The Gateway to Oklahoma History

What you can Find

 

The gateway is a wonderful resource for those of you that have a strong family history in Oklahoma.

You can find genealogy data such as information on the land lotteries and who the participants and winners were. The site has Marriage, Divorce, Prison, and Death Information; Census, Directories, and Incorporation Records; Biographies, Family History, and Lineage Groups; Military Resources, and much more.

I have found many articles and announcements about my ancestors in the historicals newspapers listed on the gateway.

I have also found information regarding the 1901 El Reno land lottery and where my 2nd Great Grandfather, Josiah Johnson was listed as having received land.

El Reno Homesteader Filings

Number	Name	City	State

1951

Josiah Johnson

Norman

O.T.

 

In the photo above, the buses and bus barns are shown waiting for those who came to the August 6, 1901 land lottery to be transported.  This is how Josiah Johnson was taken to the lottery.  This photo was on the Gateway.

There is so much more information on The Gateway To Oklahoma History that I don't have the space to cover it all here.  Please don't pass up this valuable resource, and have fun exploring!

http://gateway.okhistory.org/

Cora Lee Meek & Lawrence Earl Johnson

Cora & Larry-Hell Raisers For Sure

 

Cora and Larry were my Grandparents and my Father's parents.  

They started off their lives together raising hell.  When they got married (for the first time), on June 29, 1925, they lied.  They lied about their ages.  Grandma Cora said she was 19, but she was really only 15.  Grandpa Larry said he was 22, but he was really only 19.  

They were married by the Justice of the Peace in Altus, Jackson County, Oklahoma.

Grandpa stated his occupation as being a Farmer.  Grandma stated her occupation as being a Farmer's daughter.  I guess after she was married, her occupation became a Farmer's wife.  It turns out that Grandma had many occupations after she got married.  Farmer's wife, baby maker, guard of the still where they made their white lighting/moonshine, etc.

The husband's parents were named as V. E. Johnson (Virgil Eagleton Johnson) who lived in Eakly, OK.  The wife's parents were named as Mrs. Martha Miller who lived in Binger, OK.

Please see their marriage record below where they told their tale....

Grandma and Grandpa had six children together.  Their first child died shortly after she was born.  Their second child was Jasper Edgar born 1927, Virgil James was born in 1929.  

Below is a photo of Grandma Cora with either Jasper or Virgil.

Cora Lee Meek

Grandma and Grandpa separated after Virgil was born.  I am not sure if they got divorced and remarried or not.  In any event, they were still seeing one another.  They got back together again when they discovered that Charles Paul was on the way.  Charles was born in 1931.  Ellen Jane was born in 1933, Lawrence Gerald was born in 1935.

Back row, Cora, Virgil, Front row, left to right, Lawrence, aka little Larry, aka John, Ellen, Charles

In the photo above, Jasper is missing.  He may been away somewhere.  My Dad, John has his hands all balled up like he was going to fight.  Being the youngest, he had to fight his brothers, and the Johnson boys were raised to be tough.  My Dad's hands are already almost as big as Charlie's hands.  I think this photo was taken after they came to California from Oklahoma.  Hell Raisers for sure in this photo.  I'm not too sure if any of them had any Holy Roller in them; maybe a tad toward the end of their lives.

Lawrence Earl Johnson is on the right and his brother, Harve Orville Johnson is on the left

I don't have very many photos of my Grandpa Johnson.  The photo above is one of the few that I have.  Again, a couple of Hell Raisers and then some! Not a drop of Holy Roller in these two!

My grandparents eventually divorced.  Cora went on to get married again to Don Sinclair.  Larry never remarried. 

I have many stories about the Johnson family.  Some of them went on great adventure.  Some of their adventures weren't so great.  I am debating whether to tell you about some of their adventures.  Lots of juicy stories, that's for sure!

Elizabeth Perryman Johnson

Elizabeth Francis Perryman was born to Jacob Perryman (sometimes spelled Perriman) and Margaret Knight on January 4, 1809 in Tennessee.

Elizabeth married Williamson Johnson on January 4, 1830 in Tennessee.  In 1835, they moved to Polk County, Missouri.  They were living in Graydon Springs, Polk County, Mo at the end of their lives.

At the age of 23, Elizabeth professed her faith and joined the Baptist Church.  So, I guess my 3rd Great Grandma would be considered a bit of a Holy Roller.

She was a healthy, strong woman.  How do I know?  Well, she had fourteen kids!  She had seven boys and seven girls.  She ended up having sixty-two grandchildren, eighty great-grandchildren, and at the time of her death, she had eight great-great-grandchildren.  She lived to be 96 years, 9 months, and 17 days old.

She was a hard worker, always helping people.  She had to be a hard worker and survivor with all of those kids to take care of!  I can only imagine how much work that must have been.

McMasters Cemetery

Williamson and Elizabeth are buried in McMasters cemetery (shown in the photo above) which is now abandoned.  The cemetery is in a grove of trees 1/4 mile north into a pasture from the end of Polk and Greene county line roads.  Access requires farm owner's permission.

The family has moved the headstones for Elizabeth and Williamson to the Turkey Creek cemetery in Walnut Grove, Polk County, Missouri in order to preserve their memories.

In my 3rd Great Grandmother Elizabeth F Perryman Johnson's obituary shown above, she is described as being a good mother, a good neighbor, as being very industrious, as always being willing to help the needy, and always wanting to do the work as long as she was able.  She sounds like she was a wonderful human being.  I am proud to have her DNA.

Johnson 1st Cousins

Manny and Trish

 

Manny and Trish (Patricia) Simao are my first cousins from the Johnson side.  They are the children of Ellen Jane Johnson (my Dad's sister) and Manual Simao. 

Manny is about the same age as me and Trish is about the same age as my sister Tudy was.  

Trish and Manny Simao

In the photo above I would guess that Manny is about four and Trish is about two years old.  They are half Portuguese from their Father's side.  Little Manny has the most gorgeous green colored eyes and when he was a young adult he resembled Tom Cruz a lot.  Trish looks like a little doll in this photo to me.  She has red hair and beautiful chocolate brown colored eyes.

When we were growing up, Tudy, Manny, Trish and I were all close to one another and had some great times together.  I am still very close to Trish.  I don't see Manny very much but hear about him.

I love my cousins and will be seeing Trish soon.  Looking forward to it!

Most Common Names in the United States

Dang, I'm a Lucky Girl!

According to Ancestry dot com, Smith is the most common name in the United States.  If one has a Smith in the family, they can expect to sort through 81 million records on ancestry. 

I do have a Smith in the family.  My Mother was Rosie Mae Smith.  As a matter of fact, I have many Smiths in the family.  One could say that I have hit the jackpot on Smiths.  My Smiths were a very prolific bunch to top it all off.  One of their favorite pass times was making more Smiths.  Every time, I turn around, I'm running into a new Smith cousin.  Lucky for me, we have DNA to help us sort through the Smith woodpile now.
https://blogs.ancestry.com/cm/smith-a-short-history-of-americas-most-popular-surname/?o_xid=78115&o_lid=78115&o_sch=External+Paid+Media


Not too far behind the Smiths are the Johnsons.  According to the 2010 census records (reflected in the link below), the Smiths are at 2.4 million with the Johnsons at 1.9 million. 
 
Do I have a Johnson in the family?  Well, yes.  Yes, I do!  My Daddy was a Johnson.  Lawrence Gerald Johnson.  There are many, many Johnsons in my family tree.  There are about as many of them on ancestry to sort through as there are Smiths.  I'm lucky again to have DNA to help me sort through all the Johnsons.

I recently met a cousin with the surname of Jones on ancestry that is related to both sides of my family.  Smiths (Mother), and Johnsons (Father).  This ought to be interesting to find out if any of the Smiths married a Johnson to produce a Jones.  😅

Jones is running in fifth place on the 2010 census with Garcia close behind them.

I find it to be very interesting the way the most popular surnames are slowly changing in our country. 
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1NIqMRAF_SEOWoyMDJ2ZlZiQXM/view

Thanks Mama and Daddy for giving me such a challenging genealogy to research.  Out of all of the people in the world with different surnames, a Smith and Johnson found one another and fell madly in love.  When I really think about it though, I think I would rather have the challenging ( and probably more interesting than many others) genealogy, than to not be here at all. 

Rosie Mae Smith, Baby Helen Jane Johnson, and Lawrence Gerald Johnson

Thanks Mama Smith and Daddy Johnson again, for meeting, falling madly in love with one another and producing a little Johnson-Smith creature! Me! 😊

Sissy Swallowed a Plum Seed

Almost Went Plum Crazy Before Almost Dying!

 

I know I have mentioned my grandparent's house of two rooms before and how much time my sister and I spent there.  Well, we were there once again along with our parents in the evening.  Grandma and Grandpa had a black and white Philco television set.  Since we didn't have one, we would watch television at Gandma and Grandpa's house.

Their television looked very much like the one in the photo above.

We were watching "Sing Along With Mitch".  It must have been summer time because Tudy and I were eating plums from Grandma and Grandpa's tree. 

Grandma was always warning us about not eating the center of any fruit seed.  She told us that it would make us go crazy and, or possibly kill us.  Well of course Grandma knew everything!  I didn't doubt for a minute that if I ever ate the center of a fruit seed, I would go crazy and die.

I was really enjoying my plum, and I was pretty much done with it but I was trying to get the last little bit off the seed.  Before I knew it, I had swallowed the entire plum seed! I jumped up and starting running in circles yelling and crying that I had just swallowed a plum seed.  My baby sister Tudy, was right behind me, yelling and crying, "Sissy swallowed a plum seed".  We were both running around in circles in the front room yelling and crying like a dog chasing its tail.

I just knew I was going to go crazy and then I was going to die!  Our Mom was trying to catch us and calm us down.  Our Dad was laughing, Grandpa was lying on his bed, all laid back as usual watching the commotion.  Finally, they got a hold of me and Grandma said I would be okay since the seed was whole and I didn't eat the poisoned part of it.  I was about seven and Tudy was about five.

Our parents called us Pete and Re-Pete because Tudy would do and say everything I did.

From left to right
Me, Tudy (my baby sister), Gerald Lee Clay, Roseann Clay, Rosie Mae Smith Johnson (My Mother) holding Monte Ray Clay and Stella Holland Smith (My Grandma)

This great adventure took place in the room pictured in the photo above where I am with my baby sister, my Mom, my Grandma, and some of my Clay cousins.  My sister and I were a little bit older in the photo above than we were when we had the "Plum Crazy Adventure".

It was always something and never a dull moment with all the kids around.  Good times!

Virgil Eagleton Johnson

Virgil was my Great Grandpa on my Daddy's side.  He was born in Walnut Grove, Greene County, Missouri in 1876.  There are rumors that he was a mean SOB.  Actually, I have evidence to support those rumors, but I am choosing not to publish it at this time.

I read a description of him as being lanky and loose jointed when he was seventeen years old. 

Another description of him was given when my Great Grandmother Lula Jump and her twin sister Lila Lee ran off and got married.  My second Great Grandpa Sylvester Jump went after them to bring them back home.  Apparently, Grandpa Sylvester got a hold of Lila Lee, but Lula's husband (Virgil Johnson) was a big man and refused to let her go.

Virgil Eagleton Johnson and one of his grandchildren

In the photo above, it is difficult to determine how big he was.  This is the only photo I have of him.  I'm sure there are others floating around.  If someone has any other photos of Virgil E Johnson, please contact me. 

I believe my Father may have been built up like his Grandpa Johnson.  My Father was the tallest out of all of his brothers and he was lanky and loose jointed.

Virgil couldn't have been all bad though.  When his daughter Amanda died, he raised his grandchildren.

More to come on good ole Great Grandpa Virgil Johnson at a later time....I can guarantee you that the Johnson stories are not dull!