas Schnoebelen was born December 8, 1833, in Alsace Lorraine, France (now Germany), and was 3 years of age when brought to the United States by is parents, the family settling at Riverside, Iowa. There Nicholas grew to sturdy young manhood, receiving a public school education and learning the trades of a blacksmith and mechanic, lines i which he built up a good patronage.

In 1865 the lure of the West, with the promise of large fortune, called Nicholas and he made his way to Omaha, Nebraska. During the days of the frontier, with its hostile Indians, its outlaws and hold-up men, and various other dangers, he conducted a freighting outfit between Omaha and Denver, colorado, and in the five years he was so engaged met with numerous thrilling experiences.

Nicolas Schnoebelen was married in 1868 to Miss Mary Bouquot, who was born August 28, 1844, at Burlington, Iowa, daughter of Joseph and Mary Bouquot, natives of France. Ten children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Schnoebelen: