Nothing gets me more excited than to hear form a reader of the Shidler Review or of my blog. Mrs. Yelton has written one of the most detailed letters and I am going to share it with you in parts.
Part 1:
Hello Gary,
I received the Shidler Review dated July 19, 2012. I read your article about the schools. Very interesting. I can tell that I am older than you by the info in the article. I am now 88 and graduated from Webb City in 1942. I went to schools in the Webb City area and Webb City. I will just start off like I was talking to you about the different schools.
The brick schools at Webb City and Shidler were built alike. I think Webb City was built first and Shidler came soon after. Most of the oil production was in the Webb City area at the time. They thought the oilfield would be centered around Cooper but it wasn't, so Cooper died. Cooper was about three miles west of Webb City on that road between Webb City and Kaw City. My grandparents, H.A.C. and Entis Owen moved from Douglas, Kansas, to Apperson around 1922. He heard there was an oil boom down there and went. His work turned out to be around Webb City so he moved his family to Webb City. They lived across the road from Haycreek School in Webb City with seven children They lived in a tent with a wooden floor until Phillips built the LaSarge Camp southeast of Webb City. They bought their water by the barrel. The kids all walked to school. Then they moved to the house on the corner across the street west of the brick high school. Entis Owen and family operated a cafe on Main St. while they lived there. A tornado hit Webb City in 1928 and tore up the town and took the roof off the middle of the brick school. I was in that house when the tornado hit. I was four years old. My brother was less than a year old. My grandmother and mother put us each in a straight dining room chair and wrapped us in quilts including the chair so that we would not get hurt. The two of them held the back door shut. When it was over, I remember seeing Grandpa's car upside down in the yard and all of Mother's brother's rabbits laying dead in the yard. That roof on the school was never replaced. That area was always open to the sky with the cement floor. They never used it for anything.
Then my grandparents moved to the Collect Camp about a mile west of town. I lived with them there too until in 1934 when my Dad was hired by Phillips. Jobs were hard to find during the Depression. Grandma and Grandpa Owen moved from the Collect Camp to the east side of Big Bertha Camp. That was probably in 1938. Then they moved to the Pipeline Camp east of the No. 2 plant. Then they moved to the west side of Big Bertha Camp. Grandpa Owen retired while living there. He was the district gauger for the whole field. My Mother and Dad, Earl and Florence McKeever, lived in the Mid Kansas Camp north of Cooper when he started to work for Phillips in 1934. We lived in a shotgun house with a tin roof and with gas lights. My Dad was a relief pumper and then a pumper. He always worked in the Cooper area. We then moved to No. 3 Camp, just south of Hilltop and behind Turner's Store. Then we moved to the west end of the north side of Clubb Camp. There were ten houses in the Camp with five houses on each side with an oiled road down through the middle.The north side of the Camp went to Big Beaver School and the south side of the Camp went to Hilltop. Then we moved to the north end of the College Camp east of Hilltop. Then we moved to the middle of the south side of Clubb Camp. I was old enough to ride the bus to Webb City by then. Then we moved to the the south end of College Camp again. My parents stayed there until my Dad retired in 1961. They sold their house which they bought from Phillips to Dick Krohn in Webb City who moved it to Main St. in Webb City. That house is still there today and people living in it. It is across the street from where Krohn's mechanic shop was. My in-laws, Clarence and Laura Yelton, lived in that house shortly after it was built. I think one other family lived in it before they did. One son, Albert, was born in that house in 1928 and a daughter, Sherileen, was born in that same house in 1935. My brother, Floyd McKeever, and I were living in that house when we graduated from high school in Webb city. I graduated in 1942 and he graduated in 1945.
Well you can see why her story excites me as she is a real historian of the area.
What do you learn in the Osage?
Part 1:
Hello Gary,
I received the Shidler Review dated July 19, 2012. I read your article about the schools. Very interesting. I can tell that I am older than you by the info in the article. I am now 88 and graduated from Webb City in 1942. I went to schools in the Webb City area and Webb City. I will just start off like I was talking to you about the different schools.
The brick schools at Webb City and Shidler were built alike. I think Webb City was built first and Shidler came soon after. Most of the oil production was in the Webb City area at the time. They thought the oilfield would be centered around Cooper but it wasn't, so Cooper died. Cooper was about three miles west of Webb City on that road between Webb City and Kaw City. My grandparents, H.A.C. and Entis Owen moved from Douglas, Kansas, to Apperson around 1922. He heard there was an oil boom down there and went. His work turned out to be around Webb City so he moved his family to Webb City. They lived across the road from Haycreek School in Webb City with seven children They lived in a tent with a wooden floor until Phillips built the LaSarge Camp southeast of Webb City. They bought their water by the barrel. The kids all walked to school. Then they moved to the house on the corner across the street west of the brick high school. Entis Owen and family operated a cafe on Main St. while they lived there. A tornado hit Webb City in 1928 and tore up the town and took the roof off the middle of the brick school. I was in that house when the tornado hit. I was four years old. My brother was less than a year old. My grandmother and mother put us each in a straight dining room chair and wrapped us in quilts including the chair so that we would not get hurt. The two of them held the back door shut. When it was over, I remember seeing Grandpa's car upside down in the yard and all of Mother's brother's rabbits laying dead in the yard. That roof on the school was never replaced. That area was always open to the sky with the cement floor. They never used it for anything.
Then my grandparents moved to the Collect Camp about a mile west of town. I lived with them there too until in 1934 when my Dad was hired by Phillips. Jobs were hard to find during the Depression. Grandma and Grandpa Owen moved from the Collect Camp to the east side of Big Bertha Camp. That was probably in 1938. Then they moved to the Pipeline Camp east of the No. 2 plant. Then they moved to the west side of Big Bertha Camp. Grandpa Owen retired while living there. He was the district gauger for the whole field. My Mother and Dad, Earl and Florence McKeever, lived in the Mid Kansas Camp north of Cooper when he started to work for Phillips in 1934. We lived in a shotgun house with a tin roof and with gas lights. My Dad was a relief pumper and then a pumper. He always worked in the Cooper area. We then moved to No. 3 Camp, just south of Hilltop and behind Turner's Store. Then we moved to the west end of the north side of Clubb Camp. There were ten houses in the Camp with five houses on each side with an oiled road down through the middle.The north side of the Camp went to Big Beaver School and the south side of the Camp went to Hilltop. Then we moved to the north end of the College Camp east of Hilltop. Then we moved to the middle of the south side of Clubb Camp. I was old enough to ride the bus to Webb City by then. Then we moved to the the south end of College Camp again. My parents stayed there until my Dad retired in 1961. They sold their house which they bought from Phillips to Dick Krohn in Webb City who moved it to Main St. in Webb City. That house is still there today and people living in it. It is across the street from where Krohn's mechanic shop was. My in-laws, Clarence and Laura Yelton, lived in that house shortly after it was built. I think one other family lived in it before they did. One son, Albert, was born in that house in 1928 and a daughter, Sherileen, was born in that same house in 1935. My brother, Floyd McKeever, and I were living in that house when we graduated from high school in Webb city. I graduated in 1942 and he graduated in 1945.
Well you can see why her story excites me as she is a real historian of the area.
What do you learn in the Osage?
- Our history runs deep
- Our lives are blessed by being there and being from there
- Honor, integrity and humility are cornerstones to the Osage
Thanks for your time,
gary@thepioneerman.com
1 comment:
Gary and Dorothy, this stuff is amazing! Dorothy, your memory is rare, in this day and time! Thanks to you both for making this available to us all! God bless you!
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