It's drizzlin', which discourages me from me usual task of cuttin' and burnin'
brush, so I thought I'd subject y'all to a little "stream of consciousness"
genealogy [regarding the time period for the photos taken on the farm] . Overwhelm? It is to laugh!
Bless Ethellea's heart for sloggin' through the photos and id-ing the folks.
spent Christmas with Armour Willis and family.
I suppose that Armour was connected to Clara Alice. He is listed on the
Cherokee Rolls as 1/16 Cherokee. Clara Alice is listed as 1/64.
In 1900, Armour A. Willis, born Jun 1891, was with his parents Walter W. and
Alice S. Censuses are so interesting.
That 1900 census is dated 10 Aug 1900. Armour's [then] youngest sibling, a
boy, had not been named. But b. Apr 1900, age 1/12. Census day was 1 Jun 1900,
so "unnamed boy" must've been b. late Apr to only be 1/12 by 1 Jun.
Same census. Clara is listed as 31/32 white. Her father Ferdinand is listed
as "W", her mother Isabel as "In", 15/16 white. So is Clara 1/64 or 1/32?
Ain't it curious that 1/32 Indian gets ya listed as "In" rather than 31/32
gettin' ya in the "W" category?
In 1910, Armour was a hired hand on the William F. Reed farm in Beck township,
McIntosh Co., OK.
In 1920, he, wife Ruth, and son Andrew P. were in Porum, Muskogee Co., OK. Farmer.
In 1930, Armour, Ruth, and 6 kids were in Wekiwah township, Tulsa Co., OK.
That's Armour Albert Willis findagrave.com/memorial/104806198/armour-albert-willis
If you chase that link, you will find that Armour had a daughter Wilma Jean Willis.
Wilma appears to have married a feller named -- curious coincidence -- Roberts.
Of whom there is absolutely no mention in her obituary.
In the 1940 census, there is a J.R. Roberts b. ~1902 AR. He and wife Beatrice
are in Porum township, Muskogee Co., OK. Sons Coy and Allen are 12 and 11,
born in AR. Wilma Jean was 15.
On 23 Jun 1945, Wilma Jean Willis 20 m. William Robert Trotter 21 in Tulsa Co., OK.
The name Trotter does not appear in her obituary.
Well, more than enough about Wilma Jean in spite of her connection to the
Roberts family.
I suppose that in 1915 the Jake/Alice marriage was still tolerable. Did Alice
move to Wigwam with Jake? Apparently not. Cleland says Jake and Alice divorced
in 1917 and then Jake moved to Wigwam in Spring 1918, so we may need to push
the date of the pic to at least 1918.
Note: Cleland says she was Clara Alice Farmer and refers to her as Clara. The
1900 census says Clara A. The marriage certificate only says Alice. The death cert
only says Alice.
At the first move to Wigwam, Jake had no kids, so who is the "3rd feller" in the Wigwam photos?
Cleland says that Jake became a "tenant farmer" on land that Cleland later identifies
as the "Robinson farm." "Tenant farmer" is a step up from "hired hand".
1918 Spring Jake moved to Robinson farm
1918 Aug 6 Jake 1st writes to Myrtle
1918 Dec 26 Jake/Myrtle marry in Deming, NM
"soon after" Jake/Myrtle return to the Robinson farm
It was winter time. Farm chores had dwindled. Jake made a
flying trip from Wigwam to Deming, ~600 miles, married, took
his bride back to Wigwam in time for Spring 1919 farm chores.
Flyin'? Well, railroad, I presume.
1919 Oct 13 Cleland born on the Robinson farm
1921 Jun 23 Norvill born in Wigwam.
1925 Aug 13 Bona Jeame born in Colorado Springs
1925 Sep 19 Kenneth [Myrtle's 2nd son by Benjamin Roberts] died
1926 Apr 7 Bona died in Colorado Springs
Jake sold his farm equipment and went in search of a new home
1926 Oct Jake/Myrtle family moved to Stinnett
1927 Dec 20 Ethellea born in Stinnett
So, at least, we can put the pic 1918-1925. Who took the pic? Maybe Myrtle.
The size of the Robinson farm is not specified, but one man, with horse/mule
power, pretty well maxes out at 40 acres. Natheless, at times -- harvest --
help is needed. The 3rd feller may be a temporary hired hand. Perhaps a Robinson,
of which there were 100+ in El Paso Co. in 1910-1930. In 1911, the population of
Wigwam was only 30, but it had a post office. R.G. Robinson was the postmaster.
I suppose the 3rd feller could be another of Jake's brothers, but I doubt it.
Certainly not Harve. He wasn't cut out for farm work. Besides, from 1914 to 1920,
he was with 2nd wife Annie Holland in Grant Co., AR.
Cleland says that Norvill lived on "three separate farms" before the move to Stinnett.
So there was not just "the" Robinson farm. Perhaps the Robinsons had other farms.
Perhaps there were other landowners.
It turns out that I met, or at least saw, Jake in 1964 at my grandmother Pricie's
funeral.
Oh, Jake, Jake, Jake, ya had plenty of room to put more than "J.H.". Sigh.
There are a lot of J.H.s; Cleland lists 16.
The only Early 1st cousins that Tracy and I had were sons of J.B.
No J.H.'s there. So J.H. must be x removed.
I suppose that various of Ran's family attended the funeral; they
were next door in Fisher County. Whether they were at the funeral or
not, Jake certainly would have visited with some of them since he was
in the neighborhood. Ran had a grandson James Henry Early b. 1921;
I doubt he could've had a grandson in college by 1964, and Cleland
lists no James Henry grandsons.
Perhaps, in Jake's correspondence, there'll be a letter from Tracy
clearin' up that little mystery.
All of which brings me to that audio tape of Ethellea's interview with Jake.
Mebbe so you could get that converted to an audio file so we can all listen?
