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Ancestors of Kathy Lynn Kauffman


      10. Charles Sextis Augenstein, born August 29, 1871 in Marion, Ohio LDS File 1553542; died January 17, 1931 in Crescent, Indiana. He was the son of 20. William R. Augenstein and 21. Margaret Anna Essel. He married 11. Maude Mae Miller.

      11. Maude Mae Miller, born June 30, 1878 in Radner, Delaware Co., OH; died January 21, 1951 in Crescent, Indiana. She was the daughter of 22. Nathaniel Miller and 23. Emily (Emma) Ruth Olds.
     
Children of Charles Augenstein and Maude Miller are:
  i.   Hildred Lillian Augenstein, born October 20, 1897 in Waldo, Marion Co., OH; died August 16, 1975 in Crown Point, Indiana; married Arthur John Barrett, Sr. September 18, 1913 in Vinita, Craig Co., OK.
  Notes for Hildred Lillian Augenstein:
More info from the 50th Anniversary book of Hildred and Arthur Barrett written by their daughter Geri Wolfe.

Allotment Finished - Statehood Comes: Regarding the outlaws of the time, Daddy told me of his cousin, Jim Doty, who was on friendly terms with the Dalton gang. In the early 1890's, Jim was caught in the crossfire of a gun battle between the Daltons and the law. He was mounted but didn't know which way to turn when one of the Dalton boys yelled, "Jim, hit the ditch and keep down. You make a dandy target!" Jim fell into a ditch beside one of the Daltons. Each time the Dalton boy would throw out a spent shell it would land on Jim. He thought he was getting shot. When the fracas slowed, he jumped on his horse and "high-tailed" it for home. He rode his horse so hard, the poor animal died of exhaustion.

Our cousin, Forrest Cook, said that Grandpa John Andrew Barrett told him stories of his travels with the notorious James boys.

Grandpa told of an old widow and her brood of seven who were going to be evicted for non-payment of rent. The James boys learned of this, robbed the landlord, then gave the widow the money to pay her back rent. She was told to be sure to get a receipt for her payment and to ask the landlord to come to collect later that evening. The landlord collected the money, gave the widow a receipt and departed. Down the road someone commanded him to rein up. Jesse James and his younger brother again relieved the man of his money, then they returned it to the widow.

Uncle Sam Baker, who was a sheriff, recalled witnessing the hanging of a colored woman in Wagoner. She had been responsible for the stabbing of a young white who died. She was in jail, awaiting trial, when the crowd over-powered the jailer, took her out in the alley, threw a noose over a telephone cable and hanged her.

I remember visiting relatives in Oklahoma, when we left California in March, 1928, en route to Indiana to visit our mother's family. In the evening, Uncle Sam and Aunt Maud (Barrett) Baker, Uncle George and Aunt Mae (Barrett) Meade, Uncle George and Aunt Flora (Barrett) Cook, Grandpa Barrett and Mother and Daddy, would sit around and reminisce. All of us cousins would quietly take in every word with baited breath. Daddy said his cousins,Jim and Ed Doty, had gone to barbecues and dances with the Dalton boys. He also told of a fight he witnessed in Wagoner, in the early 1900's, between Doc. Ruble and Joe Clark. The argument advanced to fisticuffs, and, while grabbling on the ground, Doc bit off the earlobe of Joe Clark. All of these events happened in Indian Territory. In Wagoner there was a general store ran by C.C. May, who also rented a farm to a man he could not get along with. The man and son came into the store, a heated argument ensued and, when the man and son left the store, C.C. grabbed his gun, stepped out of the door and shot the man in the back.

By now our hearts were pounding with excitement, and sleep was forgotten as we sat glued to the spot to be certain we didn't miss a word of Grandpa's story of a grasshopper plaque in Kansas in 1872 when he and his brothers were farming. The grasshoppers ate the meat of the peaches and left the pits hanging on the tree. They ate everything in sight, including the cabbage, then stood on their heads to eat the stalks into the ground. Tom, Jim, Bill and Grandpa took their wagons and headed for Arkansas, to buy up wheat for a water mill. They were camped one night when a group of very young men approached their campfire. The youngest was probably twelve and the oldest about fourteen. In their gear they had lanterns and an ax and said they were 'possum hunting. A tougher bunch the Barrett's had never seen. By high-signs Great Uncle Jim was going to act like he was having fits to scare them off, no sooner had he begun his gyrations than one of the boys said, "Hand me the ax; I sure as H--- know how to cure fits." They continued to stay until all the fire wood was burned, got up and went along the creek and fetched back some wood, threw it down and said, "Now, you ----- -- -------, go to bed" With that they left.

Needless to say, we kids reluctantly headed for bed. Grandpa had given me a small box of gold nuggets. I was afraid to go to sleep, for fear that Jesse James or the Daltons would steal my treasure.

The Oklahoma visit was a never-to-be forgotten experience for five little Barrett children from California who were learning about the "Good Ole Days."We nicknamed our cousin, Hazel Baker, our "Spitting Cousin," because it seem to us that that gal could take aim from across the room and hit the keyhole in the door. We were positively spellbound.

One of our cousins (I don't remember his name) watched Mother cook Spaghetti for dinner and then, his eyes wide with wonder asked "Aunt Hildred, what kind of a tree does spaghetti grow on?" We had brought the spaghetti from California, and the boy had never seen any before.

We had so looked forward to seeing cowboys and Indians and we were not disappointed. Our cousins, particularly Andrew Meade and Forrest Cook, seemed like the real version of the Oklahoma cowboy--complete with accents.

We got acquainted quickly with chiggers and sand fleas, saw oil derricks and salt ponds, coyotes, cowboys and Indians, cousins by the dozens and traversed the land of Daddy's and Mother' youth. We rode over a corduroy road (real logs, layed side by side). The isinglass windows of our 1928 Dodge touring car jolted loose from their metal catches, and our heads hit the soft roof of the car as we careened down the wet and muddy road in a thunderstorm on our way to Uncle Russell and Aunt Inez (Augenstein) Kauffman's in Owasso, Oklahoma. They had a farm and we city kids climbed our first silo. I shall never forget the thrill of it all. I was six years old and tried very hard to pronounce all the fancy names--McAlester, Okmulgee, Tishomingo, Tahlequah, Muskogee, Stillwater, Vinita and many more cities with such musically sounding names.

At each new place we visited, we would hear fascinating stories to whet our childish imagination. Mother and Daddy told of their friends and neighbors offering to give them a dance or a chivaree for their wedding. The dance seemed to be the best idea. The night of the dance, a tall, ruggedly handsome youth came to the door, unbuckled his six-guns and presented them to mother. She almost fainted with fright until daddy told her that this was customary and was a way of showing respect to the lady of the house. They put the guns in a wooden chest by the door, returning them to the guest when he left. This lad, Anson Brazoni and daddy were chums.

Prior to Oklahoma Statehood, there was no law in the Indian Territory. Many white men came into the Indian Territory and built their homes, although they had no legal claim to the land on which they built. It was understandable for them to want the Indian-Territory legally opened to the white man. They were the white man "squatters" on Indian land and had no part in the running of the Indian government. Unprotected by any law, the white man led a very "rough and rugged" life.

As a lad, daddy worked in the cotton fields. One day the notorious Belle Starr was picking cotton in the same field with daddy while she hid out from the law. She was an unobtrusive co-worker and moved on at the close of the work day.

Daddy recalled his father telling of camping for the night with the family along the Cimarron River, and while the children slept, Grandpa and Grandma dozed while holding the reins of their horses to keep someone from stealing them in the night.

Opening of the Strip - Grandpa John Andrew Barrett and his nephew, Ed Barrett, made the run in this Strip on September 16, 1892, but did not get any land. They saw many bodies hanging from the limbs of trees with signs on their chest marked "Sooner." It is claimed that this is how Oklahoma acquired the now famous nickname "Sooner State". Beginning in 1889 there were a number of runs to homestead the lands. In the run of 1893, Grandpa said, men set fire to the prarie grass and many people were burned in the frenzy. Many had all belongings stolen, including their horses And wagons. Grandpa and Ed witnessed a slick claim jumper in operation. They had stopped to rest where two men were at work. One was building a foundation of field stones and one was digging a well. A well dressed man rode up with a fancy team of horses And a buggy loaded with supplies. He asked Grandpa who owned the spread. Upon being told that each of the two men working the spread was claiming it for his own, the man threw out the reins, stepped down from his wagon and declared, "I guess I'll Just take the d---- place myself." Both Grandpa and Ed left before the fireworks began. They assumed that the late comer paid off the other two men and claimed the land himself.

Vinita - Indian Territory. The history of Vinita, Oklahoma, should be interesting to my sisters and brother--Mae, Margaret, Virginia and Arthur John Barrett, Jr., whom we call "Jay or A.J.--since they were born in Vinita.

The First National Bank of Vinita - One of the founders and a Director of the First National Bank of Vinita was Dr. Oliver Gagby who was our family doctor. He delivered Margaret and Virginia. His partner, Dr. Near, delivered A.J.

Sam Cobb, President of the bank, was the owner of the Cobb Hotel, where mother worked when she was young.

Sam LeForce, the well-known cattleman, was a neighbor whom Mother and Daddy lived when Virginia and A.J. were born. Daddy knew John Parks who still lives in Vinita. All individuals listed in this section of the booklet were people that Mother and Daddy knew.

The S.J. Halls were millionaires, Grandpa Augenstein worked for Janie Halla, his unmarried daughter, supervising her dairy farm for her. Janie would take Mother into their home to eat with them, when Grandpa was unloading milk.. They had colored servants to wait on the table. And, what biscuits their cook could make. It was a new food to mother - Southern biscuits!

The second U.S. Marshall, Ike Gilstrap, was reportedly killed by the notorious Wickliffe Brothers. The Brothers were still hiding out in the Grand River Hills when daddy was growing up in Oklahoma.

Daddy helped pave the first street ever to be paved in Vinita about the year 1906 or 1907...Wilson Street.

Other neighbors - The blind music teacher, Ed Chouteau, used to pass the folk's house when my sister, Mae, was small. *Spelling is Chouteau

The Choteau's were very friendly Cherokee Indians. When Grandpa and Grandma Augenstein moved to Oklahoma, the first neighbors to call on them were the Choteau's. My mother said Carrie Choteau was her dear friend. One day mother and Carrie were sitting on blankets in the shade of a tree reading, when Walter, Carrie's son whom she called "Poogie" came running to them. He had been bitten by a cottonmouth. Carrie raced to the house, dashed into the chicken roost, grabbed a pidgeon from its nest, cut it open and applied the still warm flesh to the snake bite. It drew out the venom and saved Poogie's life.

The Buffington parrot was a real "blabber mouth" as mother said. She was walking by one day and reached from the walk to pick a flower from Mrs. Buffington's flower bed. Just as mother was straightening up, the parrot screamed at the top of his lungs, "Ma, they're stealing your flowers!"

T.M. Buffington, the Last Chief. Chief Buffington died in 1938, and Grandpa Barrett died in 1939. Grandpa told of historical events discussed by Chief Buffington.

Mother went to Couch School with Bill and Ludy Ketchum. She named her sister, Ludy, for Ludy Ketchum.

E.D. Cameron, First Superintendent of Public Schools walked mother home from school one day, to talk about where she lived before the Augenstein's moved to Oklahoma, why they left Ohio and how she liked it in this part of the County. The Camerons were quite well to do, and he was considered a "dandy" in those days. He wore morning coats and changed to fancy clothes later in the day. He used finger bowls where he boarded.

Mother and Dad ordered booklets from Mrs. Crouch, in 1968. In 1969, they went to Oklahoma. Aunt Inez and Uncle Russell, and mother and dad met Aunt Geneva who had come by plane from California. They all went to visit Mrs. Crouch at her home in Vinita. It was very delightful to visit with the author and reminisce.

Photograph of the Couch School and Student Class of 1911.

Mother cannot recall the names of the children in the front row. In the second row from the front, seventh from the left is Aunt Marie (Augenstein Kaminski). our Aunt Inez (Augenstein Kauffman) is ninth in the second row.

In the third row, second from the left is Uncle Farl, Mother's brother, whom we call "Uncle Pete". Seventh from the left is Aunt Geneva (Augenstein Minor Reinertson.

In the fourth (Back) row, left to right are: Mr. E.D. Cameron, first superintendent of public schools; Leola Dillard; Bill Ketchum; mother, Hildred Lillian Augenstein Barrett; the Ammerman boy; Ludy Ketchum, and the last three students and the teacher whose names mother cannot remember.

Boy, would I love to be behind the door when our Aunts and Uncles see this photo. I can vividly imagine their amazement and delight-even the throaty laugh of Aunt Geneva and the big gasp of surprise from Aunt Inez1
      ENJOY IT, ONE AND ALL
            GERRIE BARRETT WOLFF

**I was around my Aunt Hildred and Uncle Arthur a lot during their lives. They came to Oklahoma often and I was a guest in their home several times. When Don was small we went back east and stayed with them when they lived at Pendleton, Indiana. After they moved near Chicago, I was there several times when I was in Chicago on business. I talked Uncle Arthur into coming to Oklahoma on a plane with me when I was there once. No one could talk him into riding a plane before. He enjoyed it, although he was scared to death. When the plane would hit an air pocket he would grab my hand and pat it and say "I really love you honey." I know he just wanted to hold my hand for reassurance. He would pick fresh peaches off of the trees and slice them. They were wonderful. They were very dear people. I loved to listen to Uncle Arthur tell his stories. Ron and Vivian remember the stories. He would tell some rather wild stories and then just chuckle. He told the airline stewardess that he had lived in a covered wagon as a young child and now he was flying on his first plane. He did see a lot of history. See other story that I copied from his dictated talk. He drove very fast. They were bringing Mom home once and she was half-sleeping in the back seat when she looked up and saw the speedometer over 80. She stayed awake the rest of the trip. Uncle Arthur was very tall and slender and I thought a very handsome man. He waited on Aunt Hildred hand and foot. Sometimes too much.

Services for Hildred Lillian Barrett were held August 19, 1975 at 2 p.m. Clergy was Rev. Lynn Smith. She is buried at Chapel Lawn Cemetery.

Jeanette Kauffman Girkin
1/29/1995

A Tribute Published in the pages of The Hammond Times, Hammond, Ind., August 17, 1975.

Hildred Lillian Barrett

Hildred Lillian Barrett, age 77, of 5631 W. 153rd Ave., Crown Point, Ind., passed away Saturday, August 16, 1975 at Our Lady of Mercy Hospital in Dyer. Survivors: Husband, Arthur J. Barrett Sr., of Lake Dalecarlia; four daughters, Mrs. Fred (Mae) Scarcelli of Schererville, Mr. Walter (Margaret) S. Schemmer of Anderson, Ind., Mrs. James (Virginia) Prevo of Lake Dalecarlia, and Mrs. Marvin (Geraldine) Wolff of Indianapolis; daughter-in-law, Mrs. Dorothy Barrett of Munster; 4 sisters, Mrs. Norman (Pauline) Myers of Crown Point, Mrs. Joe (Ludie) Merko of Highland, Mrs. Lou (Geneva) Reinertson of Murieta, Calif., and Mrs. Russell (Inez) Kauffman of Tulsa, Okla.; two brothers, Farl M. Augenstein of Tampa, Fla., and Carl W. Augenstein of Cocoa Beach, Fla.; 11 grand-children; 20 great grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her son Arthur J. Barrett, Jr.

Funeral services will be held at the Merriam-Little Funeral Home. Franciscan Dr., Ind. State Rt. 55, South Crown Point, Ind., Tuesday August 19 2 p.m. Rev. Lynn Smith officiating. Burial Chapel Lawn Cemetery. Friends may call 7-9 p.m. Sunday and Monday.



  ii.   Farl M. Augenstein, born April 12, 1899 in Marion, Marion Co., OH; died April 1986 in Tampa, FL; married (1) Frieda Engle; married (2) Inez Sassnella.
  iii.   Geneva Maud Augenstein, born July 10, 1901; died December 6, 1994 in Mt. Vernon, WA; married (1) Delbert (Dell) Minor; married (2) Louis (Lou) Reinersten February 9, 1918.
  Notes for Geneva Maud Augenstein:
October 2, 1992

I was in Seattle, Washington on business and went to Mt. Vernon to visit with my Aunt Geneva (Neva) Augenstein Reinertsen. This is transcribed from a tape.
J = Jeanette      G - Aunt Neva

We were discussing the family and looking at pictures. Bud or Burdette was a brother of Mom and Aunt Neva. He was fine until his 20's when he was very ill. After that he was not the same. he disappeared and never was heard from again.

G - When Bud was a baby he was real sick. Pete's name is Farl. My name is Geneva Maud. I was the only one in the family of nine kids who did not talk back to Mom. (Says she, ha)

J - How did you say Mrs. Lickenberger was related to our family? (These are the people who now live in my great-grandfather Augenstein's home.)

G - His mother's sister married Uncle Wes. Her name was Ann. They enclosed the front porch. The bell is the one I use to ring all of the time to call the men in to the house for dinner.

J - On the Miller side, Grandpa's name was Nathaniel, did they ever call him Daniel? I have run across a Daniel. His wife was Emma Olds. The name Miller came from Mueller?

G - They were named Mueller and came from Germany. Olds came from the British Isles of Wales. They were kin to Churchill.

J - You gave me some names of some of the family. Were they kin to Grandma or Grandpa.

G - Grandpa had one sister. I had a picture of them on the front porch. Her name is Aggie. Momma's brother was Harley.

J - How are they in descending order?

G - Momma was the oldest, then Aunt Iza, then Lloyd, he spent his time in the Spanish-American war. He was stationed in Tacoma, Washington. He disappeared one time and they found him in Northern California and he didn't know who he was. After that his mind came back but no one knew what happened to him. The next child was Benjamin, Mable (died in 1917), left four little children, one was adopted out. I write to him all the time. Her daughter wrote to me all of the time until her brother died. At that time she stopped and never wrote again. She lives in Marion.

Picture of Mom's farm in Creston, Indiana. The people who have it now put the garage on it.

Lloyd Miller looked so pretty in his uniform. Marie kept running around and he told her she had worms. She couldn't of been three years old.

J - Why did your dad decide to move to Oklahoma? Gerald said he was the only one who had itching feet in the family. The rest of the Augensteins stayed in Ohio, close to Marion.

G - For one thing, Grandpa Miller gave him a bad time. They were farming together and Grandpa cheated dad. Then dad's best friend, Mr. Thomas moved to Vinita three years before us. Dad went to Vinita and Mom took seven kids on that train. We had to lay over in St. Louis, Missouri. That depot was scattered all over and us kids were everywhere looking at things. She had a time trying to keep us together.

J - You weren't very old?

G - No, we were all little. Hildred was the oldest, she was born in 1885, Pete was born in 1887. Carl was 87 when he died a few weeks ago.

J - Mom always said that her Grandpa built that big house saying he was going to have 12 kids, he had 12, but two died in infancy.

G - Yeah, I sent that information to that lady on the farm. Two of the boys were born in the old log house.

J - Where is the brick house that you and Mom had your picture taken in front of? Mom said it was a tavern.

G - That was in Waldo. Just because dad was German, he got thrown in jail in Vinita in 1918. He worked at the oil refinery and had his own office. There was a guy that wanted dad's job and he put a picture of Uncle Sam and the Kaiser with a pitch fork and they put him in jail. They were talking about hanging him. He had to stay in jail for about a month. He got his job back. My ignorant inlaws didn't want Dell to marry me because I was German and a Lutheran. He was always giving me a hard time. They had my kids crying all of the time. We lived at Centralia. I told Dell that he had to get us out of this mess. Dell had a cousin who lived in California.

J - I didn't Know that when we moved out there in 1943 there was a bad name regarding Okies. Here we were with suitcases tied on top of the car. Now half of California is Okies.

G - We were out there working on the car. Jim was standing there and said "Dell, if it wasn't for Geneva, Dell wouldn't be making this crazy trip". Boy I got mad when he said that and Dell's cousin made me go into the house. When I got in the house I had the window up by the door, it was propped up with a big iron bar. I took that bar out from under the window and I said that if he walked in that door, I was going to lay him flat. I would have. I would of been in jail.

J - Did he have a big family?

G - There were eight of them.

J - You said that when you were little and left Marion in 1910, you lived in Waldo when you left. Then you talked about going to Grandma and Grandpa Augensteins for Christmas and Grandma Millers for Easter.

G - Yes, we always went to Grandma Augenstein and they had high ceilings back then, they had the biggest Christmas tree that you ever saw. It came up to the ceiling and all of the kids and cousins were all there. What a houseful. Golly, When we went to Grandmas for Christmas we always went up the long lane in a sleigh. There were bells on the horses. The tree was always bigger than any of the neighbors. I remember that very vividly.

J - I heard Mom talk about that.

G - For Easter we always went to Grandma Millers.

J - Marcia's husband Allan said he know where Marcia inherited wanting a large Christmas tree.

G - Oh, no kidding. That is great. Grandma Augenstein had a large room upstairs and that was nothing but play things. That is where we would all go up and play to get out from under the big peoples feet. This room had play stove, furniture and lots of toys. Everything we took out of the closet, at the end of the day everything went back into the closet. We didn't just leave things laying on the floor.

J - There had to be a lot of grandkids.

G - Oh, I just can't imagine how many. I think there were about 40 of us at that time.

J - I have several cards that Grandma sent to Mom after she moved to Oklahoma.

G - Grandma sent Uncle Harry to Oklahoma to see if we were getting along ok. She didn't believe us that we were ok. So Harry came to see if it was really true, Imagine that.

J - Your dad made a pretty good living, didn't he.

G - Oh yeah, he was a good farmer and he managed the G Hall Dairy. He left there and went to Vinita and that is when he went to work with the Sinclair Oil Refinery. He went East with the oil company to Indiana. At one time he raised chickens.

J - Did they live somewhere around Whiting. That is where Mom said she was married, Whiting, Indiana.

G - Yeah, they lived real close to there.

J - They were married in the Methodist church. I have it on tape when I asked her this question. Who married you? She started giggling and said you don't want to know. I said yes I did. She said my old boyfriends dad. She was talking about working in a millinery store. How old would she have been? Was you married?

G - I was already married and she made hats.

J - She also said she worked where they made mayonnaise and she wouldn't eat mayonnaise for a long time. Dad came up there and married her.

G - That picture of her with Pauline, Hildred and AJ, she was working there then.

J - She was always creative and imaginative with her hands, made beautiful floral arrangements.

G - I think that one time they lived in a house that was called a Double D house, that is where two families lived. One lived on one side and one on the other.

J - What do you remember best about Grandma and Grandpa Augenstein?

G - Grandpa and Grandma were very jolly people. Grandpa became sick and he would sit in a chair by the heating stove most of the time. He didn't have much to say. If you asked him a question, he would answer, but that was about it. Grandma made the living.

J - How did she make a living?

G - Cooking for men that had rooms, some had rooms at her place. She made their breakfast and packed their lunches.

J - Didn't you say something about chickens?

G - She raised chickens and geese and a few turkeys out in the yard. I use to help Grandma feed them.

J - How old were you at that time?

G - I must have been about five years old. Grandpa was pretty old at that time. We left Ohio in 1910 and he died in 1914. Dad had the flu and couldn't go to the funeral.

J - What about Grandma and Grandpa Miller?

G - Well, I don't know. It doesn't seem that Grandpa had much to do with all of the kids, but Grandma did. I remember Aunt Pearl use to come over and she loved to comb my hair. She was Grandma's sister. Aunt Fern and Pearl and I use to go in the smoke house, they called it the summer kitchen, that is where we painted out Easter eggs. I always had to have my purple egg. We had to mix two colors to make my purple egg. I still like purple.

J - What do you remember most about your dad and mom, their personalities, etc.?

G - Well, I tell you they were two of the hardest working people that I ever saw. If they had any quarrels, it wasn't before us kids, ever. Everywhere Dad went, a little bunch of kids in the neighborhood always followed dad. he was a very jolly person. Mom was very strict with children. She yanked a bow out of my hair when we were leaving for Sunday School. She wouldn't let me wear silk hose, said they drew attention to my legs. He was so good and so kind. I know momma had her hands full, the night Inez and I got lost, boy. It was a rainy Sunday evening at 4:30 or 5 and we went to get the cows.

J - Did you get a whipping?

G - We didn't get a whipping because they were all out on the creek with lanterns hunting for us.

J - You said, you went way back up to White Oak.

G - Yes, way up to White Oak. See we got turned around. We were driving cows home, and we were driving the cows the wrong direction. The cows turned around and went home. If we had followed them we would of been alright, but no, we went the other way. The wolves were hollowing and yelling, Inez was crying and I kept telling her to shut up, that I wasn't afraid and they wouldn't hurt us. When we came to the light, I said there is our house now. When we got up to the house, we went in and it happened to be a man who knew us.

J - How old were you?

G - Oh my goodness, we were little kids, that was before Ludie was born. That was in 1911, (they would of been 9 and 10). When we went in there we had raincoats on. I had pushed my hair all up under a boys cap and had a bridle on my shoulder. I was going to catch a horse first and ride him. He thought I was a boy. He told us how to find home. When we got to the end of his lane, I said I couldn't walk another step. We went back up the house and his son drove in from some distance. He changed horses, put a fresh horse on the buggy and took us home. I remember him running down the lane toward the creek, that is where everyone was looking for us, he was whooping and yelling until he got an answer from them.

J - She said that one time, you, Pete and her decided to take the surrey?

G - Oh, I remember that well. The people down the street had kids about our age so we decided that we would take the surrey and three of us would be the horses, the three girls would get in with the babies and we would pull them up and down the hill. We started down that hill, the surrey pushed us, we couldn't hold that surrey. Inez got hurt, I know she got her lip hurt real bad and the buggy ran over her hand. That buggy would of run into the creek but the shaft ran into the bank and broke the shaft but stopped the buggy. The babies were crying. Oh what a time that was. A man came along and asked us where our horse was. Pete told him that our horse had run away.

J - I think you were honery. I know where I get it, my kids are also. My Mom said that when you left Ohio that everyone just knew you would be scalped by Indians.

G - They scared us to death. We were afraid to arrive in Oklahoma. Oklahoma was wild at that time, the first friend we had was an Indian.

J - Poogy?

G - Yeah, my little boyfriend.

J - Mom said they would of died if they knew she played with a little Indian boy. When Uncle Arthur, Jack and Marie came out they just knew they were going to be scalped. I think a lot of people still have that idea.

G - Yeah, they do

J - How would you describe yourself?

G - Oh, I don't know. All I know is that I have worked hard all of my life. I didn't let things bother me like other people. I just let it go over my head.

J - I remember your laughter, your bubbliness, your love. I told you that when you called James, he looked like he had talked to a ghost, he thought he was talking to Mom for a minute. Is there anything about any of the other kids in your family?

G - It seems that everyone was doing ok. We went through the awful depression. If you did that, you did something. I remember when Hildred and Arthur came to California, he had $3.00 in his pocket when they landed. We went from Lindsey to Bakersfield to pick them up at the train. They had four kids and that is when she found out I was pregnant with Bud. Instead of getting sick in the morning, I would faint. When I fainted, that was the sign I was pregnant.

J - You fainted a lot?

G - I sure did. Our house caught on fire that night. Arthur kept putting wood in the fire and the doggone chimney got too hot and caught on fire. That was in February and it was cold. We had to put a ladder up there and we went up there and tried to put it out. We had to break ice on the watering trough where the horses drank. We carried water for them to put out the fire. Hildred was in there getting the kids dressed to get out of the house.

We went to California in 1918, it was hot. I have a picture of us just after we got into California the last time. Howard was a little curley haired baby, I put Tiny and Howard in front of the car and took a picture. What a risk we took coming in that old car.

J - When you went out California there was not the bad stigma to being an Okie.

G - Tiny didn't want anyone to know that she was from Oklahoma.

J - The movies depict how bad the Okies were treated, was this portrayal right?

G - I don't think so. I don't remember anyone mistreating anyone just because they were from Oklahoma. Pay was minimum, but none got paid very much.

From June 13 to July 10 Inez and me were the same age. Inez would put her hands on her hips and say "I'm just as old as you are and can do anything you do". Inez would ride horses, milk cows, feed the hogs and run the sheep. I always said she was afraid of the sheep because she would cry when they were sheared. She wouldn't pick up the baby possum and I would tease her.

Note from Jeanette - On the day that I visited Aunt Neva in her home, October 2, 1992 she was bright and alert; however, she was becoming more feeble and walked with difficulty. It was hard for me to see her deteriorating. Thank goodness she still has her spunk and laughter. I love to talk to her on the telephone, she has such a bubbly personality. She and my mother were close in actions as well as their personalities. I know that Aunt Neva had a very hard life. Her first Husband Dell Minor was an Indian who knew how to drink until he didn't know his name. Aunt Neva raised a large family and it was obvious that she put more food on the table than Dell. When I was small and lived on the farm near Vera, Oklahoma he would come to stay. Dad would assign him some chores to do and he would disappear very fast. After her children were grown she married Lou Reinerston. He showed "show dogs" for rich clients. I have seen some of his awards and he had won more prizes in a certain brand of dogs than anyone else in the United States. The dogs he showed belonged to famous people. They had a happy life together. I remember her love, kindness, ability to laugh and enjoy herself. She was 91 years, 3 months old when I visited with her. She is my favorite aunt.

Aunt Neva died December 1994. It was hard to accept her death. She had went to Hawaii the February before with several of her children and grandchildren. Shortly after returning she had a stroke. It was hard to imagine my active Aunt Neva being confined and not able to talk. I think her death was harder on me because she was my last link to my mom. When you talked to her in person or on the telephone she made your day brighter. I am glad that she came into my life. The yellow rooster is a gift from her when I was five and had my leg almost cut off. This gift has meant a lot to me. The large Thanksgiving platter was from her as well as several dishes I have in my china cabinet. I had admired the plate when I was visiting her in California. She packed some things for me to bring back to Oklahoma and when I arrived home, this plate was in the bottom of the box with a note "For Jet". When I was small I couldn't say Jeanette, it was Jet. For Aunt Hildred and Aunt Neva's children I was always Jet. Neva addressed my letters to Jet. I loved her very much.

Additional notes from letter from Aunt Neva:

I remember daddy taking Marie (carried her) and Inez by the hand and me tagging along to watch Dan Patch run. (My notes - Dan Patch was a famous trotting horse, I think) He was top pacer at that time and dad never missed. He raised good buggy horses and always broke them to harness before selling them. He used the road to break them and me always at his heels. Same road we used for that buggy ride, HA. I wasn't hurt but Inez was. Inez got scared and jumped out of that boat one time to. She could have drown. Dad and two of his brothers were born in a log house behind the big house gramps built. Its put together with wooden pegs, not nails and it is still good. There's so much one can hardly write it all down. I cracked and picked goodies from walnuts for Gram while sitting in the south door in the sun of winter, in the loft of grainery. It was hours and hours. Gram was born on the ship coming over from Germany.

When the Millers came from Germany their name was Muellerstadt. They changed their name to Miller.

Aunt Mabel Knickel died in 1917 and left 2 tiny boys and 2 tiny girls. Only Cliff is living now.

Jacob (Mueller) Miller and his two brothers came from Rotterdam, Germany in 1749 and settled in Virginia. Jacob founded the City of Muellerstadt, which was later changed to Woodstock.

Nathaniel Miller, my grandfather was his son and my mother's father. He was born on farm between Waldo and Prospect, Ohio in 1854.

Great Grandfather Olds came from Wales and settled on a farm in Ohio where my mother's mother was born in 1854 at the edge of Waldo. Emma taught school in Waldo.

Gramps Miller worked in lumber mill, sugar mill, grist mill besides farming. It was September 15, 1749 when Jacob Mueller left Rotterdam, Germany for Delaware, later to Virginia. One brother remained in Pennsylvania and third moved to Maryland to make their homes. There were six Jacobs down the line.

The Olds were from Wales. We have Scotch, Irish, Welch and French on that side.

Great Aunt "Aggie" married a Whitman. She was a custodian.

Aunt Neva said that my Grandma Maude Augenstein's great grandfather was a cousin to Sir Winston Churchill. I have not proven this to be true, although there are Churchills in the family.


  5 iv.   Inez Lucille Augenstein, born June 13, 1902 in Marion, Ohio 1760946 LDS File; died November 1987 in Tulsa, OK; married Russell Alexander Kauffman June 28, 1920 in Whiting, Lake County, Indiana.
  v.   Marie Augenstein, born June 24, 1904 in Prospect, Marion Co., OH; died January 7, 1957 in Calumet City, IL; married Jack Kaminski.
  vi.   Carl W. Augenstein, born October 11, 1906 in Prospect, Marion Co., OH; married Iris Baird September 7, 1932.
  vii.   Earl Burdette Augenstein, born November 6, 1909.
  viii.   Ludie Leola Augenstein, born November 6, 1912; died November 14, 1997; married Joseph Merko December 5, 1929.
  ix.   Pauline Augenstein, born June 19, 1918 in Vinita, Craig County, OK; married Norman Meyers August 14, 1937.


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