"Elder" Isaac Brown's Family in Nowata Oklahoma

In the late 1880s, "Elder" Isaac Brown (1846-1909) migrated with his family to the Cherokee Nation in present-day Nowata County, Oklahoma.  He was the younger brother of my Great-Grandfather, Jesse G. Brown (1842-1900).  This family news item is about "Elder" Isaac's family. [Note to Elder Isaac's family--our Jesse G. named a son after Elder Isaac, so Jesse's family refers to your Isaac as "Elder" Isaac to keep things a little more straight for us].

Jim Brown, of Marshall, MO, is my third cousin.  His great-grandfather, Elder Isaac Brown, was a brother to my great-grandfather, Jesse G. Brown.  Both Jesse & Isaac were born on the old Brown place on Bryant Creek in Douglas county MO.

I got to know Jim and his sisters, Judy Jordan (from Nowata, OK) and Beth Rogers (from Lenapah, OK), about three years ago when working with Laura Moncrief on her 2011 Squire-Brown-Burton book that tells our Brown family history.

Wednesday morning (June 19), Jim picked me up at my home in Springfield, MO, and we headed to Nowata, OK  We held off eating anything because we wanted to make room for the best onion rings that I have ever eaten--those at the Bliss Restaurant in Nowata.  Jim's sister, "Bethie" and her husband, Lester Rogers, met us there.  Lester is a decorated Vietnam War veteran, and both Lester & Jim are retired from law enforcement careers.  Lester was a long-time police chief at Dewey OK.

Horses and Cattle--That's What They Know in Nowata County

At Bliss Restaurant, Lester and Jim kept telling stories about the toughest cowboy they ever knew--someone whose first named sounded like "choate."  I finally figured out they were talking about Shoat Webster, World Champion Steer Roper from Jim's home town of Lenapah.  Jim had worked for Shoat when he was a kid and witnessed, first hand, the way Shoat could handle a steer, a horse, or a man for that matter.  Turns out Howard Chouteau "Shoat" Webster died on May 20, 2013, at the age of 88.  Everybody was still talking about Shoat.

This rather scrunched up picture above shows Ben Johnson (my favorite cowboy actor) with Shoat Webster among other rodeo stars in a by-gone era.  The full-sized picture showing about a dozen rodeo stars is hanging in the Train Depot Restaurant in Nowata, and that's where I snapped this picture.

Salt Creek -- Isaac's Cherokee Nation Home in 1893

Back in 2010, I ran onto a document dated 1893 that Elder Isaac's descendant, Jesse L. Johnson of Quinlan OK, had kept all these years.  It was a chattel mortgage between Isaac and a Coffeyville KS bank in which Isaac had borrowed money to finance a 120-acre wheat crop that year on the place in which he was living "...10 miles southeast of Lenapah on the banks of Salt Creek.  At that time, the land was in the Cherokee Nation, and Isaac was using land owned by Thomas Burnett.  Well, Beth Rogers' husband, Lester, took it upon himself to work with people in the Nowata County Court House, and got a pretty accurate idea where the family lived that year and raised that crop.  It was in eastern Nowata County just south of U.S. Hwy 60. Here are some pictures taken there yesterday.

Salt Creek Bridge, U.S. 60 Hwy
east of Nowata, OK

Picture of Salt Creek looking south
from the U.S. 60 Hwy bridge 

Looking northeast from a county road
toward Salt Creek and U.S. Hwy 60

Nowata -- Visit with Merle Dean "Deannie" Brown Gilbert

"Elder" Isaac did not stay in Cherokee Nation very long it would seem.  Eventually he went up into southern Kansas and participated in one of the Oklahoma land runs into northwestern Oklahoma in the mid 1890s.  Later, he and his children all proved up homesteads around Quinlan OK which is located near the Oklahoma panhandle in present-day Woodward County.  One of Isaac Brown's two sons, James Madison "Jim" Brown, married Myrtle Palmer (a full-blooded Cherokee).  While they all had their children in the Quinlan area, Grandpa "Jim" moved the family back to Nowata County. Except for one son, Ira, all of Grandpa Jim & Grandma Myrtle's surviving children (several died before adulthood) lived out their lives in Nowata County.

Jim and Myrtle's twin sons, Lesley and Wesley, raised their families in Nowata.  Lesley's daughter, Merle Dean "Deannie" (Brown) Gilbert of Nowata has quite a few photos of her father's family,  Jim, Beth and I spent a couple of hours on Wednesday afternoon visiting and scanning Deannie's pictures.  [NOTE: Equally important to me was a six-page narrative that Deannie has written about her parents, Lesley & Gertrude (Scroggins) Brown.  It was scanned and now resides in my Brown family archives].

Lesley Brown at his Nowata farm in the 1960s or 70s -- he died in 1975

June 19, 2013 -- at the Gilbert Home next to the Nowata Country Club.  L-R: Elwane & Deannie (Brown) Gilbert,
Jim Brown & his sister, Beth Rogers.  [Elwane's wildlife paintings on wall behind them]

And The Best for Last

Deannie is the oldest living grandchild of James Madison & Myrtle (Palmer) Brown.  We wanted to ask her about her memories of both her grandparents and perhaps any discussion she heard about "Elder" Isaac himself.   Well apparently Grandpa Jim didn't talk too much that way, and so little was gleaned from her about those two people.  Still her photographs are timeless, and she told us a lot of family history.

Now, the youngest child of Grandpa Jim and Myrtle Brown was Raymond Brown.  He was seven years younger than Deanie's father, Lesley.  Ray was the father of Jim, Beth, and Judy, as well as a son Jerry who passed away in 2009 at the age of 65.  

Well, here's exactly the way it happened after we left Deannie's house.  We were driving through downtown Nowata and Bethie said pull over.  She took us across the street into the Nowata License Office where (surprise!) Jerry's grand-daughter, Lindsey Jones works.  I witnessed a really happy reunion among Lindsey, Aunt Beth and Uncle Jim; and I got to meet a beautiful young lady who recently has been asking questions about her Brown family.  I presented here with a copy of Laura Moncrief's 2011 Brown history book, and I think she'll be able to get up to speed on her Brown family on short order.

Downtown Nowata -- Lindsey's license office (with bunting draped in front) to left and Elwane and Deannie Gilberts' Shoe Store now-vacant building to the right.

 Next we drove out to Lenapah (north of Nowata several miles) and then to the nearby cemetery (Mt. Washington) where Jerry Brown was buried in 2009 and where Shoat Webster's grave still showed its fresh turned dirt from only about a month ago.  [To my cousin, Cinita Davis Brown, it was a nostalgic wind-swept Oklahoma-sized hill where one could see for miles].  In the distance to the east lay Lenapah; to the north not far away is the Shoat Webster place where his widow still lives.  In between is the ruins of the old Lenapah rodeo grounds that once provided a reason for Lenapah to be on the map.

Beth & Jim at the grave of their brother, Jerry

By this time, our collective minds were largely on Jerry Brown, his children and grandchildren  Later that evening, we all gathered at the Train Depot Cafe in Nowata where Jerry's daughter, Suzy, and two of his grandchildren, Jessie & Tate.  Jessie will be a senior at Nowata High School this coming year and is thinking about college.  Suzy commutes to suburban Tulsa for a medical services job.

L-R: Beth's life-long friend, Jan, Beth, Jim, then Jerry's daughter Suzy and two of her three children, Tate (in front) and Jessie (by her side).  Lindsey, unfortunately, could not be with us that evening.

Epilogue: "Doc" Brown (of Jesse) and Deannie Brown Gilbert (of Isaac)

You don't have to talk to too many  people over in Nowata County before you find someone who knew of or bought a used car from my Dad's brother, Doc Brown.  Likewise, lots of people bought shoes from the Gilberts there in Nowata.  Here's picture of "Uncle Doc" and his son, Phil that might bring back a memory or two:

Elwane, this next picture is for you--here's cousin Phil Brown (Doc Brown's boy) who is still training retrievers in Ash Grove outside Springfield.

Phil Brown with his master dog, Daisy (RIP)

Freight Train reading to zoom past our table at the
Train Depot Restaurant (Thursday morning, June 20, 2013)

HARTLEY FAMILY HISTORY -- An overlooked WILLIAMS HOLLER birth.

This news item relates to the family of my Mother, Kiree (Hartley) Brown

LORAYNE GUNNELS HAYNES -- The Hartley family home in Williams Holler was built in the early 1920s.  While Aunt Levon (Dochia) was the first born in the new house in 1926, I had forgotten that Grandma Hartley's niece, Lorayne Gunnels, gave birth to a girl, Betty, in 1935.  

Already with a full house of her children and step-children, Grandma Hartley reached out to her niece, Lorayne, at her time of need.  Lorayne (we all pronounced it Lorene) was the child of Grandma Minta's brother, John Gunnels.  In 1918 when Lorayne was quite young, her mother died in childbirth and her father died not much later of the 1918 influenza epidemic.

When we start putting together the Gunnels Family Book, Lorayne's chapter will contain a compelling story of tragic loss, then rejection and finally love and acceptance.  Something to look forward to.

Betty Haynes (whose father was Larkin Haden) and her husband, Jerry Fouts, live in retirement in their new condo on the outskirts of Nixa MO.  Jerry and Betty are battling Jerry's ALS affliction as explained in this recent news article: theozarkuncle.net/HARTLEY-PDFs/Fouts-ALS.pdf.

Lorayne in Later Life

Betty and her family in recent years

DAVIS-BROWN-GUNNELS Reunion Update

DAVIS-BROWN-GUNNELS Reunion Held on Sunday June 2, 2013 -- This item contains family news for the families of both my parents, James Orville "Jake" Brown, and Kiree (Hartley) Brown.  Mom's mother was Tessie Gunnels, and Tessie's sister, Annie Gunnels, married into the Davis family.

The organizers of the Davis-Brown-Gunnels reunion were pleasantly surprised by a good turnout at Sunday's reunion in Ava at the American Legion Hall.  Attendance was bolstered by a whole table with the family of Carol (Denney) and Danny Mork of Springfield, MO.  Carol's sister Beverly Williams also attended from Sulphur, OK.

At right, Carol and Beverly are pictured at the funeral of their Grandmother, Wilma (Davis) Flynn, with their brother, Chuck, and parents, Norma (Flynn) and Owen Denney, both of whom passed away in the last 12 months.

Carol and Beverly's Aunt Nancy Breshears and husband, Ronnie, were in attendance as usual--I think it's been years since those two ever missed one. .

We were also very pleased to see 89-year-old Clifton Davis, the eldest son of Aunt Annie (Gunnels) & Enoch Davis, along with his wife, Grace, and his young brother, Billy Davis and wife Darlene.

In the 2001 picture at left, Clifton was only 77 years old but doesn't look much different today except for a walker that helps him with his "get-a-long."

All four of the children of Maxine (Davis) Guthery Rosseau were in attendance -- Anna (of Cassville), Lee (of Seymour), Denzil (of Springfield), and Janie (of Ozark).  Of course, always delightful L.D., accompanied his mother, Janie;

A surprise visitor was Lee and Lisa Guthery's daughter, Shalyn, a recent graduate of Iowa State University in Ames.  She's headed off to Carnegie-Mellon University back east for graduate studies.

Right now, we're following this blog site for Shalyn as she heads from Ames Iowa to Pittsburgh PA by way of Seymour MO. http://isayhelloworld.wordpress.com/

I was so pleased to see my niece, Susan (Durham) Evans and son Jordan there was well.  In the 2000 picture at left, Susan is holding Jordan as a small boy.  Now Jordan is a star baseball player and entering the 8th grade at Thornfield School in northwest Ozark County MO.

Susan's husband, Dwight, could not come on Sunday because he was putting up hay.  Ozarks farmers have a "small window" in which to get the hay up and Dwight had no choice.  Not the first time that the men folk were kept away from a delicious meal because of time to put up hay.

Special surprises were Betty (Haynes) & Jerry Fouts of Nixa.  Betty's mother was a Gunnels.  Jerry was diagnosed with ALS several years ago but keeps on fighting the disease.  The Fouts family have sold their really nice home outside Ozark MO and now have an equally nice but smaller condo in northeast Nixa MO

Another great guest was Jim Brown of Marshall MO.  Jim is the great-grandson of "Elder" Isaac Brown who took his family to the Indian Territory in the late 1880s.  Jim's family and a whole slew of aunts and uncles settled in what is now Nowata County OK.  "Elder" Isaac has many descendants in that county as well as many more in the northwestern Oklahoma county of Woodward and specifically the village of Quinlan OK where "Elder" Isaac and many of his Browns are buried.

A retired deputy sheriff from central Missouri, Jim continues to help with the annual Rattlesnake roundup in Okeene OK each years and returned from there only about a month ago.

Of course, the event would not have happened without Cinita & Logan Brown, their daughters, Jane Brown, and Lynn Chrislaw with son Logan, plus last but not least was Betty (Davis) Burton, who always made sure the food and drinks were well arranged and accessible--a role she has performed for many many years too.

Thanks to all who attended, and our apologies to all who would have attended if given a little more advanced information.

HARTLEY FAMILY BOOK UPDATE

Update for the week ended Sunday, May 26, 2013
HARTLEY FAMILY BOOK -- 2013 VERSION
from Ken Brown, Springfield, MO:

• What should you be doing?  First, start gathering materials that tell about your life or that of your parent -- gather your best family photos and start jotting down notes about your childhood and then your adult life--schools attended, jobs held, marriages, births, deaths, children, grandchildren, etc. 
• How much should you collect?  As much as you want--even if there isn't room in the book for some of it, we'll all have it, and it may be used later.

Things that happened this week---

• Visited with Aunt "Levon" over the phone.  She had received my mailing of the drafts of the "Ira & Minta Hartley" Chapter, the "Lawrence Hartley" write-up about his early life, and the "James Brown" Chapter.  She's excited about what we're doing, and she had some suggestions about what to include and what not to.  I obtained cousin Jerry Hartley's address from Aunt "Levon".
• Sent packages of the draft chapters to (1) Jerry Hartley, (2) Gary Hartley, (3) Sue Masters, (4) Joe Luttrell, and (5) my sister, Evelyn.  Visited with cousin Sue Masters over the phone about our project and other things.  Nice visit.
• Delivered a package of the draft chapters to my niece, Gerry Marie Burton, daughter of my sister Evelyn.  We decided I should write a form letter to all of my children and those of my sisters--we'll get them all involved in one way or another.
• ATTENTION: to the children of my sister, Evelyn, and my sister, Iris Ann.  I'll be sending you materials and then start discussions about your mothers' chapters.
• Received a call from cousin Jerry Hartley.  Take note:  
• Here is his contact information:
• Jerry's Cell: 434-575-0194
• Jerry's Address: 502 Bellwood Lane, South Boston, Virginia 24592-2948
• Email Address: not yet received.
• Great news from Jerry:
• Jerry and Linda have the family pictures for Uncle Eldon and Aunt Verda.  They are in storage but will be pulled out soon.
• Jerry has taken an interest in the Civil War.  Now our Great-Grandpa, Bill Hartley, and several of his brothers served with the Union.  Gr-Grandpa Bill was in Sherman's "March to the Sea."  Jerry is going to take what we know and see what else can be found.
• Eldon's Chapter--I'm to create a "starter" chapter for Uncle Eldon and then pass it on to Jerry for completion.
• The chapter drafts I've been mentioning are downloadable from my web site at: http://www.theozarkuncle.com/HARTLEY.html.
• Click on this link to see the photos I already have for your branch of the family. https://www.adoberevel.com/libraries/130f1d4836a7458cb99313961ed180ed/albums

MY CONTACT INFORMATION IS KEN BROWN, 4108 E. EASTMOOR ST., SPRINGFIELD, MO 65809, PHONE 417-350-0472 -- EMAIL: OZARKUNCLE@GMAIL.COM