Beckham County, OK - Biographies, Beaulah Vista (Murphy) Lamar
Wednesday, January 20, 1999

Submitted by:  permey@aol.com  (Paula S. Ermey)
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 Contributor's Note:

 These notes were handwritten by my great aunt, Beaulah Vista (Murphy)
Lamar about her family and their migration from AR to OK at the turn of
the century. The woman that she initially refers to as "their 4th child"
was Sarah Ellen Wright (b. 31 March 1868 in Pocahontas, Hardeman Co., TN,
d. 12 August 1936 in Sayre, OK). Sarah was the daughter of Malcolm A.
Wright (b. 27 March 1833 in SC, d 22 September 1916 in Sayre, OK) and
Minerva J. Cantrell (b. 9 November 1840 in TN, d. 4 March 1922 in Sayre, OK).
 
 "When their 4th child, a daughter, became 16 years old she met and
married William Alexander Murphy. He was 19, she was 16. A few years
after, they bought a farm near Hardy, Arkansas, Sharp County. He farmed,
taught school, raised most of their living. Raised cattle, hogs,
chickens, and geese. The house faced the south, big, four rooms with
porch across the front. Yard was fenced. Railroad run in front of house,
about 15 yards. The fireman and conductor was his friends. Every day at
train time, Mr. Murphy's three oldest children would be out on the porch
waiting for the trains. As they come around the bend, the fireman would
blow the whistle and ring the bell. By the time they got even with the
house, they were hollering, laughing and waving, whistle still blowing,
bell ringing until they were out of distant. Fun for all. They butchered
beef, hogs, canned peaches in gallon syrup bucket, sealed then with
sealing wax. Dried peaches, apples and pumpkins. Gathered the rest of
apples, put all in basement. Cabbage, got ready made a fifty gallon barrel
of kraut, put in basement. Cucumbers, got ready made a fifty gallon barrel
of cucumbers. Pickles, put in basement. Rest of cabbage, they taken a
turning plow, made furrows, pulled up cabbage turned up side down in
furrow, throwed another furrow over them, put row after until they had
them all in the ground. Had nice crisp cabbage all winter.

When potatoes was dug, sweet and Irish, put them in the basement. When
beans were dry, shelled then treated, they sacked them. When harvest time came, 
they put their hay in the barn loft. Corn in the bins. They would
shell a big sack of corn, take it to the mill, paid corn for toll, bring
back fifty pounds of corn meal. Butcher their beef, cure. Butcher hogs,
cut a lot of lean meat off, grind into sausage, tubs full, season it and
put into sacks like you get at the store. Cure their meat pack it away,
enough of all to do a year. Render their lard for a year. Lots of wild
meat, fish, squirrels, rabbits, possum and quails, prairie chicken,
pheasant, dove and frogs if you wanted. They also made jellies, jams,
preserves, apple butter. Mr. & Mrs. Murphy, their four children, Etter,
Beaulah, Elmer & Mertie was moving to Texas. Their son, Elmer taken
pneumonia. The doctor said he wasn't able to make the trip. Mr. Murphy
went on ahead and rented a farm from his brother-in-law, Mr. D.D. Wilson,
two miles North East of Stoneburg, (TX). When their son got able to
travel, Mrs. Murphy and children was ready to go. Her brother, Mr. !
Jim Wright, came with her to help her make the change. Had to make one
change from Hardy, Arkansas, Sharp County to Ringgold, Texas, Montague
County. Mr. Murphy met them there. He came in a covered wagon. It was
pouring down rain, had supper at Ringgold, Tex, headed for Stoneburg, but
the rain got so bad had to stop for the night, drove to Stoneburg next
day. Mr. Murphy had started farming, had the house furnished had been
batching - farmed that year, 1892. They rented the Oshield farm for four
years, 1893 - 1896, two and a half miles east of Stoneburg, TX. Farmed.
Kids went to Oak Hill School. Then rented a farm one year 1897 from Mr.
Arnold down near Bowie, TX, Montague County. Children went to Queen (?)
Peak School. Mrs. Bird, teacher. Next rented a farm from Mr. Matthew, two
years, 1898-1899. Farmed, bought and built a gin. Farmed and run the gin.
The gin burned later in 1899. The two years when we lived on Mr.
Matthew's, the farm came to the edge of the town. We lived in !
town. Children went to school in Stoneburg, had a one room school
house, professor Mr. Limdn(?) Princleme(?), Miss Sally Hester, teacher.
 
 Bunch of friends got together and made a covered wagon train. Ten
covered wagons. Mr. Murphy had two. He drove one, Cleve Foreman drove his
other one. Mrs. Foreman had two, Jasper Foreman drove one, Walter Foreman
drove one. Charlie Wright had one he drove. Jim Wright had one he drove.
Harry Boyd had one he drove. Will Boyd had one he drove. Steve Havern had
one he drove. Mr. D.D. Wilson's niece and husband, Mr. & Mrs. Barnes had
one he drove. All set and headed West. Covered wagon train was a week on the 
road, landed in Beckham County, no railroad, no wagon road, no cow
trails, no trees, no barb wire fences. Grass so tall you couldn't see a
man's head on a horse. No houses. Seen a dugout maybe a 1/2 mile or a
mile. When the settlers came in and killed the high grass out, there was
a wide leaf plant come up called lo-co. The stock loved it and hunted for
it. They would eat it and get so poor and stagger around and die.
Sometimes get blind. We had lots of rattlesnakes. We always kept hoes and
killed them. The first year we made a sod crop, plowed a furrow with the
turning plow, dropped the seed in by hand, next furrow cover it. Plant in
every third furrow. Corn, cotton, milo, maze, kaffir corn and Cass(?).
Didn't make much. Give the crop to his brother-in-law, Frank Turner, to
come and stay on the place. Got in covered wagon, headed back to
Stoneburg. A week's drive, picked cotton for Jack Stacy for 40 cents a
hundred and boarded ourselves."