Harper Co. OKGenWeb

William Jay Fletcher reportedly was born 14 October, 1877 in Oskaloosa, Mahaska Co, Iowa, the son of Francis Marion Fletcher, and Hannah Elizabeth Thrap. Francis and Hannah purchased an 80 acre farm in Sec 32, Twp 1, Rng 3, Washington Co., Kansas in Sep of 1885, later selling it in Dec, 1903 after moving to Wymore, Gage Co., Nebraska.

During the time the family was in Washington Co., Kansas, William Fletcher married Mabel Elizebeth Black, daughter of Joshua Black and Lidia Ann Davis. The marriage took place in Morrowville, Washington Co., Kansas in 25 Dec 1897. The marriage register shows the groom's name as W. J. Fletcher, age 20, white, occupation farmer, nativity American, father F. M. Fletcher, mother Hannah Thrap, number of marriage 1. The bride's name shows as Mable Black, age 16, white, no occupation, nativity American, father Joshua Black, mother Annie Davis, number of marriage 1.

By 1905, William Jay Fletcher had relocated to Wymore, Gage Co., Nebraska were he was working as a railroader. He decided to move his family to Oklahoma, where he made a homestead claim. It appears from the discovered data that Ora Black went to Harper Co. first, was followed by William Jay Fletcher (married to Ora's sister), and then Joshua and Lidia Black followed the Fletchers to be near their daughter and son, although the Fletcher homestead was 11 miles south and 2 miles east. William Fletcher's homestead papers on file at the NARA include 10 Oct 1905 filing documents for Lots 3 and 4 and the E½ of the SW¼ of Sec 18, Twp 26N, Rng 24W, containing 164.70 acres in Harper Co., Oklahoma.

Here is a story written by his oldest daughter, Gladys, to her grandchildren in 1976:

My father was in the railroad shops, a mechanic on engines at Wymore. When I was 9 years old we went by covered wagon to Laverne, Oklahoma where my mother's people had all taken homesteads. Yes, I had fun, Lena (Gladys' sister) and I. We'd get out and walk a lot and pick wild flowers and play along by the covered wagon. Mama had a topsy (2 hole stove) in the wagon she cooked on. Pipe went through the top of the covered wagon. We burned cow chips for fuel. There was only trails then, no roads, no fences, all open prairie. We had lots of wild game such as pheasants, rabbits, quail and etc. on the way. On the outside of the covered wagon was Dad’s gun to get game, Mama’s washboard tub to wash in, big barrel fastened on the outside we kept water in, with a top on it so it wouldn’t splash out, for drinking and cooking.

We left Nebraska in June, had lovely weather. At night we'd stop at farm houses. Dad asked if we could camp near there. Everyone was lovely to us. Dad paid for grain and hay to feed our two horses and our cow, (cow was tied on behind the wagon) for milk for us. Most people gave us homemade bread, cakes, and etc., or sometimes Dad paid for bread and etc., if people would take his money. We built a sod house, dirt floor, all furniture was home made, and a large cave in case of tornadoes, as there was lots of storms in Oklahoma. Dad made two large beds in the cave so we could sleep if a storm came at night. There was a river close to our homestead. You could see the fish, the water was so clear. Our water we used to cook and drink, we got from a spring close to our sod house. Our mattresses were material sewed up, filled with oat straw. The trees along the river had wild turkeys in, they roosted in the trees. We had turkeys to eat then.

The soil in Oklahoma was sandy. We raised lots of peanuts, sold some, roasted some in our oven to eat in the evening while playing games and cards. There was lots of wild antelopes. They could run faster than a horse can run. They went in herds, very pretty with white bushy tails. In fact, they belong to the goat family. They have large horns, grew out, then up, then turned back over their neck. There were no bridges to cross the river. We forded the river to town with a team of horses and a lumber wagon. Sometimes it was scary if the river was up a little. Our sod houses had logs on top for a roof. They got logs near the river, then they put sod over the logs, then we planted moss. It grows like vines close to ground, and all color of flowers, bloom all summer, and you plant it only once. Then each year the seed falls off and next spring here was our pretty moss in full bloom, no more planting. The ground in Oklahoma was just grass and tumbleweeds, so at that time after plowing and seeding everything grew good for us. People for miles come to help us build our house.

We had prairie fires. If Dad saw one coming, he'd hitch his horses to the plow, plow several times around the house and barn, so the fire wouldn't jump over plowed ground and burn down everything. We were close to the Cherokee Indian reservation. They were very nice people, would trade blankets for chickens, eggs or anything we had. My sister and I walked to school two miles. In the winter we rode a horse. Only doctor was 10 miles away. No one had cars or telephones then. Yes, children had fun. We went to lots of picnics and church in sod house. Went fishing and visited relatives over weekends. All our playthings were homemade dolls, swings, play houses out of sod. We used broken dishes to play with, rode horses, truly I enjoyed the three years. It was such a quiet, peaceable life. Played cards, popped corn, and etc. at night. After living 3 years on a homestead, then Dad went to the courthouse and proved up on the homestead and got a deed. We owned it then and could leave. Then we came back to Nebraska, traded our homestead for a big house in Wymore and some money. Dad went back to the railroad in Wymore and we stayed in Wymore from then on. Some of my mother's people live in Oklahoma yet, cousins have gas wells on their father's homesteads. We took wheat and corn to the mills in Laverne, had it ground, put in large barrels for our use to cook and bake with. I think we were happier then than people are now. We had fun, enjoyed home, and a quiet peaceful life. We had plenty to eat always. (Ed. note: they were actually on the homestead 4 years before it was proved as a cash entry).

The required proof testimony of Fletcher described the homestead thus:

A frame house 12x16, a frame stable 12x12, a granary 6x12, 700 forest trees, 80 fruit trees, and a well. Realize that he and his wife had six children living here! He claimed that up to 130 acres had been in cultivation, including crops of broom corn, kaffir corn, Indian corn, and cane. Based on the quantities of the crops described for each of the years lived on the homestead, production was meager.

Fletcher received his proof certificate, Serial No. 010534, on 28 Oct 1909, and his Cash Entry Patent No. 129916 under date of 12 May 1910. He relocated back to Wymore, Gage Co., Nebraska.

The Fletcher's children were:

Gladys Blanche, b. 1898, Washington Co., Kansas, d. 1984, Gage Co., Nebraska
Lena Grace, b. 1900, Washington Co., Kansas, d. 1980, Gage Co., Nebraska
Kitty Idella, b. 1902, Washington Co., Kansas, d. 1986, Gage Co., Nebraska
Ramon William, b. 1905, Gage Co., Nebraska, d. 1978, Arkansas Co., Texas
Ellen Waneta Mae, b. 1907, Readout, Harper Co., Oklahoma, d. 1997, Lancaster Co., Nebraska
Blaine Joshua, b. 1909, Readout, Harper Co., Oklahoma, d. 1944
Olive Lucille, b. 1911, Gage Co., Nebraska, d. 1972, Gage Co., Nebraska
Victor Gene, b. 1921, Gage Co., Nebraska, d. 1922, Gage Co., Nebraska

Mabel Elizebeth Black Fletcher died July 1966 in Beatrice, Gage Co., Nebraska and is buried in Wymore.

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