I. Minson


 

Minson, I.

Field Worker:  John F. Daugherty 

Date:  March 18, 1938
Interview # 10240
Address: Sulphur, OK
Born: August 30, 1855
Place of Birth: Illinois
Father: Abraham Minson, born in Illinois
Mother: Sarah Jane Taylor, born in Tennessee


My parents were Abraham Minson, born in Illinois and Sarah Jane Taylor Minson, born in Tennessee.  Father was a farmer.  I was born in Illinois, August 30, 1855 and came from Arkansas to the Indian Territory in 1892.  We came through Dardanelle, Arkansas, and crossed the Arkansas River on the only pontoon bridge west of the Mississippi.  This was made of two flat boats fastened together reaching from one bank to the other.  They were fastened on each bank so they could not float away.

We settled at Palmer four miles northwest of Sulphur in the Chickasaw Nation and built a log house.  We bought our groceries from Stonewall and Davis.  The country was sparsely settled but it was a fine poor man's country for the creeks were full of fish and wild game was abundant.

I belonged to the Agricultural Wheel in Arkansas.  This was an organization similar to the Farmer's Alliance in the Territory.  It was organized among the farmers to better their living conditions and command better prices for their products.   There was an organization in the Territory also, but the Farmers' Alliance was large, so in the early 90's the two organizations were consolidated and became known as the Farmers'  Alliance.  There were stores throughout the Territory known as Farmers' Alliance stores where the members of this organization could sell their products and buy on the credit plan, paying yearly.

About 1895, we organized an Anti-Horse Thief Association known as the Farmer's Protective Association.  The purpose of this organization was to apprehend and punish horse and cattle thieves, which were numerous throughout the Territory.


Transcribed by Brenda Choate & Dennis Muncrief, June 2001.