From: The Pawnee (OK) Chief Thursday, Aug 15, 1985
Compiled by Ruth (Ripley) Johnson Of Castleford, Idaho
This was told to me by my mother, Bessie Florence Pennington, born in Harrison
County, Missouri, June 8, 1893. Her mother, Julia Mahala Enloe, was also born in
Harrison County Missouri, on April 26, 1856. Her father, Isaac Pennington, was born in Kentucky in 1851, His mother was Jemimi Nethercutt and his father was
Joshua Pennington. “A short time before the Civil War, Joshua diad, leaving
Jemimi a widow with a large family of children. Isaac was one of the younger children and a small boy when his father died. Then came the Civil War.
Isaac’s oldest brother, William, joined the Union Army Cavalry. As the war progressed, both armies would come to the farm where Jemimi and her family lived in Kentucky and take anything the wanted—horses, cattle. Finally, all the animals and most of their food was taken. At this time, with nothing left, each family member took what they could carry and walked the 30 miles to Louisville. Here,
Jemimi, who was a doctor, worked until they had enough money to go by boat to
Missouri. In Missouri, she followed the army and used her knowledge of medicine to care for the wounded soldiers on the battle fields. Isaac, who was still a young boy, went with her, helped her and carried water for the wounded soldiers to drink. Jemimi’s son, William, was seriously wounded and taken to the hospital at Warrensburg, Missouri. He died from his wounds and is buried in
Warrnesburg. After the war ended, the family moved into Harrison County,
Missouri, where Isaac met and married Julia Mahala Enloe. They had 10 children:
William, Grace, Blanche, Charles, Raymon, Dewitt, Herbert, Bessie, John, and
Bertha, who died when she was about 6 months old.” A measles epidemic, claimed both the baby and Bessie’s father, Issac Pennington. Bessie was 4 years old when her father died. Bessie’s earliest memories prior to her father’s death were in Bessie’s own words and begin with living on the Pennington farm in
Harrison County, Missouri. Here is her story: “The snow would get quite deep in the winter. Father Issac had fitted the wagon with sled runners. He would put a layer of hay in the back part of the wagon box and quilts for covers. All of us children were kept warm and comfortable when we went anywhere. We did not go out much, but when the talking machine came to the country, our father took us to hear it. It was a large Edison machine with a flower horn. It was at the Greencastle school near us. Many neighbors were there as it was quite an occasion. I believe this happened just a short time before my father died. It was very hard for my mother after our father’s death. She had 2 brothers who lived in Oklahoma. One named Frank Enloe, who lived on a farm near Morrison, and the other, Noah Enloe, who was a doctor and lived with his wife,
Roxanne, in Perkins, Oklahoma, for quite a few years. He had a good practice as a doctor, but was very ill. Both he and Roxanne were writing wanting Mother to join them in Oklahoma. There was to be another drawing for land there and they thought Mother should be there and sign up for the drawing. Mother decided to join them in Oklahoma so she had a sale and sold most of her possessions.
She kept a few household items, including the sewing machine my father had bought

for her. After the sale, they started getting things ready for the journey. We had 2 wagons made of wood. Mother bought muslin to use to cover the wagons. She planned to use the muslin to make sheets and pillow cases after we reached Oklahoma. Someone pointed out to her that muslin would not be waterproof, so she bought table oilcloth and sewed it up and down on the center of the wagons. Comforters were made and piles of food cooked. Bread, cookies, and a 6-gallon churn of crabapple preserves. Several pounds of butter was pressed down in a stone crock. Much food was prepared. I had a First Reader book that I treasured and when we got into the wagon to leave, I took it with me instead of a doll. We stopped at a neighbor’s to tell them goodbye and Mother noticed the book. She took it from me and gave it to the neighbor’s children. I felt very bad and cried myself to sleep. This was the beginning of a long trip in a covered wagon to Oklahoma. My sister, Grace, who was 18, had married a man by the name of Charley Hoaglan. They went along with us to Oklahoma. They had their own wagon and took the lead. My oldest brother, William, who was 20 years old, was working and did not go with us. In the second wagon were my brothers, Charles,
Dewitt, and Herbert. In the last wagon was Mother, Blanche, John and I. My brother, Raymon, drove the team—a big job for a boy going on 13 years old. This was in the fall of 1899. The first night we camped on a creek named Wildcat. John and I wondered how thick the wildcats might be. We were glad we did not hear or see any. The next day, I believe, we crossed the
Missouri River on a toll bridge at St. Joseph, Missouri. Then we were in
Kansas and fuel became scarce. We gathered sunflower stalks, which were large and oily, for fuel for the campfire. Once, 2 of the houses got loose during the night and started back to the old home. By the time they were found and returned, it was evening and we had missed on day of travel. In Kansas, the winds blew very cold and it was difficult to keep a fire going to cook. By this time, our store of prepared food had run low. There was a large group to feed, but Mother made sure no one went hungry. In the evening, Mother would put a large iron kettle on the fire and cook 3 or 4 gallons of beans, corn or stew. If the wind was too strong to have a fire, we would have some kind of meat, bread, butter and fruit for our evening meal. We met many wonderful people on this trip; everyone was very nice to us and we had many pleasant memories as well as a few bad ones. Mother’s brother, Frank, came out to meet us in a spring wagon and took us to his home where we stayed and visited for awhile. This was near what is now Morrison. I earned my first money while there at Uncle Frank’s. He had a field of cotton and offered 5 cents for me to pick 5 pounds. It took a lot of cotton to weigh 5 pounds. We rented a farm west of Glencoe and went to the
Sunnyside School. My mother bought a McGuffy’s fifth reader for me. The teacher, Miss Alma Holloway, said it was too far advanced for me, so Mother got a
McGuffy’s fourth reader for me and gave the other to my brother
Dewitt. The next summer, Mother, brother Raymon, and 2 neighbor boys all went Lawton to register in the new land opening. They did not get a place in the drawing. We were sure happy to have her home with us again. Mother was a good Christian woman and trained the children in the right way, but it was a hard life for her, a widow with a large family. There was no widow’s pension or

help of any kind in those days. Many people quit and returned to their former homes as life in Oklahoma was much different than they expected. Mother had no thoughts of quitting; she bought some hens and cows so we had plenty of eggs, milk and butter. Mother’s brother, Noah
Enloe, died the first summer we were in Oklahoma. This was a sad time for the family and especially for Mother who, in a few short years, had lost her baby, her husband and a brother. We all worked hard and tried to help all we could.
That first summer we picked green grapes along the creek. The seeds were still soft and they made a very good pie. Mother canned quite a lot of them. Later, we gathered ripe wild plums which were abundant. These were seeded and cooked with molasses to be used later for winter food. Mother also made jelly and butter from the plums and grapes. In winter they would boil molasses to make taffy.
When the molasses had boiled to the stage, it was removed from the stove, the hands were buttered and you had to pall and wind the taffy until it was slick and shiny. It was put on a plate and set in the snow to cool; when cold, it could be broken into pieces. Mother made all the soap we used in our household. She would save all the waste fat and fat scraps until she got the amount needed. She had what they called an ash hopper. It was an old barrel with a funnel like a spout. Wood ashes were poured into the barrel until it was full enough; water was then poured in.
The water would filter down through the ashes into a through that ran the brown liquid lye into another barrel of jar. Mother would then put a large kettle on to boil up the lye with the waste fat and fat scraps. After it cooked up good, it was skimmed, strained and poured out to set up as soap. Later, when cool, it was cut into bars. Later, we moved to a farm south of Glencoe and we all attended
Liberty School. John Roe was our teacher there and we liked him. We became acquainted with the Ripley children and often walked to school with them. The second son, George, and I started going together when I was about
14. I remember well the day George and I were married. We had been engaged for over a year and George would ask my mother over and over to allow us to marry. She felt I was too young so she always refused. George’s sister, India Ripley, was getting married to Otis Hite on December 24, 1908. I was a good friend of India’s and was invited to the wedding. The wedding was to be in Stillwater, Oklahoma, and my mother said I could go. George and I stood up with them during the ceremony, as was the custom in those days. George’s older brother, Elmer, and his friend, Ida Schanzenbach, were at the wedding too. After the wedding, we all had dinner in a large restaurant; it was a gay time, laughing and visiting over our meal. After dinner, India suggested that
George and I should get married. We knew she wished us to be happy so we decided to go to Pawnee on the evening train and be married in
Pawnee. India and Otis went with us and it was late when we got to the
Courthouse. The judge at the Courthouse, Judge Condon, made out our marriage license papers. I was only 15 at the time, so this was quite a problem as I had been taught not to lie and could not lie about my age. India suggested I write the number “18” on a piece of paper and put it in my shoe so I could say I was over 18 without lying. This we did, so when I was asked about my age, I said
I was over 18 without too much of a qualm. India and Otis stood up with us

before the preacher the judge had taken us to when I insisted I had to be married by a minister. The minister’s name was T.J. Corkill, and all during the ceremony, his small son kept saying, “I’ll bet they are running away.” We all kept a straight face and ignored him. It was quite late by that time and as it was Christmas Eve, the supper was over. We went into a café, ate pie and drank coffee. I was not used to drinking coffee and George drank it only for breakfast, so neither of us were sleepy and we talked until 3:00. We finally dozed a little before getting up early to catch the train home the next morning. We had breakfast later at George’s parent’s home. Later in the afternoon, around 2:00 p.m. my mother came to inquire about me. She asked if I was sure I wanted to be married. I told her I was sure. (They celebrated 70 years together, so it must have proved to be all right.) To their union were born 7 children: Lewie Scott, Isaac Raymond, Julia Maxine, George Granville, Jr., Charles
Herbert, Ruth Irene and Bessie Florence, Jr. All are living except Florence, who passed away when almost 2 years of age. Lewie married Louise Walton and lives in Richardson, Texas. They have one son, Scott, who lives with his wife
Suzanne, in Virginia. They have 2 sons. Isaac married Hazel Jones. They live in Edmonds, Washington and have a daughter Carol Nadine and 3 sons: William
Dean, Isaac Raymond, Jr. (called Ray), and Charles Burris. Carol married Gary
Everist and they have a daughter and 2 sons. Carol and Gary live in Lynnwood,
Washington. William married Beverly Hammonds: they live near Kent,
Washington. Isaac Jr. (Ray) married Celeste Dance; they had 3 sons. Later they were divorced and Ray lives in Cheney, Washington. Charles married Sally
Maxfield; they had a son and a daughter. They live in Lynnwood,
Washington. Julia Maxine married Otis Hite, Jr. After his death, she married
Ira Manley. He passed away a few years ago. She lives near Rockville,
Missouri. George, Jr. married Ruby Lancaster. They were later divorced. He is retired from the Navy and lives in Portsmouth, Virginia. Charles married
Georgia Shields. They had 4 children: 2 sons, John Kaye and Charles Herbert, Jr., and 2 daughters, Georgia Marie, Jr., and Jane Anne. Later, they were divorced and
Charles married Elizabeth Shaffer. They live in Johnston, Iowa. Ruth married Niels Thorup and they had one son, David. Niels died and she later married
Lynn Johnson. They had 2 daughters, Cathy Lynn and Susan April.David and his wife live in Twin Falls Idaho. Cathy married Danny Scott. They have 2 children, a boy and a girl, and live in Buhl, Idaho. Susan married Bruce Wegener and they live near Castleford, Idaho. Lynn and Ruth live on a ranch near Castleford,
Idaho. Bessie’s mother, Julia, later moved to Washington. She passed away on February 4, 1949, and is buried in Acaia Cemetery near Seattle,
Washington. Our mother, with the background of forefathers who fought to make America Free; a grandmother who, as a doctor, tended the wounded out on the battlefields during the Civil War; her mother, as a widow with a large family, making a journey by covered wagon to the unknown Oklahoma, could not help but be ready for any adventure in life. She gave a very wonderful outlook and basic background of a good Christian upbringing to each of her children. Papa and Mama were beautiful people: kind and considerate with friends and neighbors. They gave us a wonderful life together as we grew up in

Oklahoma. Even during the tough years of the late 20’s and all of the 30’s, we always felt secure in the knowledge we were loved and wanted. We could go to our parents with any problem and they would always listen and try to help us. Each one of us, and all we came in contact with, are better people because of the kind of parents we had. Papa, George G. Ripley, Sr., passed away on
November 29, 1979, not quite one month short of the 71 st anniversary of their marriage. He is buried near Glencoe, Oklahoma, in the Union
Cemetery. Bessie P. Ripley passed away March 30, 1983. She is also buried in the Union Cemetery. Both had requested to have Oklahoma as their last resting place. Note: This history is a long one, but tells a very good family story, but tells a very good family story. Although this history goes over the 2 page limit, the author felt it important enough to pay the 40 cents per typewritten line over the 2 pages. Family stories staying within the 2 page double-spaced limit pay nothing to be included in the volume, nor is there any obligation to purchase a book. Contact the Pawnee CHIEF, Cleveland American or Pawnee
County Historical Society for help in writing your family story. Copied as written by: Jane Ripley 2006