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The Healdton Herald
Healdton, Carter County, Oklahoma
Old Timer of the Week articles written by HELEN HEDGEPATH for the Healdton Herald.
September 11, 1980
Wilson Pioneer Woman Happy (part of the article)
It is inspiring to see an 84-year old woman so thankful for her health and content with what the Lord gives her. This is the feeling of PEARL BROWN of Wilson. This week we honor PEARL BROWN as our Old Timer of the Week. Pearl was born August 26, 1898 (1896?) in Newburgh, Indiana. Her parents were GIDEON and NORA RIGGS VANNESS who were both in Indiana.
Pearl came to Sneed, Indian Territory in 1899. They moved from Indiana by covered wagon. Her family had two wagons and they traveled with her aunt, uncle and their three children. Her mother told stories of men trying to steal the horses and supplies while they were camped. Her father has TB and they hoped moving to this country that the climate would be beneficial to him. The first night in this area, they camped near the old A-Bar church and school. They soon found a farm to rent and lived in a two room log house. They left Indiana in winter after gathering their fall crops. They wanted to get settled in a new home in time to plant in the spring.
Pearl first attended the A-Bar school. She has a vivid recollection of her first day at the school. She wore a checked outing dress and ANNIE MOOSE / MOORE was her first teacher.
Her father died in 1904 and her mother was left with eight children. There was no social security or welfare benefits for the widow in those days. She and the children had to do the farming and make the living. People were more neighborly and helpful in those days. At butchering, the liver, backbone and parts of the hog that couldn’t be cured were shared with neighbors. She and the children really had a hard time during those years.
Of the 8 children: ETHEL died at age 13 buried in Indiana; ANNIE (Mrs. LIGE) WOODS who lived at Sneed; EMMA (Mrs. WILL) MAUCK who lived at Wheeler; FRED VanNess who married the former DELLA GEORGE and lived at Wheeler; MATTIE (Mrs. JESS) HALL of Wheeler, and ROY who died at age 6. Only one sister, MARY MOSES MCCORMICK is still living at a nursing home in New York.
Some of the early neighbors at Sneed were the KNUTSONS, PATRICKS, and COFFEES who had children at A-Bar, Sneed, and Wheeler schools. As she was older, they were neighbors with the ONIE COOK family, mother of WOODROW and EDWIN COOK. She recalled her mother made Christmas a special time for the family. No matter how little the family had, her mother always managed to make popcorn balls, taffy, pies and cakes at Christmas time. Her mother was a good manager and a good cook.
The last few years before Pearl married, there were only her mother, her younger sister MATTIE and her mother. They lived in a log house owned by FRANK and HATTIE ROBINSON. Pearl, Mattie and their mother worked for Mrs. Robinson. Her mother helped with housework and the girls helped can fruits and vegetables from the garden. They chopped and picked cotton, milked and fed the cows and whatever there was to do.
When Pearl was 16, she started going with ARTHUR B. BROWN, a boy she had grown up with. They went together about a year and married Sept. 22, 1913 at Gainesville, Texas. Pearl and Arthur Brown and CLARENCE WALKER and DOLLY CLOWDUS all went together to get married. Pearl was only 17 but her mother gave her a note giving her permission to marry. They rode a buggy to Ardmore to get the license and be married. The other couple got a license but the court clerk would not recognize her mother’s permission slip, and they were unable to secure a license. Clarence Walker and Dolly Clowdus were married in Ardmore and the four rode the train to Gainesville where Pearl and Arthur got their license and were married. Pearl said this was her first train ride. They all spent the night at a hotel and returned to Ardmore the next day.
She and Arthur lived on rented land around Keller, Sneed and Wheeler. Later her husband worked in the oilfields around Clemscot and Fox. They had three children, MAYBELLE (Mrs. WALDO) HIKCEY of Odessa, Texas; DALTON A. BROWN of Lindsay, and LOUISE (Mrs. JIMMY) DODD of Sheffield, Texas. Pearl has 7 grandchildren: Maybelle had 2 daughters, LADELL CROWDER in Louisiana and EARLENE HUFFMAN now in Spain; Dalton has three, BETTY JACKSON and BUDDY BROWN both in Fort, and SHERRY STOCKTON at Lindsay; Louise has 2 sons, GARY and TERRY at Sheffield.
Pearl lost her mother in 1945 age 85. She was blind and lived with the Browns 23 years before her death. Both parents are buried at Keller.
Arthur’s health failed about 1955. They moved into Wilson in 1964. As his health got worse, they moved to Lindsay, stayed there 8 months and returned to Wilson. After 4 years, it was necessary for them to be near their daughter and moved to Midland, Texas. They were there 4 years and their son-in-law was transferred to Sheffield, Texas. The Browns decided to return to Wilson and he died Jan. 24, 1978. Her children wish she would move closer to one of them, but she is content living in Wilson. Her neighbors check on her.
Pearl is a member of the First Baptist Church, becoming a Christian age 19 and her first baby was small. She was baptized in a tank near the one room Sneed school and church. Her husband joined the church about a year later. Pearl is a quiet and rather timid person. Her hobbies are piecing quilts and quilting, she enjoys it and it supplements her income.
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