Post by cottonpicker on Sept 3, 2011 18:52:21 GMT -5
GRANDMA GLOVER, PIONEER WOMAN
Larry D. Davis
My great, great grandmother, Sarah Augusta Bancroft Glover, was born in 1843 in the
New England town of Worcester, Mass. and was the 9th generation of her family in this
country since her immigrant ancestor, John Bancroft, landed in the Mass. Bay Colony in
1640 from England. While Sarah was still a small girl, her father, Madison Bancroft,
moved his family to western Virginia where he relocated his blacksmith shop. Later, as
a young adult, Sarah married and taught school in Virginia and Kentucky. Her husband
died, leaving her with a small child in 1868 who was to become my great grandmother.
Sarah remarried and her second husband also died a few years later.
In 1906 she decided to “go west” with her daughter, son-in-law & family after the
son-in-law’s two-story log house located in the Appalachian mountains of eastern
Kentucky burned to the ground, resulting in the death of two young sons, Milton & Paul.
Their intended destination was Washita County in the Territory of Oklahoma which was
soon to become a state. Just two years earlier some of their Kentucky friends had gone
there and settled. The family group arrived in Oklahoma Territory on January 30, 1907---
my future grandmother’s and Sarah’s granddaughter’s 21st. birthday. My grandmother
told me there was blizzard in it’s full fury when they finally arrived at their destination.
This area, Washita County, in Oklahoma Territory was formerly a part of the Cheyenne-
Arapaho Indian Territory until it was opened for white settlement by Land Run in 1892.
The “Federal Homestead Act of 1862” declared that a person who had never
taken up arms against the United States could claim 160 acres of Federal land
by homesteading. This meant filing an application at the Territorial Courthouse, living
on the land and improving it by building and farming it for a period of five years and then
the land would be deeded to them by the Federal government. To qualify, Sarah Glover,
aged 64 years, and her son-in-law built a “half-dugout” dwelling as was common on the
prairie in those days. A site was chosen near a fresh water creek on level and well-
drained ground and protected on three sides by red clay Oklahoma hills. Many pioneer
homes on the prairie were of the half-dugout type since building timber was scarce except
for trees growing mostly along the creeks. A 10 X 10 foot square pit was dug into the
earth to a depth of 4 feet and above it was constructed a 3 or 4 ft .tall log house with
a fireplace and stone chimney in one end. It had a single door leading down four or five
steps onto the earthen floor and the dwelling had one window. Lighting was supplied by
candles or kerosene lamps. The half-earthen room was very practical since it proved
warm in winter and cool in summer. The downside of it all was the“crawlies”-- spiders
and snakes that also took up residence from time to time in the cozy half-dugout.
After the required five years of improvement, Grandma Glover had fulfilled requirements
of the Homestead Act and the land was deeded to her from the courthouse in Cordell,
Washita County, OK. Three years later she grew homesick and longed to see her
other relatives back in eastern Kentucky. She sold the homestead to her son-in-law,
Silas James Short, my great grandfather, and went back to live in KY. She lived there
about one year until the Influenza Epidemic of 1918 claimed her life.
Even today, in 2009, the location of her half-dugout is still evident as a sunken spot,
now mostly filled in by the passage of time and erosion, and is mute evidence of exactly
where she pioneered and settled her land about 15 miles southeast of my hometown. Just
six months ago, my mother (aged 91 years) pointed out the exact location as we slowly
drove past while touring the area of Mom’s childhood.
©2009 Larry D. Davis