Anniversary of Joseph -- 50th - Beckham County, Oklahoma Submitted by: Delma Tindell 20 Sep 2009 Return to Beckham County Archives: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ok/beckham/beckham.htm ===================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm ===================================================================== JOSEPH, VERN (28 Jun 1961, Wednesday, Elk City Daily News, Elk City, Beckham Co, OK): Mr. and Mrs. Vern Joseph To be Honored On 50th Anniversary Mr. and Mrs. Vern Joseph will be honored on their Golden Wedding anniversary Sunday at a reception from 3 to 5 p.m. The event will be held at Monahan's restaurant. The host and hostesses for the affair will be their three children, Mrs. Vaughcille Beggs of Pasadena, Calif., Mrs. Billie Anita Reisch of Long Beach, Calif., and Don Vern (Buddy) Joseph of Jefferson City, Mo. Mrs. Joseph, the former Lillian Abbott, came from Texas with her parents in 1901 and filed on a claim south of Carter. Later they moved to the old Prairie View vicinity which now is known as the Merritt community. Her father served as a pioneer minister of the Cumberland Presbyterian church for many years. Mr. Joseph, son of David Joseph and the former Emma Meek, was born near Bethany, Mo., and moved to Oklahoma in 1893, locating near Enid. In 1900, his father came to Western Oklahoma and filed on a claim in what is now known as the Merritt community. The Josephs recall that at the time they came here the present site of Elk City was nothing more than a scrub oak (shinnery) patch. There was a store and post office, known as Old Crow located two miles south and one mile west of Elk City and another store operated by Bob Keen two miles east of Elk City on what is now the county line of Washita and Beckham counties. Mr. and Mrs. Joseph were married June 18, 1911 in the First Baptist church parsonage with the pastor, Rev. Sebe Thomas, officiating. They established a home in the Merritt community and in 1919 they moved to Elk City where they lived for several years and educated their children in the Elk City schools. Later the children attended college and all of them received college degrees. In 1944 they moved to their farm northwest of Elk City where they have lived ever since with the exception of a short period of time spent in California. Although Mr. Joseph lives on the farm, he has retired from the farming industry for the most part. He is a carpenter by trade, and in the past has built many homes in and around Elk City. He has worked with many contractors in the area. Among them were the Neece and Solomon Construction Co., with whom he worked as foreman. Mrs. Joseph is fond of antiques, and is a collector of old glassware. In addition to their three children, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph have two grandchildren, Thad and Jill Ann Joseph, son and daughter of the Buddy Josephs. All of the Josephs' friends are invited to stop by Monahan's Sunday afternoon to visit with the family. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Return to Beckham County Archives: http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/ok/beckham/beckham.htm