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Betty's
Haven
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writings
My
dad's brothers and sisters
Tom Sanders
Born 10-4-1894 Died 9-3-1987
My uncle Tom called me "Round Arm" when I was little and
even when I was grown. I went to see him the year he died in 1987 and he
knew me. He couldn't hear, but I leaned down to him and he smiled
and kissed me on the cheek. A few years before, when I was on vacation
from California, I went to see Tom and Lucy and uncle Tom would read what
I would write on a "Magic Slate". Then he would answer. I got a lot of
information from him about the family. He was my daddy's oldest brother.
He lived to be 93 years old. Daddy told me that uncle Tom would talk about
when he was in the Army in world war 1. He was in the Field Remount Calvary
in Germany. Uncle Tom called daddy "Skeefs". Lucy was such a good
person and a very good cook. She would always want you to eat when you
went to her house. They used to live West of Lewis Sanders place, not too
far from Little Greenleaf creek. I think Sequoyah, "Mudd" was born there. They
lived in a two room log house with two lean to rooms. There was a small
smokehouse near there and a barn not far from the house. I walked down
that old road that used to go in front of the place. I walked about
a 1/2 mile to Little Greenleaf creek in the fall of 96. Uncle Tom used
to live Northeast of the pecan tree which was right on the Cherokee-Muskogee
county line. He lived right on Big Greenleaf creek. It was actually East
of McCracken Ford about a 1/2 mile. I walked up there and found some old
rusted things. Note: I have been to that place where he used to live, I
wrote about it in My Explorings book. There was a cemetery called McCracken
West of where they lived. When Camp Gruber took that land in 42, they moved
the cemetery and several others Southwest of Tahlequah and called it Greenleaf
cemetery. It is part of the land where the old Hendricks cemetery is. The
old McCracken cemetery is right north of McCracken Ford.
Nan Sanders Todd
Born 1-28-1903 Died 1-3-1947
I have lots of pictures of Nan, Daddy's sister. She was
a very pretty lady. Daddy said she would dress real nice when she was young,
before she married Cleborn Todd. He said she ran off and married Todd and
he took her to a tent to live. I have a picture of her in a pretty dress
and Lillie Hinds Haley saw one of the pictures I have of her standing,
in a dress and said she had made the dress for her. She said it was a blue
taffeta. Lillie remembers Nan well. Nancy Jane was her name. They called
her Nan. She died while daddy was in another state working. He came back
to Oklahoma and found out when he got home. Daddy said Nan had a mare she
used to ride to Braggs every day except Saturday and Sunday, to get the
mail. It was a light colored mare. I have a picture of her on it. After
Nan and Cleborn Todd married, Maud gave them some of her allotted land
and they lived Northwest of them in a tent. Lillie remembers when Nan's
little baby girl, Evelyn, "little Effie" died at Lewis and Maud's house.
She took the baby to Maud and was crying and crying telling her mom, Maud
that she, the baby was going to die. She did. Lillie made her a little
dress and they laid the baby girl out in the front room at Lewis and Maud's.
Lillie said Nan would pick up the baby and carry her around and was nearly
out of her mind with grief. She said Cleborn Todd wasn't even there. Lillie
was the one to take Nan home from the old General hospital on Spaulding,
when she had Johnny Todd. She took her to Maud's because Nan lived in a
tent on the creek close to the water. Later they did build a small
house Northwest of where Lewis and Maud lived because I have heard Tuddy
talk about living there. I have been near where it was. It was near where
those little low water dams were built by the WPA in the 30's. I have saw
two of them.
Allen Sanders
Born 8-24-1905 Died 2-17-1908
This is my dad's brother. He died while still a
child before daddy was born. Back in the old days, they dressed all babies
in dresses whether a boy or girl. I wonder why, maybe it was easier to
change their diapers and etc.
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