Memorials › Andrew O Bailey

Andrew O Bailey

28 Oct 1855 – 19 Jan 1908

Birth28 Oct 1855
Death19 Jan 1908
CemeteryJones IOOF Cemetery
Jones , Oklahoma County , Oklahoma , USA
Added byPatricia Fawn Carter- Ford-Cowdrey on 23 Oct 2009
FaGhttps://www.findagrave.com/memorial/43402478

Bio

Excerpts from a biography written by Lannes Bailey son of Andrew O Bailey and furnished by Andrew's Great Grandson Jim Kelly Andrew Bailey was born in Maury County, Tennessee to John Harvey Bailey and Nancy Ann Turnbow. He grew up in Maury County and married Katherine "Kate" Shepherd Higdon October 15, 1884 there. When their youngest son was born the family lived in Giles County, Tennessee. This is what Lannes wrote about the family's move to Oklahoma. "My mother had a brother who went out west to Oklahoma where they were opening the Indian Territory for homestead. He was one of the "Sooners" in the land rush to have title to some farmland. He was lucky he filed claim to 160 acres of good bottomland on the Canadian River, which is 18 miles northeast of Oklahoma City. He kept writing to my parents about the rich farmland, with only one drawback. There were so many jackrabbits, but he couldn't find a rock to throw at them. In Tennessee, where the land is so full of rocks, it was almost unbelievable. So when they wanted to tell a 'whopper' they would tell about my Uncle Holly trying to find a rock to throw. In 1904 Uncle Holly convinced them that Oklahoma was the place to live. So they sold the farm and moved to Oklahoma. They took some of their possessions. One thing I can remember my mother saying, she brought her feather bed. At first my father tried farming. He was never a farmer at heart. He was always the Professor, but having five sons, the only livelihood was farming. After two years, in 1906, he moved to Jones City, Oklahoma where my Uncle Holly had homesteaded about five miles from Jones. My folks bought a house about 1/2 a mile from Jones a long side of the Frisco Railroad Tracks about 3/4 miles from the railroad depot. There was only one church, the Methodist church, on the other side of town. My father, with help of the neighbors and church-going friends, all got together and built their own Christian Church. I can still remember, as a small boy, running on the 2x6's, where they would lay the floor of the church. 1907 was the panic year, like we called the depression. Bank failures, people losing their farms, trying to survive was a struggle. The Christmas of 1907 my father took me down to Mc Mullen's store before the school let out, and bought me some candy and treats. My parents must have had a few gifts to put in our stockings, for I can remember the big trunk with the lid open, at the head of the stairs. They didn't see me, but in my Christmas stocking I saw some of the things they were handling in the trunk. I didn't believe the stories about Santa Claus coming down the chimney, but I played along, even knowing it was not true. There was always a large orange in my stocking, which I treasured, and finally ate it, first the peeling, then the orange. There was also candy, etc. Toys, I can't remember ever having, only the ones we made for ourselves. While mother, Jack, and I were visiting Uncle Holly, my father tried to earn a few extra dollars by picking cotton. It was very late in the season in January, very little cotton left to pick. He caught pneumonia. In five days he was dead. They called Dr. Linstorm, a very old doctor to treat his father but after 5 days he died. My brother Clyde was in Colorado. We got word to him. They held my father over for five days. The casket was on two sawhorses. Clyde arrived the day after the funeral. My father died on Jan. 19th on my brother John's 22nd birthday. They buried their father in Jones County cemetery. His father (had) already bought 7 lots for the family. In 1956, Lannes gave Tillie, his first cousin, a quick claim deed to the other 6 lots. The cemetery is now made into perpetual care, with green lawns and a mausoleum. The funeral service was held in the Christian Church, what he (Andrew) and his neighbors had built. It was very hard for my mother to raise five sons. John 22, Clyde 20, Emmett 15, Justus 10, and me, 5. How we survived I don't know. Maybe it was with the help of my Uncle Holly? That summer (1908), John, Clyde, and Emmett went to Kansas; there was no trouble finding transportation as there was always the freight train. When they got to Kansas they hired out in different thrashing crews; some stacking the wheat. Clyde followed one thrashing crew up to South Dakota. It was always so nice when they returned home, very late in the fall. My mother was so happy that all her sons had arrived safely. (page 2) With the money her sons had made (it) would carry us over through the winter. In 1909, mother rented part of the house to Mrs. Williams and her daughter, Vivian, who was the school teacher.

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