The beginning of my story will have to focus on the two sides of my family. My grandmother, Mary Curran, came to this country as a result of the potato famine in Ireland. The other side of the coin is my grandfather, Peter Schaefer, an immigrant from Germany. I don’t know much about the Curran family, except they settled in Sedalia, Missouri. Two sisters ended up in Okarche. The first married a Coffey and Mary visiting her sister, met and married Peter Schaefer. The result of this union, were five children. Petranella, Marie, Agnes, Joseph and Josephine.
Peter Schaefer and his brother Mathias came to the United States, from Germany. They were young, twelve years or so, and were sponsored by an older relative. They first settled in Minnesota and later came to Indian Territory, to purchase land North and west of Okarche, Oklahoma. The name Okarche, which always sounded German to me, actually means, (Oklahoma Arapaho Cheyenne) a plains Indian tribe. Thus OK-AR-CHE. I think Okarche, was an agency headquarters, for the Indian agent. Concho reservation was about seven miles to the south of Okarche. Darlington agency, circa 1865, and Fort Reno (1865) were established, to accommodate and maintain the Concho Indian Reservation.
The Schaefer brothers, worked hard and established homes on their property. The Mathias Schaefer home has received a centennial designation, as it achieved, 100 years of existence. It is currently farmed by Tom Schaefer. Pioneer methods were used to make and develop these properties. The early days were tough, with drought and hard winters and to generally survive was difficult. I have heard the brothers developed typhoid after drinking water from the creek, which passed through their farm. By hard work and the use of antiquated methods, they were able to establish themselves and their properties into a livable situation and raise families.
The Higdon side of my family also came to Indian Territory in 1900. Robert Higdon and Mary Friel Higdon were married in Nebraska. Robert Higdon, from Owensboro, Kentucky, had come west to work in the harvest. Their previous home had been in Adair, Iowa, about 50 miles west of Des Moines. Robert’s brother Louis hailed from Grinnel, Iowa, some 50 miles east of Des Moines. The Higdon’s were supposed to be part Indian. They were basically English and Irish descendents. Mary Friel was Irish, and was religious, as was Robert Higdon. They moved back to Kentucky, after they were first married, but returned to Iowa because she didn’t like the lifestyle in Kentucky. Around 1900 Robert Higdon came to Indian Territory, by himself, and acquired some property on the North Canadian River. This land was 2 miles north of Calumet, Oklahoma and one half east. Robert and Mary already had a family of 4 children. Margaret, Lawrence, Loretta and Mildred, who was an infant. After Robert had established a foot hold, the rest of the family came to El Reno, Oklahoma, by train. They went by wagon, through Fort Reno, through the Ellison Ranch and crossed the North Canadian River to their new home site.
Thus was established, two pioneer families, who busied themselves with the task of surviving in a new and foreign territory. My father, Lawrence Higdon, always talked about the grass being belly deep to the cattle on the Ellison Ranch. The Choctaw Southern Railway ran west of El Reno, by Fort Reno and thru Calumet.
I have seen a picture, of the Higdon’s during the early years. It was a makeshift shade of branches, supported by 4 poles. Their life was initially very rough. I think their first home was a dugout. They later built a home and farmed at the first site.
The initial home site must have proved unsatisfactory as the North Canadian River flooded often. After building a small house, and apparently making some progress in farming, the Higdon family bought a quarter section of land three and one half miles north of Calumet, Oklahoma. This was in 1907, when Oklahoma became a State. They first built a large barn, on the property. Cedar poles were hauled from the South Canadian river, and used for the main support. Dimensional lumber was used for the rest of the construction. A two story house was constructed, consisting of two bedrooms, upstairs, one bedroom downstairs, living room, kitchen and pantry. A chimney was placed between the kitchen and dining room. This supported the cooking and heating of the house. A open porch was on the front, south and back of the house. Immediately to the north of the back porch was a milk house and water well (windmill). Behind the milk house was a cellar and lilac bush. A lane separated the milk house and the brooder house. Behind the brooder house was an orchard and garden spot. There was a silo between the barn and a granary. The granary consisted of three bins, separated by a drive through, with a corncrib on the east side. The barn was built to accommodate, cattle and horses. The south side had stanchions, for milking, while the north side had horse stalls. The center, used for hay storage, had a rail and hay hook, with pulley, to fill it with forage for the animals.
The early days in Calumet were tough, but the Higdon family seemed to prosper. In time they all attended school, probably at Lone Star, which was one mile north of Higdon corner. My dad talked about the unruly getting out of hand, under the tutor, who was a man. The school hired a schoolteacher, who was a petite little thing. Petite as she was, she carried a bullwhip, which she used on the big burly country boys. Needless to say the education proceeded in an orderly fashion, after a few confrontations.
The Higdon girls, after attending Lone Star, went to Sacred Heart Academy, a parochial school, located in El Reno, the county seat. Lawrence, being a man, never made it past the 8th grade. He was always getting the crops in, when school started in the fall, and finally dropped out, because of starting late. I suppose the philosophy was, he would always work the land, and would not need a formal education. Margaret taught school in Calumet. Loretta taught music in Okarche. Mildred was educated but never taught anything, to my knowledge. I think they left Sacred Heart Academy, and finished their education at Oklahoma College for Women at Chickasha. This was because they were given music lessons , for free, along with their education. They all met their spouses from the Okarche area. Loretta married John Heinen. Margaret married Richard Grellner. Mildred married John Hufnagle.
Lawrence continued working on the farm with his dad and mother. As he approached manhood, he decided to leave the farm, and try something else. He was going to hire out as an engineer, with the railroad, with his buddy, Eddie Powell. For some reason this idea didn’t develop and he ended up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, working in a wholesale house. He took up smoking while on this job. Supposedly tobacco leaked out in shipment and he rolled his own from the leavings. It was during this time that World War 1, was going on in Europe. While in Tulsa, he was drafted, and reported to Ft. Riley, Kansas. After basic training, he reported to Ft. Rucker, Alabama. He received training as a Medic and on completion was sent to the European theater. He arrived in Marseilles, France; they marched for two weeks, in the rain, without taking their boots off. His job was taking care of the casualties, in the morgue. He was in France when the Armistice was declared, on November 11th. He was always big on Armistice Day celebrations, since he was personally involved, when it happened. Upon his release from the Army, he returned to the farm and worked with his mother and dad.
Nellie Schaefer, being the eldest of the Schaefer siblings, worked along with her dad plowing the fields. She too, received some formal education and piano lessons, but dropped out in the 9th grade. She was required to work, late in the fall, following the German tradition. Children, when old enough, carried a share of the workload. In order to accomplish the tasks of farming all able bodied members of the family got behind the plow.
Nellie attended school in Okarche. She boarded with an old German couple, and did household chores and helped with the cooking. Her home was six miles from town, but travel was by horse and buggy, so she had to stay close to the school. She must have been a good student. Her penmanship was very pretty and legible. Her cooking skills came in handy, in later life, because she had a large family of her own. I think Grandma Schaefer had health problems, which might have been a reason to quit school early. The Schaefer’s also built a two-story house, a large barn and some utility buildings. They raised wheat, sheep, hogs and cattle. It was traditional to make sauerkraut, wine and render and cure hog meat. They always had sausages, ham, bacon, which they smoked. They used all parts of the butchered animals. Heart, tongue and liver were eaten along with brains and headcheese. Like the Higdon’s, they went about the daily tasks of survival, but of two different cultures.
