Descendant of George Cummins
"I very much enjoyed this
web page. I am a direct descendant of George Cummins. Orange Scott
Cummins was George's brother. My grandma called him Uncle Scott.
I
am also a direct descendant of Valentine and Parmelia Arndt. It was
told to me that Valentine made the brick and built parts of the "Castle
on the Hill" where my grandma attended Normal School. I will
be bookmarking this page and returning. Thanks for compiling all those
photographs.
My pioneer families were there in Alva. I
grew up in Alva myself, but married a college student who moved me
to 'Indian Territory.' I live in Fairfax, OK now, in Osage County.
I have read Scott Cummins' book 'Musings' at the Tulsa City-County
Library. Since I requested the book to read, it has since disappeared
from the library. I would dearly love to own a copy. Grandma's mother
(that would have been Mrs. Robert Perry Arndt, who was George Cummins'
dau.) had a copy, but Grandma said that it disappeared when her mother
passed on.
The Cummins owned property around Winchester,
which is also northwest of Alva, as you probably already know. I have
information on all of these people some of it is on CD-ROM, compliments
of one of my Arndt descendant cousins. The Arndt's were from Lancaster
County, PA. They were brickmakers. They owned several kilns. Jacob
Arndt was also a photographer and a preacher. Jacob was Valentine's
father. They worked to pave highway from Pennsylvania westward. They
moved to Nebraska. Their women didn't like the harsh climate there
and wanted to go back to Pennsylvania, so they sold their kilns in
Nebraska and bought 50 head of horses.
On their way back to Pennsylvania they met
a man at a watering hole who told them they'd never get that herd
back to PA alive, and that what they ought to do was to head South
to the new land being opened in the Oklahoma Territory. That is exactly
what they did. I believe that they didn't get land in the run, but
that they purchased land afterward. Their horses, I believe, were
stolen from them at some point. It seem as if I recall that they either
purchased land or sold land at Tegarden. I cannot recall so much.
This may not be entirely accurate to what I have written down, but
I can get my resources out and check it all, if you want me to.
I do know that my grandmother, Beulah Estella
Arndt, was born in a dugout house, in Oklahoma Territory. Her parents
were divorced while she was a child and she helped her mother to raise
the rest of her brothers and sisters. They lived with her grandfather
George Cummins at that time. She attended McKeever School and then
Normal School. She married Raymond Shafer, whose parents farmed near
her home. He always teased her about being 'a foreigner' since she
was born in the Oklahoma Territory. He was born in Kansas.
Grandma lived through many trials in her
life, and she took them all as well as she could. She was the sweetest
Grandma a girl could ever ask to have though. I loved her very much.
I an currently attempting to write a novel based on the life of my
pioneer Oklahoman ancestors (not entirely factual, but true to their
natures) and I was searching for background information for the setting
and what life was like back in their day. That is how I found your
web page. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I plan to visit the old homesites
sometime this spring, when my Shafer Family has it's reunion the first
of May. I want to take some pictures, so that I may do some paintings
of the places too. I took lessons in painting from John Hayword, when
I was young. He was another of Alva's old timers. Thanks for your
reply and interest in putting the history of my family in your paper.
Let me know how I can help. I have cousins who are keeping history
notes also, we may want to compare notes" -- Linda Myers - Email:
lmyers@cimtel.net
| View or Add Comments (0 Comments)
| Receive
updates ( subscribers) |
Unsubscribe
