Lucille Merrick Memories: Life on the farm 1920-30's; Gypsies and Hobos

the photo on the right is my mother and her brother, Leroy Settle. I would estimate this photo taken about 1928. My mother, Lucille Merrick wrote the following description of farm life in Byron, Oklahoma during the 1925-1935 era. Their farm was located near Burlington, Oklahoma and was part of the original land of the Schwindt family: " I started to school in September 1922. My Grandpas estate had been settled, so it was decided among the three aunts and one uncle that they would give my parents their share of 160 acres farm if they’d take care of the expenses and help pay for the three years they’d spent taking care of Grandpa. Grandpa had at one time had money saved, but relatives had borrowed it and never paid it back.

So my folks got the farm, a sandy place with perhaps 40 acres pasture. We had some alfalfa, but our main source of living was from the garden and apple orchard. My Dad had the heart of a minstrel and the peddling of the produce was meant for him. That way he could visit everybody and if things didn’t sell very well, he gave it away. At home, Mamma, and Leroy kept the watermelon rows clean, ripe melons, cantaloupes and some of the apples picked for those who came along to buy, but didn’t care to pick their own. Often time, there wasn’t any work in the truck patch for Leroy, so Dad would get some field work started so that Leroy could work at that. I enjoyed this part; because it would be my job to take him a drink in half gallon syrup can full of cold water in the afternoon. We always fought at the house, but these times were special and because he’d want me to stay at the field with him, he’d never tease me at these times.
We lived on a main traveled road and people stopped all the time to buy our produce. One time a man bought the fresh corn on the cobs right out of the pot that Mamma meant to cook it in. We had our own chickens and eggs, milk and butter, so there was not a lot we had to buy. Often people driving through the country by horse and wagon would stop and camp at our house. If they were driving stock, Dad would have them water them out of wash tubs instead of our drinking tub, as he was afraid of diseases in the cattle. One old man traveling alone in a covered wagon played the violin and give us a burner for coal-oil lamp that produced a better flame than the regular one as his pay. The Raleigh man always made it to our house at noon when he was in the area and he always gave us a cam of white unscented talcum powder as pay for his dinner. Mamma made wonderful apple pie,, and one neighbor would manage to stall around long enough to get asked to eat dinner. Somehow hed find out if she were making apple pie.
We were not without the usual run of hobos that stopped by for a handout. Several young men going by one day , stopped at the orchard first, stripped one tree of ripe cherries, then came to the house to ask for water. They didn't bother anything else.

Occasionally a band of Gypsies drove through the country, making a quick visit to all the houses. They were exciting and colorful in dress, but the greatest threat to property, and of course the rumors of young farm children being kidnapped. When they stopped by a farm home, they usually had the story related by the young girl they sent running up to the house, "My mother had a baby last night and I'd like you to give me a chicken so I could make her some soup." (a typical story used) Wiser people went out and caught a chicken and gave it to her. My cousin, a young bachelor farmer told her to go and catch one. Well, she got the chicken..... and gathered all the eggs from the nests too. As they left, he saw a crate with several chickens tied on!" She had summoned her companions and had helped themselves!

Personal memories of my Grandma Settle, Byron, Oklahoma

This photo was taken of Grandma and Grandpa Settle about 1957 in front of their house in Byron , Oklahoma.
Memories of Grandma Settle during the later years of 1950-1960's when I was a child:

Farm life was not easy. Grandma worked from early morning hours to the evening doing the farm yard chores, garden work, taking care of the chickens, cleaning the house with her dust mop and sweeping the floors every day, several times a day. Her favorite turkey or goose feather quill would be used to pick up the dust in the dust pan on her beautiful hardwood floors. Seems like she was always bent over to the work on the ground. Once I remember her taking a hoe to kill an opossum that was eating the cat food in the yard... we were sure that old opossum was dead, but you can probably guess that sure enough, it walked away when we were not looking. That was a tough old opossum.

Grandma took care of lots of cats and fed them twice a day. Of course, there were too many cats to think about vaccinations then and I guess we are just lucky that they never did pick up rabies from the skunks, opossums, etc that also visited the farm yard.

When the farmhouse was built, the wash house for the laundry was a separate small building. For a long time, the washer and wringer were not electric, but sometime before my memory, Mother and Leroy talked their parents into purchasing an electric agitator and electric wringer that was mounted over the agitator. Clothes dryers were already being used in our home in Groom, but Grandma didn't see any real point in buying a clothes dryer... that's what the clothes line was for! Now, you have to understand that laundry day was only on Mondays... so we all had to be careful with our clothes to make sure they were reasonably "spot" cleaned to last through the week. The photo to the right was what the agitator/wringer machine looked like. We heated the water on top of the wood burning stove, and poured it into the top of the machine. (No hot water in the wash house, you know!)

Grandma really didn't like the water from the tap or from the underground. She thought it was too hard an full of minerals, so a big barrel caught the rain water on the side of the house. The rain water was what she insisted to use for cooking and washing her hair. We were allowed to use the tap water to bathe in and wash our hair when we were visiting, but Grandma really didn't approve of that idea very much. Grandma also made her own soap..and that process would be made with a special recipe about once a year. (see similiar recipe at bottom of this writing) When she started to make her own soap, Mom would be sure to travel up to Byron to help. In the later years, we finally persuaded her to buy Ivory flakes for using on the clothes etc. which could be purchased in a box! Remember, we had electric washer, dryer, laundry powder that we used at home in Groom, but Grandma just preferred to do things her way. She was convinced we were spending too much money on things like that at our home. But this was Grandma's way, and she must have enjoyed the simple way of doing things until the latter years when bad health finally slowed her down.

Grandma was always the worker, healthy, and the youngest of her siblings. She was strong until her arthritis finally took over her simple ways. In her later years, I remember Grandma working until she was so exhausted she would sometimes cry. Deforming arthritis would cripple her back, hands, feet to the point that she was bent over and her head would be only slightly higher than her waist. I wonder nowadays, if there are not some medical procedures that could help with this condition. Many times, Grandma would travel to various doctors, always hoping that someone could alleviate her pain. One doctor had her laying flat on her back on the day bed that her parents had owned. With a small thin rope weights were attached to connect to some brace that would stretch her spinal cord gently. The pain was excruciating and she couldn't endure that, so wrap around braces "back support" were given to her. Later in years, my own mother would wear the "back support" wraps. I think both of them suffered from severe bone loss and osteoporosis. As far as I remember, neither were faithful taking their calcium supplements, probably because the lists of medications were more than overwhelming.

Grandma would be plagued with bunions that drained, corns and calluses on her feet. When she purchased new shoes, she always mourned that fact that she must slit the sides with a razor to relieve the pressure against her pitiful feet. Her physical conditions were always a thorn in the flesh to contend with, and yet her work never slowed down.

Up by sunrise to take care of the chickens, feed the multitude of cats, cleaning house to the point of obsession (this was very much German upbringing), Grandma still had beautiful eyes and a kind expression. She never cut her hair and I remember staying with her in the summers after my Grandpa passed away. Grandpa, the American farmer that she married, had passed away sitting in his old 1950 something black Ford pickup checking on cattle in the pasture. My uncle Leroy found Grandpa later that day, when Grandma called him worrying about his missing. Mother and Grandma both asked if I'd like to stay several weeks with Grandma the following summers and agreed.

Those were summers that I could observe and be influenced by her the most. Just Grandma and me alone in the beautiful northern Oklahoma farm, and the memories just flood to me. The countryside was plush and beautiful, just like the good year crops, but with the goodness of the soil, the landscape and the farm life, came violent tornadic weather in the months of June and July.

Here is a photo of the Byron, Oklahoma First Christian Church. This was one of the important places for the family and the center of their social existence, not only worship, but family weddings, showers, singings, vacation Bible schools, as well as the final funeral services. Grandma and Grandad Settle both had funerals here, as well as Uncle Leroy, and his wife Grace.

This photo shows the graves of Lizzie and Burt Settle. The graves are located in the Cherokee Cemetery on the eastern side. For years, a beautiful wheat field was adjacent to the cemetery and we we always thought that was just where Grandma and Grandpa would've loved to be laid to rest.

Night after night, Grandma would wake me to follow her to the storm cellar that was located outside of the house next to the fence between the "wash house" and "septic tank". The door was heavy, but she would not allow me to lift the door for her-- what a picture in my memory of Grandma, bent over with excruciating arthritis lifting that cellar door.

I think she wouldn't have done that if she were alone, but that was typical Grandma and I doubt there were many days when she was just thinking of herself. I suppose her 10 year old granddaughter (me) was enough motivation to risk the horrible torrential rain and strong winds to lift the cellar door and step down into the cold, musty cellar. Living on the farm house in Byron was like reading a novel from old days. I especially remember the old "hand ring" type phones with an operator in Byron that connected the phone to anything to the east or north of Byron. I think I remember the Settle house ring as one short, two longs. Mother's brother Leroy and his family lived east of Byron--so every time we talked to them, the operator was "rang". I don't remember the ring numbers for the operator...just one long ring, I think. I do remember that many people could listen into the conversations and many, many stories were told (probably some of them not true) just for the "ears" down the line that were eavesdropping.

When Grandma had a hysterectomy, Mom, Steve and I went to stay with Grandma for about a month. Mom stayed with Grandma while she recovered, and during the morning time, Steve and I actually rode the bus into the Byron schools and attended there keeping up with our lessons that our Groom Elementary teachers had given us, and the lessons at the Byron schools. Steve really grew homesick for home in Groom, but I kind of enjoyed the whole process of being a 3rd grader in two schools at the same time. My class in Byron was composed of three grades in one room, and I must have been in the 3rd, 4th 5th grade combination class, but Steve was in the 1st and 2nd grade. It was actually a great little country school, and left many impressions on me throughout my teaching career. I learned then that the amount of money a school system has can only help the quality of education up to a point; the heart of the classroom and it's effectiveness is the teacher and his or her attitude. I thought the teacher in this tiny little country classroom was amazing.

Below is an earlier photo about 1928 of Grandma and Mom (second lady from the left with the young girl,Mom). I am not sure about the other person, but think it may have been my Aunt Elizabeth.

I think one of the most important memories that I have centers on the Memorial Day routines. This is something my own children will never experience.Memorial Day is just when the best of the roses, peonies, irises, gladiolas are blooming beyond belief in northern Oklahoma, Cherokee county. The night before Memorial Day, Mom would always drive to Byron to stay with Grandma and Grandpa. The preparation for the cemetery would begin with the best of the beautiful flowers cut and placed in coffee cans of cold water wrapped in aluminum foil. The flowers would be left in the wash house to stay cool all evening. The next morning, we would get up earlier than normal and drive about 10 miles out to the Cherokee cemetery, then the Alva Cemetery to set the coffee cans with flowers on the graves of as many relatives as we could. Other relatives would often be there as well and it was something like a small family reunion at the cemetery. I remember Steve, my cousin Karen, and I would race and run around the cemetery area until the grownups would insist we be more respectful and stop running and making so much noise...but for us, it was just fun and the cemetery was a good place to see the other relatives and neighbors.




Then we would all get in our cars and drive back to the farm in Byron for the dinner with the family. Grandma, Mom, and Grace would prepare the country dinner that included fresh fried chicken (no grocery store chicken would ever be set on Grandma's table), fried okra, potatoes, gravy, lettuce and cantaloupe from the garden, green onions, peach cobbler, brewed ice tea, salad, green beans--simply a farm feast from the fresh produce. I guess nothing was purchased at the store, except maybe the tea bags and probably ice cream for the cobbler. Grandma and Grandad Settle's garden was not a simple plot of land, it was half a city block and the hours and hours of work to maintain it just part of the daily farm routine. Of course, the chicken was fresh and killed the early morning the same day. We all sat around the table in the dining area and the family stories would begin. Uncle Leroy always put his chicken bones on my plate when I wasn't looking and then loudly complained about my eating too much. He loved to tease us all and we never knew who would be the focus of his next joke.




After the cemetery visit and dinner, all would go back to their own farms and we would spend the late afternoon visiting and enjoying the farm life. Usually, the evenings were frequented with showers and often severe thunderstorms and wind.

Below right is a photo of Peter and Christina Schwindt's tombstone located in the Cherokee Cemetery just west of the Settle graves. Peter and Christina were Grandma Lizzie's parents. We spent many Memorial Day cemetery gatherings visiting relatives at this grave site! They passed away before I was born and I never had a chance to know them.



This photo (lower right) is taken from the county road in front of the farm house in Byron, Oklahoma.




The following is a recipe I found that sounds just like the lye soap recipe that Grandma used: Grandma's Homemade Lye Soap Recipe

There are numerous recipes for homemade lye soap. Below is a very basic one that is easy to use for any beginner.

Basic items needed to make your own soap:

•large oven ware bowl with handle and a spout.
•large stoneware crock, stainless steel or iron cooking pot.
•A long handled heavy duty wooden or stainless steel spoon for stirring the mixture.
•Small shallow cardboard or wooden box lined with a damp linen dish towel

Ingredients:

•One 12 oz. can of 100% lye
•21-1/2 oz. ice cold or partially frozen distilled or rain water
•5 lb., 7-1/3 oz. (2.48 kg) lard (this came from the pork butchering).

Directions:

Place the water and or ice cubes into the bowl, carefully add the lye to the water. Do not reverse this process. Using your stirring spoon stir carefully till the lye has dissolved. Cover and let set until it drops in temperature to around 85 degrees.

Melt your lard and put into the 4-6 quart container; let cool to 95 degrees. Now you can start to make your soap.

With your stirring spoon, start to stir in an "8" pattern. Slowly pour the lye water into the melted lard. Pour very carefully and slowly, making the flow of the lye water smaller than a pencil...just trickle it in until its all been added. Once you start this process you must keep stirring until the mix is thick like a cooked pudding. If you stop stirring it may separate. The key is constant gentle stirring.

When the mix has thickened up you can then pour it into your lined box. Allow to set for 4-6 hours. Using a table knife you can cut into bars. Do not use a sharp knife that will cut into the plastic liner. Allow a week for drying time before you remove the soap from the box. After the soap is removed from the box, allow the soap to cure for 30 days before using it. Cut into small 2 or 3 inch squares when ready to store. Can be grated into flakes for laundry soap as well.

Fourth of July, Mom's Birthday (Lucille Merrick) Camping during 1999-2003

The photo on the left is Mom at the Las Vegas NM KOA campground. On the right is a photo of the new travel trailer that Mom and I used in 2000.

July 4, Today was Mom's birthday and one of my favorite memories of the Fourth of July was when Mom was camping with me in my little travel trailer. After my late husband had passed away, I traded in the old family travel trailer for a newer, smaller updated one. While I always struggled at hooking the trailer up, it seemed that Dallas or Byron would always be close to come help with that part. Mom and I took the trailer up to the Las Vegas NM KOA campground and would park it for a week or so about four different times between 1999 and 2003. Once we were there during her birthday and it was a really special time and I think she enjoyed it as much as I did. During those years when Mom and I were camping, either, Byron, Dallas, or Stephanie would be working out at Camp Blue Haven, so we would always try to get the same spot on the campground. I would drive back into the mountains to Camp Blue Haven for evening activities, and Mom would wait back at the trailer. We became friends with the camp manager/owners of the campground and they always seemed happy to see us coming.
We had fun camping, Mom and me and enjoyed visiting with the other "RV and camper folks" --and just walking around the beautiful trails between the campsites. I think Mom enjoyed the daily outdoor breakfast pancakes which were all you can eat for about $3. Such special memories time spent with her! While we always tried to get as many of the family together as we could every Fourth of July, I think the year we were at the KOA was my favorite. I would try to take her as many places as possible there in the area of Las Vegas:Pecos National Monument, Sad Monkey restaurant, Santa Fe Plaza, Taos Pueblo, Las Vegas Bird Sanctuary, Montezuma Castle and more. She always enjoyed sitting out in the lawn chair at the campground and reading her books. ---2010 still wishing you a happy Birthday, Mom!

Lizzie Schwindt Settle (my grandma) early years 1881-1893

This is a photo of Grandma about 1960 in front of her home in Byron, Oklahoma. If you click on the photo, a larger image will appear. If you do view the larger image, hit the back arrow to return to the writing, or the website will close otherwise.

I have so many memories of my maternal grandmother, Lizzie Schwindt. As far as I know, she had no middle name. Grandma was a simple person and a decendent of a family that immigrated to America in the late 1880's. Her parents and family were German decent, but living and struggling with economic/political situations in the pre-war Russia. The Russian government had actively recruited German citizens that were farmers and the Schwindt family would be one of those families that chose to accept the invitation earlier in the 1700's as far as our family geneology could record.

At that time, the Russian goverment would honor the German citizenship and require no military draft from these German families. But as history would develop and czars, country leaders would change, the military draft to build the strength of the powerful Russian government would finally turn those decisions into active drafts for the young men of the German families. The Germans began to actively seek refuge and new life conditions in the new world, America. One of my grandfather's brothers and soon other relatives were finding their way across the Atlantic.

Then finally it happened and the story is told that my Great great grandfather said ,"Today I am losing two sons, one to the army of Russia and one to America". He was correct on both accounts. One son went to the Russian army, and my great grandfather Peter would begin the journey to America.

At this time, the family traveled across the Atlantic and entered into the port of New York as far as I can remember. There are some family historical accounts written by my mother and the accuracy of what I remember can be researched, but a lot of what I remember just came from word passed down orally from the generations. My grandma was only 5 years old when she first arrived in the USA. She was born in Norka Russia near the Black Sea in 1881 and I believe they arrived in America in 1886. They would receive their sponsor ship from one of my great grannd father's brother in Iowa I think.

This photo is Peter and Christina Schwindt born and raised in Norka, Russia. They were my Grandma Lizzie's parents who traveled with their young family to America in 1886.

Later, when the Cherokee Strip Land Rush of 1893 would open for homesteaders, my great grandfather Peter Schwindt, speaking no English, would bring his wagon and horses to the Rush near what would be now Cherokee Oklahoma. Fearful of those all around him speaking any other langauage than German, Peter would stay awake all night, scared, watching, nervous and fighting the needed sleep that would follow. The Rush began the next morning, and he would stake a property close to Burlington, Oklahoma that was near a creek.

On the left is a photo of the Settle farm in Byron, Oklahoma as it looks today. On the right is a modern photo, but the original land near Burlington, Oklahoma settled by Peter and Christina Schwindt during the Cherokee Strip Land Rush of 1893.

Building a sod house with dirt floor, the family began to farm and raise their children. English was still a problem, but they quickly found other German settlers and became members of the German Baptist church near Burlington. Grandma would be exposed to English when she entered the first grade in the public schools. Years later, I remember Grandma always spoke German to her visiting sisters and brother. We never understood what they were saying, but often times just their faces, expressions, voice tonations would give us big clues to the subjects. The Schwindt children spoke Platte Deutsch or Low German.

Burt Leroy Settle Story (My Grandpa in Byron, Oklahoma)

Leroy Burton “Burt” Settle was born July 2, 1887 in Liberty Center Iowa. He was married 46 years to Lizzie (Schwindt) Settle, a German-Russian immigrant. They had two children. Leroy Settle and his sister Lucille Naoma Settle (Stephenson-Merrick).

I best remember my Grandpa with his denim overalls, warm tobacco pipe and straw hat that were always with him. When he passed away in 1958, he was buried in the Cherokee cemetery. As far as I know, he never owned a suit, so he was buried in a brand new pair of denim overalls in a quiet ceremony in the Byron, Oklahoma First Christian church. Full of laughter and good stories, we all enjoyed sitting on his lap in the front day room of the farmhouse. We still miss him too!

My mother, Lucille, told the following story about her dad, Burt Settle: " To add to the farm supplement income, we sold garden, watermelons etc to people passing by the farm. But,Dad spent the night the watermelon patch all night with a shot gun a lot of times as people tended to steal them and tear up the vines. Even then things happened. One Sunday we saw a big truck loaded with melons just leaving the field and somebody standing holding a melon high for us to see. Dad would have given anybody some melons if they had not been able to pay, they didn't need to steal them. One Saturday, Dad took a load of apples to try to sell. He drove a team and wagon and stopped at a good place. An old man we knew climbed up to sit with him awhile. As they talked, the old man put apples in his coat pocket. He was wearing a big duck coat that had holes in the pockets which allowed the apples to go down into the lining of his coat. When the old man finally got his visit out, and the coat full of apples, so he climbed down. His coat was so heavy with apples that he had a hard time walking off.

Burt was a farmer all his life and moved to northern Oklahoma farm lands where he finally purchased his first farm in Byron, Oklahoma and raised cattle, wheat, chickens, and garden vegetables. On an early morning of October 1, 1958, Burt passed away sitting out in his pasture watching the cattle graze on his farmland. His son found him shortly afterwards, the pipe still warm in his hand.

This photo shows more of the beautiful, rich farmland and pasture in Cherokee County.

Burt Settle was the son of David Franklin Settle and Emma (Hoffnern) Settle. David Franklin Settle was the son of James Settle and Eliza (Middleton) Settle. Eliza was the daughter of John Middleton and Elizabeth Downing(Middleton) from Delaware. John Middleton was the son of James Middleton, born 1750, a soldier in the American Revolution from Sussex Co. Delaware. James Middleton died in 1798 and was on the muster roll of Captain Nathan Adams’ Company in the Delaware Regiment, American Revolutiony War.

James Middleton is registered as the Revolutionary Ancestor #A078713 with the Daughters of the American Revolution. James Middleton was seven generations before me (Carolyn)

Henry Britton Merrick (Early years 1906-1945)

Henry Britton Merrick was the third child born on April 14, 1906 to Sanders Merrick and Ora Boydstun Merrick . Born in the Indian Territory at Range, Oklahoma. Henry was a farmer and rancher in Groom until his retirement in 1974. He was a member of the Groom Church of Christ, where he served as elder and member and past president of the Groom School Board.

This is a photo of Henry World War II veteran with the 11th Army Air Corps stationed in the Aleutian Islands.

Many years later, he was instrumental in placing a historical marker for Boydstun Cemetery on Highway 70 near Old Jericho in memory of his grandparents, who homesteaded in Boydstun in 1889.

Henry’s dad was Sanders Merrick, the third child of Britton A Merrick and Mary Francis Neeley Merrick. Sanders was born in 1874 in Arkansas and when he was eleven years old he came with his parents from Missouri to Round Timbers settlement in Baylor county, Texas. It is thought that he lived in Knot or King County until the death of his mother on January 6, 1897 as she is buried in the cemetery at Gutherie, Texas. After that he worked on ranches, gradually moving westward.

(In a discussion with Bethel Robinson and Lucille Merrick who recorded as much as possible, Henry once talked about his dad’s earlier days and discussed the following stories :)

”When we were small children, papa would sing and tell us stories about himself and the other cowboys sitting around the campfire at night and singing such songs as “Little Joe the Wrangler”, “Strawberry Roan”, and “When the Work’s all Done this Fall”. I think that, in his heart, Papa was a cowboy all of his life. People that he worked with or for told us how good Papa was a riding a bronco or roping a calf. He never showed that much love for the work in other ventures he undertook ”


Photo left was taken circa 1930 of Henry with his mother, Ora, and his sisters, Ivy, Leta, and Mary.


By the late 1890’s, Sanders (Henry's dad) was working on the T6 Ranch, which borders started five miles north of Clarnedon and extended to the edge of the plains. Now, just on the edge of the plains was another homesteader, Henry Boydstun, who in 1887 had filed on the second section north of the T6 Ranch. Mr. Boydstun had come from Tarrant county, about 35 miles south of Forth Worth. Within a few years, several families had moved into the area. This young community was named Boydstun. The Boydstun post office, in the home of John Frasser, was discontinued in early 1940.

It seems most likely that the T6 cowboys were watchful for any social events at which they could meet young ladies. It was at a party in the Boydstun Community that Sanders met the 18 year old Ora Boydstun, third child of Henry Boydstun. They were married in Clarendon about one and one-half years later. The newly married couple made their first home in a rock house at the west end of the ranch. Years later, Mr. Wesley Knorpp, owner of the T6 Ranch told that any cowboy who got married was dismissed, but an exception was made in Sanders’ case.

In October 1901, the first child, a son, Clarence Johnson was born. He was named Clarence for Papa’s brother, and Johnson for Ed Johnson, a cowboy friend.

Not long after this, Papa quit working for the ranch as they had begun selling off some of the ranch land. He bought two sections on the north side of the ranch.

The Rock Island Railroad was being built, and was a point a few miles east of the present Groom town site. Papa worked with a team of horses, and helped build the railroad bed. Sometime between then and 1905, he operated a dray (a strong cart or wagon without sides) in Groom.

In June 1904, the second child, a baby girl named Leta Violet was born.


In 1905 Papa sold the land and other interests he had in Groom and moved to the Oklahoma Panhandle. He filed on a claim near Range, Oklahoma near Guymon. They had the only frame house in the area. The other settlers had sod houses.

There was a creek near the home site and once Papa had a mean horse that would back up when Papa started to lead him. One day, the horse started his usual prank of backing up and Papa just let him go off backwards off a bluff into a large pool of water.

Henry was born in the spring of April 1906 and named for his two grandfathers, Henry Boydstun and Britton Merrick

Mary Ona was the fourth child born May 27, 1908. She was named for her grandmother, Mary Boydstun and for her mother.



The photo to the left is about 1990-- from left to right is Lawrence Merrick, Henry Merrick, Mary Merrick Knorpp, Ivy Merrick Clark, and sitting is Leta Merrick Phillips.





Henry described: "During the stay in Oklahoma, Papa carried the mail between Guymon and Range. It was during this time, that their oldest child, Clarence, at age 5 or 6 had had the misfortune of getting a June bug in his ear. They started to Guymon to the doctor in a buggy and stopped at several houses along the way, each time someone tried to get the bug out of his ear. The bug was finally removed, but his eardrum was permanently damaged and left him with almost total hearing loss in that ear. "

"Later, just before the family was to leave Oklahoma and return to Texas, Clarence was sent to the pasture to bring in the horse. He came up behind the horse and surprised him so that the horse kicked Clarence and knocked him out. Awhile later he came to, caught the horse and rode him back to the house. He had been cut on the forehead and was bleeding. A real estate man was there and they took Clarence to the doctor in the real estate man’s car. Clarence said it wasn’t so bad getting kicked by the horse as he got his first ride in a car because of it. "
"In 1909 Papa decided to move back to Texas and their fifth child, Ivy Agatha was born in January 1910 in Childress, Texas. "

"Not long after their return to Texas, they bought a farm about one-half mile south of Carey and lived there for two years. Then they traded the farm for two houses in Childress. The family lived in one and rented the better house out for $7.00 a month." This is a photo of the 1916 Childress Restaurant on 308 Main St. owned by Britton Adams Merrick (Henry Merrick's paternal grandfather)

"After moving back to Childress, our parents sent Clarence, probably age 11 and me (age 6) back to the place at Carey to get some harnesses that had been left out there. It was about six miles one way and we walked. Toward evening there was a rain storm and we stopped at a farm house and spent the night there. The elderly couple was so nice to us. The next morning the water was running alongside the road when we left to g back to Childress."


The photo to the left is Granddad Merrick with all his grandchildren (Henry is second from the left on the middle row)

"Granddad Merrick owned and operated a restaurant know as Dad Merrick’s Restaurant. It was a business supported by farmers and railroad people. Granddad always seemed to be just behind me when I needed him the most or was somewhere that I had no business being. I would feel a hand on my head or shoulder. I knew it was Granddad to help me or send me home.

However, all was not so good in Childress during these years. There was lost of sickness due to the unsanitary conditions, as a sewer system was mostly nonexistent and of course, there was very little refrigeration. There were epidemics of various diseases. Flags marked the houses where there were such illnesses, and of course, that meant those people were quarantined and no one was allowed to go in or out of those house until the illness was over, or the patient died and the house had been fumigated. A visit to the cemetery would bear out this statement, as there seem to be many graves of children and young adults through the years until about 1920.

This photo is Ora and Sanders Merrick, Henry's parents.

It was in 1912 that our youngest sister, Ivy, then 2 years old, became ill. The doctor had packs on her chest for congestion and she got worse. We heard about a young man, Dr. Morgan, new to Childress, and without a recommended medical reputation because of a drinking problem. It was told that he had quit drinking and probably dependable. Later, he was able to establish a large practice and a hospital. As Dr. Morgan came to see Ivy, the attending doctor was just leaving. Seeing Dr. Morgan, he told him, “There she is” It didn’t take Dr. Morgan long to tell that the swollen abdomen was not due to chest congestion. He discarded the packs and began working with her. He stayed several hours until that had the problem of locked bowels relieved.

In 1915 we moved to Hall County and started farming on one of the several farms belongs to Uncle Joe, Papa’s brother. We children started to do the usual work allotted to kids on the farm. I have a clear memory of Clarence and myself in the cotton field. We were supposed to be hoeing the weeds out of the cotton. Clarence always carried a French Harp in his pocket. We’d hoe a bit, and then he’d get out his harp, knock it on the palm of his hand and begin to play. I sat on the ground and listened. He also spent a lot of time filing his hoe, and once he filed notches in it, thinking it would cut the weeds better. Soon after he was filing the notches away, he must have been thinking about a saw.

We attended Pleasant Valley School about 3 ½ miles from home.

Uncle Joe had grassland leased near Silverton and would drive the cows to the pasture in the spring. I got to go one year and rode on the calf wagon. At night we camped near Red River. There was a hard rain storm with lots of lightening that night and the next morning the herd was so scattered that it took all day to get them together again. The river was up and when the men rode back and forth across the river looking for a place to cross, the horses stepped in holes or were swept off their feet by currents and both horse and ride nearly went out of sight.

In 1917 our parents brought a farm 7 miles north of Clarendon near Goldston. It was an extremely dry year and cattle were sent to the plains from An Angelo country. They were so poor that they were barely able to walk, but as they were driven by our place they found the haystack and ruined it in a short time.

By the early 1920’s we were living and farming between Lark and Conway. Economic conditions following World War I were bad for everyone in agriculture or ranching operations. There was no government help. Some ranchers were not able to pay out on their operations until almost time for World War II. These were hard years here on the Panhandle Plains for most of the older men that were not able to handle the difficulties—and Sanders Merrick was one of those men.

In 1925 Papa went to Nebraska and stayed a year with his brother Clarence. He lived with his brother Joe Merrick in Memphis until his death. He suffered from pernicious anemia for several years before he died May 10, 1930. He is buried near his father in the Childress Cemetery. (After this family story was written for Henry by Lucille Merrick and Bethel Robinson, Henry added the following: “And so we come to the last of this study, although no family history is complete, nor will it ever be unless the historian has recorded the name of the last new babe when time ends. I make no apologies for these pages unless there be error in dates or in the typing, of perhaps there are many, but not for thepeople included. Each life is different and must be lived in his own way. I thank each person who had a part in helping me by sending me information so that this history was been possible to write. I hope that each family will keep records of members and perhaps this will be just the first part of the “Merrick-Boydstun” family history” signed:Henry Merrick)


This a photo of Henry

and his brother Clarence

during WWII