Kessler Dorman and Beryl Benell (Blake) Dorman are buried in Enid Cemetery, Enid, Garfield Co., OK. Thanks to Find-A-Grave for making this image available.

Byron Sterling Blake, Mary Gertrude (Wofford) Blake, and their son, Byron W. Blake, are buried in Enid Cemetery, Enid, Garfield Co., OK. Thanks to Find-A-Grave for making this image available.

Homer Allen Tucker and Dorothy Louise (Wogan) Tucker are buried in Fairview Cemetery, Martinsburg, Blair Co., PA. Thanks to Find-A-Grave for making this image available.

John A. Daily and Mildred W. "Milly" Ross Marriage Record.

The 1880s Swedish church record shows Johan August Alfred Leander, with a birth date of December 2, 1856, in Sweden, is a member of the Swedish American Lutheran Church, Salina, Saline Co., KS.

The Salina Semi-Weekly Journal, Salina, Saline Co., KS, Saturday, November 11, 1882

The Salina Semi-Weekly Journal, Salina, Saline Co., KS, Saturday, November 25, 1882

Mr. Leander of Holmqvist & Leander, was at Kansas City one day this week, on business.

The Salina Semi-Weekly Journal, Salina, Saline Co., KS, Saturday, December 2, 1882

When you want a spring wagon, call on Holmquist & Leander. If they can't suit you, nobody can.

The Salina Semi-Weekly Journal, Salina, Saline Co., KS, Saturday, December 16, 1882

Holmquist & Leander since August, (when the firm was formed), have sold 57 lumber wagons and 37 buggies and spring wagons. This report manifests two facts - one, that the people are in fair circumstances, and the other that this firm are wideawake salesmen.

The Salina Semi-Weekly Journal, Salina, Saline Co., KS, Saturday, March 24, 1883

Dissolution Notice.

The partnership heretofore existing between A. J. Holmquist and  J. A. Leander is this day dissolved by mutual consent. A. J. Holmquist will collect all accounts due the late firm and pay all obligations incurred by them. An exception is made in the case of the Altman & Taylor threshing machine in the sale of which A. J. Holmquist and J. A. Leander are equally and jointly interested.

Salina, Kansas, March 17, 1883.

A. J. HOLMQUIST. J. A. LEANDER.

The Salina Semi-Weekly Journal, Salina, Saline Co., KS, Saturday, August 25, 1883

J. A. Leander has purchased the half interest of Mr. Leksell in the Phoenix Drug Store. Engstrom & Leander will be a strong firm.

   

Carl Anders Johannisson (Chas. Leander) and Emma Lovisa Anderssdotter (Emma Leander) were living in Salina, Saline Co., KS, in 1885.

   

John A. Leander and Elizabeth J. "Lizzie" Kraft Marriage Records.

The Salina Herald, Salina, Saline Co., KS, Thursday, June 11, 1885

Mr. J. A. Leander and Miss Lizzie Kraft, both of Salina, were married Saturday, June 6th, by Rev. Dahlsten The HERALD, although unacquainted with the newly wedded pair, joins their many friends in extending congratulations, and wishing them a smooth and pleasant journey adown the stream of life.

The Saline County Journal, Salina, Saline Co., KS, Thursday, June 11, 1885

Mr. J. A. Leander and Miss Lizzie J. Kraft, a popular young couple, were married at Salemsborg last Saturday.

The Salina Semi-Weekly Journal, Salina, Saline Co., KS, Saturday, November 21, 1885

J. M. Ericson, John A. Leander and Ed Nelson are establishing a furniture store at Assaria. The firm will be known as Leander & Co.

The Salina Semi-Weekly Journal, Salina, Saline Co., KS, Saturday, December 19, 1885

John A. Leander has branched out as a collection agent, headquarters at Banks & Moore's office. John can be depended upon for his thoroughness.

The Salina Semi-Weekly Journal, Salina, Saline Co., KS, Saturday, February 20, 1886

Dr. Toby has occupied the residence of John A. Leander, on West Iron avenue.

The Salina County Journal, Salina, Saline Co., KS, Thursday, April 15, 1886

John A. Leander is now employed in C. W. Banks' law office.

The Salina Semi-Weekly Journal, Salina, Saline Co., KS, Saturday, July 10, 1886

John A. Leander is arranging to engage in the furniture business at Marquette. John will make the business win. Marquette is now on the road to prosperity, by reason of receiving the new Kansas & Colorado Railroad.

The Salina Daily Journal, Salina, Saline Co., KS, Thursday, March 31, 1887

The wife of John A. Leander, who has been in Kansas City two weeks on business, returned Tuesday.

Ulysses Simpson Grant Blake and Lola Irma Benell Marriage Record.

The Salina Daily Journal, Salina, Saline Co., KS, Monday, July 11, 1887

The wife of John A. Leander was brought up from Kansas City last Friday evening, greatly suffering from the effects of brain fever. Her mind is somewhat affected. She was taken to her father's at his farm south of the city, for rest and recuperation.

The Salina Daily Journal, Salina, Saline Co., KS, Friday, April 12, 1889

- John Leander, for several years a citizen of Salina, is with us once more and promises to abide with us.

The Junction City Weekly Union, Junction City, Geary Co., KS, Saturday, September 7, 1889

TOO MUCH ALCOHOL

A Swede by the name of Leander, who resides with his family over Wadleigh's office, created not a little commotion Friday evening of last week by beating his wife. Leander had been drinking heavily of alcohol and got into some difficulty with his wife and attempted to put a quietus on matters in a forcible manner. A neighbor made complaint and he was placed under arrest. Will Winans was acting as deputy, and the Swede concluded not to be taken by a kid, and proceeded to dislocate one of Will's pant legs, and accomplished part of the task. No one appeared against him in the police court, and he was released.

       

Warren A. Tucker and Isadora "Isadore" Daily Marriage Records.

The Salina Daily Union, Salina, Saline Co., KS, Monday, May 1, 1899

ALBERT LEANDER IS DEAD.

Succumbed to Spinal Meningitis Last Night at 11:30 o'clock.

Albert N. Leander died last night at 11:30 o'clock with cerebro spinal meningitis. He was 13 years of age and was the oldest son of Mrs. Lizzie Leander, proprietress of the Mitchell house. The funeral will be held from the residence tomorrow at 10 o'clock. Rev. McCullough will officiate.

The Salina Daily Republican-Journal, Salina, Saline Co., KS, Monday, May 1, 1899

Death of Albert Leander

The death of Albert Leander occurred last night at 11 o'clock. He was a victim of the dreaded disease cerebro spinal meningitis, that has made such a fatal record the past week. Albert was born at Assaria thirteen years ago. He was a regular attendant in the 6th A, at the Central building, and had made a very enviable record for himself, through his aptitude for his studies. He was a bright, manly, capable boy, and to his mother, who has so proudly centered in him all her affections, her hopes and ambitions, the blow falls with crushing force. The funeral takes place from the residence, the Mitchell House, tomorrow morning at 10 o'clock.

   

Ulysses Simpson Grant Blake and Elizabeth J. "Lizzie" (Kraft) Leander Marriage Records.

The Salina Daily Republican-Journal, Salina, Saline Co., KS, Saturday, October 21, 1899

Blake - Leander

At the Mitchell House last evening at 7:30 o'clock Mr. U. S. Blake, of Pueblo, Col., was united in marriage to Mrs. L. J. Leander, Rev. D. H. Shields conducting the ceremony in the presence of the boarders of the Mitchell House and near neighbors. After the ceremony the couple attended the entertainment at the opera house. The groom is in the railroad business at Pueblo - a nephew of R. S. See of this city, and the bride is the popular proprietress of the Mitchell House. Their home for the present will be made in Salina.

The National Field, Salina, Saline Co., KS, Friday, October 27, 1899

MRS. LEANDER MARRIED.

United in Wedlock to U. S. Blake of Pueblo, Colo.

From Saturday's Daily.

U. S. Blake, of Pueblo, Colo., and Mrs. Lizzie J. Leander, of this city, were married last evening at 7:30 o'clock in the parlor of the Mitchell House last evening at 7:30 o'clock on South Seventh street, Rev. David Shields, officiating. The ceremony was performed in the presence of a few relatives and friends. The groom is a well to do railroad man of Pueblo, while the bride is well known in Salina where she has for several years conducted the Mitchell House. Mr. and Mrs. Blake will make their home in Salina for some time, bur Mr. Blake will continue to devote a large portion of his time to his affairs in Colorado.

The Salina Daily Union, Salina, Saline Co., KS, Saturday, August 23, 1901

Word has been received here announcing the birth of an 8-pound daughter, August 22, to Mr. and Mrs. U. S. Blake at Arcadia, Tex. Mr. Blake has since been transferred to Caldwell, Tex. Mrs. Blake was formerly Mrs. Leander, of Salina.

The Salina Evening Journal, Salina, Saline Co., KS, Monday, October 8, 1906

AMELIA BLAKE DEAD.

Body Will Be Brought to Salina Tomorrow for Burial.

A telegram was received in this city today by Mr. and Mrs. Robert S. See announcing the death of Amelia Blake at Carl Junction, Mo., this morning at 11 o'clock. Mr. and Mrs. Blake will start for Salina with the remains this evening. The funeral arrangements have not yet been announced. Mr. Blake was for some time agent for the Santa Fe railway in Salina, and he and his wife have many friends who will sympathize with them in their bereavement. Mrs. Blake is the daughter of Henry Kraft, a well-known farmer of this county.

The Salina Evening Journal, Salina, Saline Co., KS, Tuesday, October 9, 1906

LOCAL NEWS.

Mrs. U. S. Blake of Carl Junction, Mo., will arrive in the city this evening over the Rock Island, with the body of their daughter, Amelia, who died yesterday morning. The body will be taken to the home of Mrs. Blake's sister, Mrs. J. E. Woodward on West Iron avenue, from whence the funeral will take place tomorrow afternoon at 2 o'clock.

The Salina Daily Union, Salina, Saline Co., KS, Wednesday, January 15, 1908

AN OLD RESIDENT PASSED AWAY

Mrs. U. S. Blake Leaves Many Relatives Here.

Mrs. U. S. Blake who died Monday night at the Salina hospital was taken there from her home at Fredonia about five weeks ago for treatment. She has been sick for a long time. She was nearly 43 years old and leaves a husband, one, Carl Leander, 19 years old, a father, six sisters and a brother to mourn her loss. Mrs. Blake was the daughter of Henry Kraft, who lives a short distance south of the city and has lived in Saline county the most of her life, having come here with her parents in 1875. Her sisters are Mrs. J. E. Woodward of West Iron avenue; Mrs. Charles and Louis Rittersbacher, of Bartlesville, Okla.; Mrs. M. H. Barnett, of Salina; Mrs. M. D. Gebhardt and Miss Elsie Kraft, also of Salina. Her brother is J. W. Kraft of Crystal Springs. The funeral services will be held at the English Lutheran church at 10 o'clock Thursday morning, Dr. H. A. Ott officiating, assisted by Rev. David H. Shields of the Christian church and the remains will be buried in Gypsum Hill cemetery.

The Salina Evening Journal, Salina, Saline Co., KS, Wednesday, January 15, 1908

FUNERAL THURSDAY.

Remains of Mrs. U. S. Blake to be Buried Tomorrow Afternoon.

The funeral services of Mrs. U. S. Blake, who died Tuesday morning early at the Salina hospital, will be held Thursday afternoon at 2 o'clock from the St. John's Lutheran church, Dr. H. A. Ott conducting the services, assisted by Rev. David H. Shields of the Christian church. The deceased has spent most of her life at her home, south of Salina. She was 43 years old and came to Salina with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Kraft in 1857, who lived on the well known Kraft farm, a half mile south of the Wesleyan university. Mr. and Mrs. Blake have lived in Fredonia for the past few years, and when Mrs. Blake was taken sick five weeks ago she was brought to the Salina hospital, where she died yesterday. The deceased leaves a husband, a son, Carl Blake, 19 years old, her father, Henry Kraft, six sisters, Mrs. J. E. Woodward of West Iron avenue; Mrs. Charles Rittersbacher, Mrs. M. H. Barnett, Mrs. M. D. Gebhardt, Miss Elsie Kraft, all of Salina and Mrs. Louis Rittersbacher of Bartlesville, Okla., and a brother, J. W. Kraft of Crystal Springs. All will be able to attend the funeral services with the exception of Mrs. Louis Rittsbacher, who is detained at home by her son, who recently sustained a broken leg.

The Salina Evening Journal, Salina, Saline Co., KS, Thursday, January 16, 1908

The funeral of Mrs. U. S. Blake was held this afternoon at 2:30 o'clock at the English Lutheran church. Rev. H. A. Ott, assisted by Rev. Shields, officiated. The following were the pall bearers: Chris Bachtold, Wm. Butzer, J. E. Johnson, B. B. Stimmel, jr., J. S. Gates, John Mayer.

The Occidental Home Monthly, Salina, Saline Co., KS, Saturday, February 1, 1908

Deceased Companions.

Companion Lizzie J. Blake died January 13, 1908; cause of death, oedema of lungs. Joined Pioneer Chapter No.1, October 20, 1903. Held benefit certificate No. 4577 payable to U.. S. Blake, husband and Carl Leander, son. Claim paid.

The Fredonia Daily Herald, Fredonia, KS, Thursday, March 19, 1908

U. S. Blake has returned to Fredonia from his vacation trip to Missouri and Oklahoma and resumed his position as day operator at the Frisco depot. He was accompanied home by his mother-in-law, Mrs. Jas. Benell of Hillsdale, Ok. one of Fredonia's old time residents. She has many friends here who will be glad to meet her again.

The Alma Enterprise, Alma, KS, Friday, February 10, 1911

MARRIED.

Carl Leander and Miss Lela Brewer both of Alta Vista, were married by Rev. B. F. Dice at the M. E. parsonage Monday evening. They are a fine looking young couple and we congratulate them.

The Salina Evening Journal, Salina, Saline Co., KS, Wednesday, February 15, 1911

Mr. Carl Leander and Bride Here

The many Saline county relatives of Mr. Carl Leander were surprised Tuesday evening where he arrived in Salina accompanied by his bride. They are at present being entertained at the home of his aunt, Mrs. Newton Gebhardt, south of town, but will be here several weeks and visit among relatives who are Mrs. J. E. Woodward, Mrs. Montgomery Barnett, and Mrs. Wm. Basel, of Salina, and Mr. J. W. Kraft, of Crystal Springs. Mr. Leander and Miss Lela Brewer were married Monday at the home of the bride at Alta Vista. She is a sweet and charming young woman. He is a Salina boy, having been born and reared here. His parents are dead. For some time he has been telegraph operator at the Frisco station at Alta Vista and is a splendid young man, steady and ambitious.

The Salina Evening Journal, Salina, Saline Co., KS, Saturday, June 27, 1914

DEATH OF HENRY KRAFT

END CAME TO CITIZEN LAST EVENING

Born in Germany, He Emigrated to America - His Work was Highly Successful

Henry Kraft, one of the earliest settlers of Saline county and known as one of the wealthiest men of the county, died at his home just south of the Kansas Wesleyan university buildings, yesterday evening at 5 o'clock. Death was due to old age. Mr. Kraft had lived here since 1875, and had had unusual success as a farmer. He was born in Germany on February 3, 1836 and later emigrated to the United States. He came from Pennsylvania to Kansas. His farm of 240 acres just south of town was one of the finest in the county and he also owned much property in Salina. Mrs. Kraft died 15 years ago but Mr. Kraft is survived by a number of children. They are J. W. Kraft, Mrs. J. E. Wood and Mrs. William Basil [sic], all of Salina or the immediate vicinity; Mrs. Lewis Rittersbacher of Bartlesville, Oklahoma, and Mrs. Charles Ritttersbacher and Mrs. M. H. Barnett of Los Angeles, Cal. Mr. Kraft had long been a member of the Lutheran church. Funeral services will be held on Sunday afternoon at 2:30 o'clock at the residence south of Salina. Rev. B. R. Lantz of St. John's Lutheran church will be in charge of the services and the following old friends and neighbors of the family will act as pall bearers: C. Bachtold, James Ridings, W. H. Todd, S. J. Berg, Ervin Neff and Peter Swartz. Interment will be in Gypsum Hill cemetery.

 

The WWI Draft Registration Report taken on June 5, 1917, shows Carl George Leander was married, had two children, and was a Telegraph Operator for the Union Pacific and was living and working in Onaga, KS.

 

Kessler Dorman Death Certificate.

The Maryville Daily Forum, Maryville, Nodaway Co., MO, Monday, July 22, 1940

Parnell

Mrs. C. G. Leander and sons, Dannie and Allen, left Tuesday for their home in Solomon, Kas., after a visit with Mr. and Mrs. Leslie Leander.

The Maryville Daily Forum, Maryville, Nodaway Co., MO, Monday, July 22, 1940

Parnell

Mrs. and Mrs. Leslie Leander and son went to Solomon, Kas., Saturday to spend a couple of days with his parents.

The Hutchinson News Herald, Hutchinson, KS, November 22, 1942

Ulysses Grant Blake

Burrton - Ulysses Grant Blake, 74, died at his home yesterday after a long illness. He was born in Martinsburg, Pa., May 14, 1868, and was employed by the Frisco railroad 53 years. He was station agent at Saxman when he retired April 29, 1936. Mr. Blake was married October 20, 1909, to Mrs. Isadore Tucker who survives. Other survivors are two sons, Byron Blake of Enid, Okla., and Berdine Blake of Stockton, Calif.; two daughters, Mrs. Blanche Howard and Mrs. Beryl Dorman of Pond Creek, Okla.; a brother, Rev. Packer Blake of Hyattsville, Mo., 14 grandchildren and great-grandchildren. The funeral will be at 3:30 o'clock Monday afternoon at the Methodist church in Burrton. Interment will be in the Burrton cemetery.

Morrisons Cove Herald, Martinsburg, Blair Co, PA, December 3, 1942

U. S. GRANT BLAKE

Word was received by The Herald that one of our esteemed subscribers, U. S. Grant Blake, of Burrton, Kansas, had passed away on Saturday, Nov. 21, and the funeral was held the following Monday afternoon with service at the M. E. church in Burrton, and interment in the Burrton cemetery. Grant Blake was a former Martinsburg boy, son of the late Mr. and Mrs. James Blake, and a brother of the late John W. Blake, Burdine Blake and Mrs. Mary Blake Ridenour, all of whom resided for many years in Martinsburg. Mrs. Alice Wogan of Altoona was also a sister. But one of the family survives, this being Rev. Packer Blake of Hyattsville, Md. The Blake family resided in the present Campbell home on South Market street, when the boys were small, and in later years occupied the Blake home on North Market street, now the residence of Walter Wenger and family. The maiden name of Grant's mother was Brown. Mr. Blake is survived by his wife.

Racine Journal Times, Racine, Racine Co., WI, Wednesday, June 14, 1950

DORMAN, MRS. BERYL B.

1828 Grange Avenue, Age 54. Passed away June 13 at the residence. She was born in Salina, Kansas, Aug. 20, 1895 and had lived in Racine for the past eight years. Mrs. Dorman was a member of St. Edward's Catholic Church and the Catholic Woman's Society. She is survived by one daughter, Mrs. Jane Abben of Racine; two sons, Kessler Dorman Jr. of El Reno, Okla., and James G. Dorman of Tulsa, Okla.; four grandchildren; one sister, Mrs. Chester Howard of Hillsdale, Okla.; two brothers, Byron S. Blake of Enid, Okla., and Burdine S. Blake of Stockton, Calif. Funeral services will be held Wednesday, 11 a. m. in the Strouf Funeral Home, Rev. Richard Schaefer officiating. Her body will be sent to her former home, Enid, Okla., where burial will take place on Friday.

The Salina Journal, Salina, Saline Co., KS, Tuesday, July 2, 1963

CARL LEANDER

SOLOMON - Carl G. Leander, 74, a Solomon resident for 25 years, died at 11:55 pm Monday in the Abilene Hospital after apparently suffering a heart attack at the home. Mr. Leander was born Sept. 1, 1888, at Topeka. He worked for the Union Pacific Railroad as an agent at Solomon 21 years before retiring four years ago. He was a member of the St. John's Lutheran Church, Salina; the Masonic Lodge 105 and Order of the Eastern Star, both at Solomon. Survivors include the widow, Lela; three sons, Leslie, Colfax, Wash.; the Rev. Dan Leander, Dallas, Tex., and Alan, Solomon; a daughter, Mrs. Muriel Hidzick, San Francisco, Calif., and eight grandchildren. Funeral arrangements are being made by the Gillum-Carlson Funeral Home, Solomon.

The Salina Journal, Salina, Saline Co., KS, Thursday, July 4, 1963

CARL G. LEANDER

SOLOMON - The funeral for Carl G. Leander, 74, Solomon, will be held at 10 am Saturday at the Solomon Methodist Church, the Rev. L. J. Snyder officiating. Burial will be in Gypsum Hill cemetery in Salina. Leander, a resident of Solomon the past 25 years, died Monday at the Abilene hospital after suffering a heart attack. Friends may call at the Gillum-Carlson Funeral Home, Solomon.

Enid News and Eagle, Enid, Garfield Co., OK, September, 1979

Mary Gertrude Blake

Guthrie – Service for Mary G. Blake, 85, a resident of the new Masonic Home at Guthrie, will be at 11 AM Thursday in the Davis Funeral Home Chapel at Guthrie. The Rev. Dennis Clark will officiate. Burial will be at 2:30 PM Thursday in the Enid Cemetery, with Eastern Star graveside rites. Mrs. Blake died Sunday in the Logan County Health Center. She was born October 28, 1893 in Rockston, Texas, the youngest of Marinda Ann Paden and Winfield Featherstone Wofford. The family moved to Burton, Kansas, where they lived until she was 14 years old at which time she moved with her older sister to Enid. Her sister attended Phillips University, and she directed the choir at Central Christian Church and worked at the telephone company. The girls sang as a duet team until her marriage to Byron S. Blake of Hillsdale, and her sister joined an evangelist team as a singer. Mrs. Blake and her husband lived in Freedoia, Kansas, for two years, then moved to Hillsdale. They later moved to Enid with widowed mother. She attended Phillips University for a short time. A Christian since the age of seven, she was a member of Davis Park Christian Church, and affiliated with Amaranth, White Shrine, Ruth Chapter of Order of Eastern Star where she served as a past matron. She was also an honorary member of Chapter 36. Mrs. Blake was appointed delegate to Maryland Eastern Star and to Texas Order of Rainbow for Girls. Survivors include four daughters, Mrs. John (Kleta) Northup, Oklahoma City, Mrs. W. E. (Ruth) Weber, Killeen, Texas, Mrs. R. E. (Marianne) Trevathan, Midwest City, and Mrs. John (Joan) Watts II, Houston, Texas; 14 grandchildren; and five great grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, Byron, a two – year – old son and a daughter.

SCHOOL DAYS AT EMAHAKA ACADEMY

By Robert E. Trevathan

It was rather unusual, during Oklahoma Territorial days, for a white boy to attend an Indian missionary school. It was even more unusual for a white boy to attend an Indian missionary school for girls. But Mr. Byron S. Blake of Enid is one of a handful of oldtimers left who can make this "boast" for during the years 1894 through 1897 he attended classes at Emahaka Academy, the Seminole Indian girls' school which was located five miles south of Wewoka on the border of the Seminole Nation. Mr. Blake, now in his seventy-second year, has many fond memories of these early days, and like most individuals whose life has spanned the gap between frontier and modern times he likes to share his experiences of years ago with others.

The Blakes lived first in a log house then in a frame house just outside the high iron fence that surrounded the school grounds, the family consisting of the parents, U. S. Grant Blake and his wife Lola, two little girls, Byron, the oldest child, and another boy who was born while the family occupied the frame house. Mr. Blake's father was assistant engineer at the academy, and it was due to this circumstance that young Byron attended classes.

The academy building itself, the picture of which appeared on official school stationary, was a very impressive stone and brick structure four stories high in its central part, with spacious porches on the two triple-storied wings that were accentuated by turrets on the southeast and northeast corners. It was built by the Seminole Nation in 1892-1893, costing over $50,000, an exact replica of Mekusukey Academy, located four miles southwest of Seminole, which opened for school purposes in 1891, for Seminole boys. Full capacity of the boarding department at Emahaka was 112 students. The primary class room, Mr. Blake well remembers, was on the second or main floor, as was the superintendent's office and living quarters. Also on the main floor were the intermediate and music class rooms, the latter which contained a number of pianos, and the general assembly room, which was also used for the older students' class room. The kitchen was in the basement, as well as the laundry and the dining room, which was furnished with long wooden tables, chairs and benches and a piano. The infirmary was on the third floor, and the teachers and students roomed on the third and fourth floors, each of these floors having identical lavatory and bath arrangements in the central part of the building, west side. Very modern for its time, the building had hot and cold running water on each floor, with steam heat as well as fireplaces sup­plying warmth for the rooms. The engine and boiler house were located on the west side of the building, which faced east; and a huge wooden water tank bound with metal bands was in the upper part of the southeast turret.

Superintendent at the school from the time its doors opened in 1894 until the end of the school term in 1906, was William Packer Blake, Byron Blake's uncle. The Reverend Blake's missionary work among the Seminoles had begun in 1887, when his services were secured by John Jumper, former principal Chief of the Seminoles and well known Baptist preacher, but an adequate discussion of his wonderful and influential work among the Seminoles would require a separate article. A daughter, Mrs. Clarence Hixson, now living in Shawnee, was very helpful in recalling many details of the Emahaka building. And her memories of her father and of her early school days at Emahaka are indeed cherished.

Byron's teacher at Emahaka was a Miss Zanna Prickett, who was in charge of the primary department. Attending classes with Byron was another boy, the son of one of the two women on the cooking staff. The two boys naturally became close play­mates, surrounded as they were by upwards of 100 Seminole girls who boarded at the academy. The boys got more than a fair share of teasing, too, but somehow they managed to weather this in stride. But at times the girls made it a little uncomfortable for him, Byron remembers. "I still have calluses on the backs of my heels where some of the girls used to step on 'em when we marched into the dining room in the basement," he says jokingly. 

One of the things he remembers about his teacher Miss Prickett was that she gave him a barlow knife for Christmas, a knife that he carried for years afterward. That Miss Prickett was highly regarded and loved is attested to in a letter Byron's mother wrote in early December, 1895, to her own mother, who lived on a claim in northern Garfield County. Miss Prickett had suffered an attack of pleurisy, and Mrs. Blake said in her letter: "I went up to see her awhile. . . she was so glad to see me. She is just as sweet as she can be."

This letter, written on both sides of a sheet of Emahaka Mission letterhead stationery, has a Bible message (Proverbs IV, 7-9) along the left-hand margin, and it also gives candid insight into family and school life at Emahaka. The letter was begun on a Sunday evening and said, in part:

Byron and Blanche (Byron's younger sister) went to Sunday School this morning. I made Blanche's little blue and white cashmere dress over and she wore it to Sunday School this morning. How sweet the little things did look after I got them dressed and how thankful I am that they can go to Sunday School together. Little Boob (Beryl, the youngest of the Blake children at this time) cried because she could not go with them but she had to have a handkerchief with some 'fume on it just the same so I put a clean dress on her doll and she wrapped her dollie up in it and was all right then. Grant ate dinner with us today but he just stayed one hour and it seemed so lonesome I went over and stayed in the engine house with Grant a while. . . . Byron has taken the water bucket over to his Poppa, and is back and now getting feed for the cow . . . Monday morning. Will try this morning to finish my letter. We are all well. We just fin­ished breakfast and it is 8:15, nearly time for the first school bell to ring. It looks as if we are going to have a nice day but it is freezing.

It was a coincidence that this letter made mention of the "water bucket" and the Blakes' cow, for there were incidents concerning each that Byron vividly recalls. The cow had been bitten by a rattlesnake and had to be shot. Byron remembers that his father led the cow about a mile beyond a pond west of the academy where the suffering animal was put out of her misery with a Winchester rifle bullet. Concerning the water bucket, one of young Byron's chores was to haul water to their house from one of the cisterns near the academy building, using a five gallon can which he let ride on his "hand" wagon. One day when he was hauling some water to the house, just after he passed through the gate in the iron fence, "several Indian boys came up on horses, yelling and shooting off sixguns, showing off for the girls at the school." That was one time when Byron, who was then about eight years old, was thankful for the hollow postoak tree that stood near the fence. "I forgot all about my bucket of water and ducked into the hollow side of that tree," he recalls. Then when the excitement was over, it was a scared boy who peered around the old dead tree and saw a stream of water spurting from a bullet hole in the side of the five gallon can. But, aside from a few uneasy moments, the water "bucket" was the only casualty, and it was soon replaced.

The only other time that Mr. Blake was frightened by Indians happened on his trip to Emahaka from his grandfather's claim near Jetmore, which used to be about a mile south of present Hillsdale. His father had preceded the rest of the family, and it was necessary that Mrs. Blake follow with the children. From Jetmore to Perry the trip was made by wagon (a vehicle used in the Cherokee Strip opening), with Byron's uncle doing the driving. Byron recalls:

Before we started on the trip, Grandpa had told me a lot of tales about Indians. . . . At this time I had never seen an Indian, and what Grandpa had told me made me dread meeting one. Later I learned he had been talking about the wild Plains tribes that had caused so much concern some years before, but I didn't know this when we struck out for Emahaka. To me an Indian was an Indian, a red-skinned warrior who would just as soon lift your scalp as not."

So it was with grave foreboding that young Byron boarded the Santa Fe train at Perry, heading for "Indian country." There were momentary diversions when the train passed through Guthrie and Oklahoma City, but he continued to worry about what he should do to save his scalp once Indians were encountered. When the train arrived at Purcell a norther was making up, Byron remembers. And after their luggage was taken inside the Santa Fe depot, his mother sent him to a store on a hill about a quarter of a mile away to get a half gallon can of milk. Buttoning up his coat against the chill in the biting air, Byron started to the store, fearful of meeting an Indian but knowing he had to fetch the milk for his baby sisters. Miraculously, it seemed, he made the trip without seeing a single Indian. By the time he got back, he was shivering in the piercing wind that was howling in from the north, his hand stiff and cold in its grip on the bail of the milk can. He could hardly wait until he got back inside the depot where he could thaw out in front of the big pot-bellied stove. Opening the door, he quickly rushed inside the building, the icy wind at his back. And it was at this moment that he became aware of a half dozen or more dark-skinned, blackhaired men who were hunkering around the stove, their hands held out to absorb the heat from the fire. Indians! Feeling the draft from the open door, the Indians looked around at young Byron. He froze in his shoes, unable to move a muscle. Then before he knew what was happening the biggest Indian in the crowd came over to him, shut the door, and picked up the stunned boy and stood him on a table near the stove. "The Indian pried my fingers from the bail of the milk can and took both by freezing hands and began rubbing them in his long hair, making huffing noises like a buffalo." The Indian was rubbing his hands in this manner to warm them, Byron later learned. But at the moment he only knew that a very big Indian had hold of him, and did not seem to want to let go. "That Indian's face was right up against mine," Mr. Blake recalls with humor. "His face seemed to be a yard wide, and I knew my luck had run out. Something inside me just melted right down and turned to water. . . . .I'll never forget it as long as I live."

At Emahaka Byron Blake became close friends with a number of Seminoles, relatives and parents of the boarding students. He remembers that sometimes they brought in wild strawberries and gave them to the school, receiving a loaf of bread from one of the cooks in exchange. And at Christmas the Indians brought in lots of pecans, filling a huge wooden box in the storeroom of the basement next to the kitchen. "That box was so big I could barely see over it standing on tip-toe," Byron said. "And when the box was empty I could lie down inside and stretch out with­out my hands or feet touching either end." Once one of the Seminole town chiefs made him a present of a bois d'arc bow and a half dozen blunt-tipped second-growth dogwood arrows for his birthday. Byron took the bow and arrows to Saw Pit, Colorado, when the family visited there in 1896, and he remembers lending them to some cowboys who wanted to "shoot at one another."

Ewing Saddler, the farm boss at Emahaka, met Mrs. Blake and her children at Purcell and took them the rest of the way in a wagon drawn by a team of oxen, making the trip in three days, fording Little River above Sasakawa. Mr. Saddler was a big, raw-boned man who wore a full mustache and a wide-brimmed hat, Byron remembers, and once a week it was the farm boss's job to butcher a beef and several hogs. The smoke house was built over the cyclone cellar west of the Academy and north of the huge woodpile near the engine-boiler house, and here a good supply of pork was kept on hand. Mr. Saddler had a tobacco patch near the log house where he and his mother lived with the Blakes, and the seeds for the bermuda grass that still grows on the east slope of the old academy grounds was planted by him, Mr. Blake attests. Another pleasant memory associated with Emahaka was the evenings spent around the fireplace in the log house, when the children popped corn and "Grandma" Saddler smoked her clay pipe, picking up live coals from the fire hearth with her fingers to keep her pipe lighted.

Mr. Blake also remembers the interesting process by which the farm boss cured his own tobacco. He would take a length of hickory sapling, about two feet long and five or six inches in diameter, and drill a three-inch hole through the center with an auger. Then a plug was put in one end of the hole, and half a dried peach prepared by "Grandma" Saddler was tamped down tightly inside the hole against the plug. Next, stemmed tobacco leaves which had gone through the "sweat" process were tamped into the hole with a stob and a mallet, until a layer about half an inch thick was attained. Another half of dried peach was added, then a second layer of tamped tobacco. This process was repeated until the length of hickory was filled, then another plug was wedged into the open end of the hole against the tobacco. Green hickory was used, too, so the juices could work on the tobacco, supplementing the peach flavor. When the farm boss had thus prepared several caches of "plug" tobacco, he would toss them into the hay in the shed loft behind the log house, and here the tobacco would season, ready for use some months later.

Other memories Mr. Blake has of Emahaka school days include the occasion he was carried out into deep water in the pond southeast of the academy building and was obliged to learn to swim; the winter that ice was cut from the pond and stored in kegs in a makeshift icehouse for use the following summer; the barrel of apples with the crock of applesauce in the middle that the superintendent received from Maryland each Christmas; the time he saw a huge pile of walnut poles at Wewoka which were cut for the government to be used for gunstocks; and the incident of a male teacher who, about to punish a big Indian girl for some infraction of the rules, got pushed into a handy laundry basket and "accidently" got tumbled down a flight of stairs, fortunately getting no broken bones in the process.

Yes, Byron S. Blake has many fond memories associated with school days at Emahaka Academy. And even though his early school experiences were definitely unusual, aside from the regular sessions of spelling, reading, arithmetic and "Barnes' language lessons," there is not a day of it which he regrets having experienced.

Robert E. Trevathan, member of Oklahoma State Writers and of Western Writers of America, Inc., has stories in western magazines and a western novel published. He contributes "School Days at Emahaka Academy" to The Chronicles, in tribute to his father-in-law, Mr. Byron S. Blake and the latter's uncle, Rev. Wm. P. Blake, Supt. of Emahaka, 1894-1906.--Ed.

Byron S. Blake was born April 25, 1883 at La Fontaine, Kansas. After the Cherokee Strip was opened to settlement, he lived for a short while near a small post-office centered community named Jetmore, about a mile south of present day Hillsdale in Garfield County. When his school days at Emahaka were over he removed to Herington, Kansas. He served in Company E. of 1st Infantry, Ft. Riley, Kansas, from 1908 until 1812. The following year he married Mary G. Wofford of Burton, Kansas. The couple have five daughters, all of whom are members of the Ruth Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star, in Enid. The daughters are Lola McClain, Meta Northup, Ruth Weber, Marianne Trevathan and Joan Lee Watts. Mr. Blake became a Mason in 1928. and is Past Patron, Ruth Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star; he is also Past Watchman of the Shepherds, Order of the Urhite Shrine of Jerusalem. Mrs. Blake became a member of the Eastern Star in 1927, and was Worthy Matron in 1944. In November, 1957, Mr. Blake retired from carrying mail on Rural Route No. 5 out of Enid. At the time of his retirement he had worked for the post office department for almost forty years, and he had driven more than a million miles on his route, mostly on unpaved country roads.