Volume 11 , Issue 34

The Babcock's of Pringey, OK

Carol (EMAIL: cdwsltfrk@kanokla.net) says, "I, Carol Babcock Wolgamott, was born in Freedom, OK in 11-1940 in my grandparent's home. They were Albert Baker Babcock and Myrtle Shelby Litten Babcock. My great grandpa Elia J. Babcock was the postmaster at Pringey, Oklahoma, Woodward County, Oklahoma in the mid-teens, perhaps 1913-1915. The correct dates are available in the Oklahoma Chronicles which is a government document of the State of Oklahoma.

Albert "Bake" and Myrtle lived in a dugout on Girl Creek just West of Pringey. Elias J. Babcock started the post office in Jay, Oklahoma and I have a picture of them on the porch of that establishment.

Bake and Myrtle owned a produce business in Freedom in the 1930's and until 1941 when my grandfather died from a heart condition. Interestingly, my father, Glenn, and my brother, Lyle Baker, both have the same heart issue. Dad passed away in 1978 but suffered from heart attacks and the accompanying health issue when he was 47 in 1963. Heart meds gave him extra years, and my brother, Lyle, has a defibrillator now and had bypasses in '99. Medical science has given him a greater and longer life.

When we visited Pringey at family reunions I picked up shards of glass and crockery as well as rusted metal from harnesses. I also have a picture of the dugout on Girl Creek. Oh my what stark living conditions! Also, on my first visit there were still indentions from the dugouts. They were in gyp hills and hard ground. The next time they were overgrown with cedar trees. I haven't seen them in many years.

I love history and hope to have time before long to do genealogy of the Babcocks and Littens. I sat at my Grandma's knee and listened to stories for hours when I was a child. How I wish that I had written them down.

Chronicles of Oklahoma, Volume 6, No. 4, December, 1928, EARLY POST OFFICES OF OKLAHOMA -- Chronicles of Oklahoma, Volume 7, No. 1, March, 1929, EARLY POST OFFICES OF OKLAHOMA
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