Part 2: The history of our great home area as described so well by Dorothy McKeever Yelton
My husband's brother, Charley, born in 1920, started to school at Cooper. That school was located across the road from Dee Phillips Store and then to the east next to the next road going north, about a half block. I only saw foundation cement blocks when I lived in that area. When Cooper School closed, Charley went to Lyman. When Lyman closed, he went to Webb City. I remember the school bus stopped at the Vinnedge School to let off kids and then pick them up in the afternoon. It was a grade school and was located just west of the Phillips office there at the Vinnedge Camp. There were 12 grades at the Hilltop School. It was a pretty big white school building, one story. It really had a good gym floor. There were teacherages located west of the school for the teachers to live in. Phillips had a Camp up there but I don't remember the name of the Camp. Wilson's and Dodson's lived there. I think there were five houses in that Camp. There was a road going up to the school on the east side of the hill from the road going down to Big Beaver.
I started to school in 1930 in Broken Arrow, OK, and transferred to Haycreek School, located at the south end of Webb City in 1933 when I was in the third grade. Mr. Etchison was my teacher. He came there from the Lyman School. My brother started first grade in Broken Arrow and then to Webb City. There was a one room white building used for the first grade on the west side of the Haycreek School playground on the other side of the wire fence. Ms. Hunter was his teacher.
My cousin, Jane Harvey Payne, started to school in Apperson. The Felty's were the teachers. Then she rode her horse to Denoya to school which was about three or four miles. Denoya was originally named Whizbang. Then she went to Burbank School where she graduated from high school. That is another school that had a good gym floor. Jane drove the school bus while attending Burbank School. The Apperson School land is partly on my brother and sister-in-law's land in Apperson now. His widow, Eleanor, still lives there. She attended Carter Nine School. Holton Payne attended Little Beaver School and then on to Webb City. Then he went to Shidler School when the high school was transferred, He graduated from Shidler.
I went to Webb City School in my 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades. Then in my 6th at Hilltop, in my 7th at Big Beaver, and then back to Webb City for my 8th through 12th grades. Webb City School only had two school buses and each one made two and three trips each morning and evening. After everyone was in school, one bus took the kids that were going to go to Jr. College over to the Shidler High School where they took their classes. They returned in the afternoon before the buses made they regular trips.
The gym for Webb City and Shidler Schools was almost in the middle of the school. It was also used as an auditorium. You went in the front door and straight ahead to the gym. I played basketball in my days and was in the Band, 4-H Club, and editor of the Driller newspaper.
Gypsy Camp was about 3/4 mile west of the Vinnedge Camp. It was sort of on a hill and was a long Camp. The Reese's, Miller's, Fickinger's, Overman's, Marshall's and more lived there. It was owned by a different company than Phillips. Seems like it was Magnolia. I never knew of a school being there. Everyone living in that Camp put a red light bulb in the front porch light at Christmas time. Sometimes it was green or blue. You could see those lights from wasy off. It was pretty.
Haycreek School had second and third grades. Lyman School was in Lyman west of the Skelly Camp, northwest of Webb City next to the Kay County line. Cooper was about three miles west of Webb City.
Sonny (Charles) Holloway and I went to Big Beaver School at the same time. He was in the 8th and I was in the 7th. It was a two room school with a stage in the lower grade room. There was a large pull down wall that was in between the two rooms. Mr. and Mrs. Ted Fisher were the teachers. The bathroom was on outhouse out at the back fence behind the school. Had a dirt basketball court, teeter totters, and swings. The Music teacher came out from Newkirk. One time, we tried learning to play the harmonica. Sometimes Little Beaver School came over to visit Big Beaver School for different activities. That is how I met JoAnne Payne. The rest is history.
I have a sister-in-law, Mary Jackson Yelton, who rode a horse to school in Grainola in the 1930's. The school had a shed and she kept her horse in there until she got out of school in the afternoon.
This has been a long description about the schools and the oilfield but maybe it will help you. There were many people and oilfield camps everywhere. Most people went to town on Saturday nights to sit on the sidewalk and talk to people they knew and to buy groceries for the next week. There was also a movie theater in Shidler and Webb City. The one at Shidler was the only one when I was in high school. I did go to western movies at the theater in Webb City. That building later became a grocery store for the Epley's, Dee Phillips, and the Clapps.
Hopefully, I will be at Homecoming in October 2012. This is the 79th anniversary of the 1942 Class. We have five left of our Webb City Class. The other four besides me have health issues and may not get to attend Homecoming.
All for this time,
Thanks again to Dorothy,
So what did we learn in the Osage?
Dorothy McKeever Yelton
My husband's brother, Charley, born in 1920, started to school at Cooper. That school was located across the road from Dee Phillips Store and then to the east next to the next road going north, about a half block. I only saw foundation cement blocks when I lived in that area. When Cooper School closed, Charley went to Lyman. When Lyman closed, he went to Webb City. I remember the school bus stopped at the Vinnedge School to let off kids and then pick them up in the afternoon. It was a grade school and was located just west of the Phillips office there at the Vinnedge Camp. There were 12 grades at the Hilltop School. It was a pretty big white school building, one story. It really had a good gym floor. There were teacherages located west of the school for the teachers to live in. Phillips had a Camp up there but I don't remember the name of the Camp. Wilson's and Dodson's lived there. I think there were five houses in that Camp. There was a road going up to the school on the east side of the hill from the road going down to Big Beaver.
I started to school in 1930 in Broken Arrow, OK, and transferred to Haycreek School, located at the south end of Webb City in 1933 when I was in the third grade. Mr. Etchison was my teacher. He came there from the Lyman School. My brother started first grade in Broken Arrow and then to Webb City. There was a one room white building used for the first grade on the west side of the Haycreek School playground on the other side of the wire fence. Ms. Hunter was his teacher.
My cousin, Jane Harvey Payne, started to school in Apperson. The Felty's were the teachers. Then she rode her horse to Denoya to school which was about three or four miles. Denoya was originally named Whizbang. Then she went to Burbank School where she graduated from high school. That is another school that had a good gym floor. Jane drove the school bus while attending Burbank School. The Apperson School land is partly on my brother and sister-in-law's land in Apperson now. His widow, Eleanor, still lives there. She attended Carter Nine School. Holton Payne attended Little Beaver School and then on to Webb City. Then he went to Shidler School when the high school was transferred, He graduated from Shidler.
I went to Webb City School in my 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades. Then in my 6th at Hilltop, in my 7th at Big Beaver, and then back to Webb City for my 8th through 12th grades. Webb City School only had two school buses and each one made two and three trips each morning and evening. After everyone was in school, one bus took the kids that were going to go to Jr. College over to the Shidler High School where they took their classes. They returned in the afternoon before the buses made they regular trips.
The gym for Webb City and Shidler Schools was almost in the middle of the school. It was also used as an auditorium. You went in the front door and straight ahead to the gym. I played basketball in my days and was in the Band, 4-H Club, and editor of the Driller newspaper.
Gypsy Camp was about 3/4 mile west of the Vinnedge Camp. It was sort of on a hill and was a long Camp. The Reese's, Miller's, Fickinger's, Overman's, Marshall's and more lived there. It was owned by a different company than Phillips. Seems like it was Magnolia. I never knew of a school being there. Everyone living in that Camp put a red light bulb in the front porch light at Christmas time. Sometimes it was green or blue. You could see those lights from wasy off. It was pretty.
Haycreek School had second and third grades. Lyman School was in Lyman west of the Skelly Camp, northwest of Webb City next to the Kay County line. Cooper was about three miles west of Webb City.
Sonny (Charles) Holloway and I went to Big Beaver School at the same time. He was in the 8th and I was in the 7th. It was a two room school with a stage in the lower grade room. There was a large pull down wall that was in between the two rooms. Mr. and Mrs. Ted Fisher were the teachers. The bathroom was on outhouse out at the back fence behind the school. Had a dirt basketball court, teeter totters, and swings. The Music teacher came out from Newkirk. One time, we tried learning to play the harmonica. Sometimes Little Beaver School came over to visit Big Beaver School for different activities. That is how I met JoAnne Payne. The rest is history.
I have a sister-in-law, Mary Jackson Yelton, who rode a horse to school in Grainola in the 1930's. The school had a shed and she kept her horse in there until she got out of school in the afternoon.
This has been a long description about the schools and the oilfield but maybe it will help you. There were many people and oilfield camps everywhere. Most people went to town on Saturday nights to sit on the sidewalk and talk to people they knew and to buy groceries for the next week. There was also a movie theater in Shidler and Webb City. The one at Shidler was the only one when I was in high school. I did go to western movies at the theater in Webb City. That building later became a grocery store for the Epley's, Dee Phillips, and the Clapps.
Hopefully, I will be at Homecoming in October 2012. This is the 79th anniversary of the 1942 Class. We have five left of our Webb City Class. The other four besides me have health issues and may not get to attend Homecoming.
All for this time,
Thanks again to Dorothy,
So what did we learn in the Osage?
- Everyone is related
- Don't talk bad about anyone as everyone knows everyone and they may be family
- Our roots are deep in the Osage
Thanks for your time,
gary@thepioneerman.com
Dorothy McKeever Yelton
2 comments:
Again, this stuff is so cool, so irresistible to read! I am in awe of this lady and her recollections! And my sister and I were raised right there in the middle of it all, living in Vinnedge Camp, and never had a clue to all this history! Thank you, Gary and Dorothy!
Yes, this is wonderful history. I came along much later, but did get to attend Ebb City school for first and second grades. The school was a great brick strucure but was blown completely away by the second F-5 in May of 1955 or 56. It was not rebuilt so we all had to finish up in Shidler. I lived in Gladys McComb Camp (also called Camp 40) 1 mile due west of the school. I definitely remember Clapp's store. My family moved away to my great sadness after my sophomore year. In our camp we had Gibert Haas, Mary Dean Davidson, Stewart Baker, Charles Wheeler, David McCollum, Dennis and Douglas Singer, Robbie Frederichs, Roy Allen Husted, and G. D. Williams, along with a host of others who moved in and out. I know right where Russell lived in the next camp over. Was Craig Lotz in that camp? Blue and Bright Starr lived nearby, as did Diana Ball. The Osage is the greatest place on God's Green Earth. Thanks, Dorothy!
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