Nancy Arminta Auxier
1893 - 1963
My father, Thomas Jefferson Auxier, grew to maturity in his parents home near Judson, Missouri. At the time of my grandparents' death all the children were married except Father and his younger sister, Carrie. Carrie went to live with Aunt Mary in West Virginia. My father continued to live in the old home and married my mother on February 28, 1892. She was the daughter of Samuel Thorp Banner and Nancy Ross Banner.
In 1894 there was great excitement about the opening of the Oklahoma Indian Territory for settlement. Many people were homesteading in the new country. My parents settled in Oklahoma in the fall of 1894. At that time it was all unbroken prairie with no roads or fences. Our first home was a dugout made in the side of a canyon.
A number of Missouri people had settled nearby and the area was known as the Missouri settlement. Seger Indian Agency located twelve miles to the south was the home of the only doctor. He was a Government doctor for the Indians and could only make calls on the white settlers when the Indians did not need his services. So the settlers soon learned to depend on themselves and to help one another.
In a few years the Rock Island Railroad was built and the town of Weatherford sprang up. There was much rejoicing when the first train came through. All the settlers declared a holiday and went to town to see it. The town was made up of tents and small shacks. Mother heard there was a photographer in town and was anxious to have our picture made. The photographer lived in a tent and was very busy when we arrived. We were asked to be seated on his bed. Suddenly, the photographer's pet, a large badger, came out from under the bed and we were so frightened that we were in no mood to have our pictures taken.
In 1904, after a severe drought, my father decided to rent the Oklahoma farm and move to Douglas County, Missouri. We arrived there in March and as this was the first time we children had ever lived in wooded country, we were delighted with everything. The climate did not agree with father and the family started back to Oklahoma in a covered wagon on August 1, 1904. After a long month of hardships, we finally reached home where we lived until 1920.
Father traded the farm for 220 acres located 3 1/2 miles south of Hydro in Caddo County. He and my brother George moved everything, including feed, in wagons. It took 35 wagon loads. We were all greatly thrilled with our new home which included a large house and a beautiful barn which father had always longed to own. We lived there until Father's death at the age of 73. He had been in ill health for a year. He was laid to rest in the Zion Chapel Cemetery which he helped survey when the country was new. He was a member of the Church of Christ, a wonderful father and husband and a friend to everyone.
My father and mother left their children a heritage of courage, honesty and industry. May we ever be faithful to their memory. Though we who are living have brought little fame or glory to the name, we have done nothing to bring shame to it. May we always be proud of being Auxiers.
Nancy Arminta Auxier Phelps