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Abercrombie Family Genealogy--Ancestors of Nancy Abercrombie Pierce

Clementh Abercrombie Biography

Clementh Abercrombie beltoit Kansas

ABERCROMBIE FAMILY- LONG TREK TO FAY OK 
  By LoHurl Miles Mueller

My Great great grandfather's (Capt AJ Pierce)
wife was An Abercrombie. The Abercrombies were
descended from the Cavenders Corbins and Deadmans
whose families have been fairly well researched
in the 1950-1970's.  Be sure and look at those pages!

2012 MARCH I have info now that the Nancy Emaline Pierce who married Andrew Jackson Abercrombie was descended from Sampson Pierce possible brother to my great grandfather Andrew Jackson Pierce. They lived in Beloit KS for 20 years then moved to Fay OK. 

http://www.ldpierce.com/sampsonpierce.html

 see photos at bottom of page
PHOTOS COURTSEY GLENDA EISENHOUR

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JANUARY 20 2000  I had received an email from 
 Pam Crain  PO 362 Lamont OK 74643 [email protected] address bad
She is looking for info on a Fanny Abercrombie  In her research of Abercrombie's she had found a lot of information on Andrew Jackson Abercrombie . (He was evidently a Brother Clem Abercrombie of Beloit Kansas.)

I am looking for the parents of Fannie N. Abercrombie (Shanley). She was born July 17, 1876, Died Nov. 4, 1918, she is buried in Mt Hope Cem. Fay Okla. She Married William A. Shanley Jr. their children were Maggie, Deloss, William III, Orpha, earl, and Hattie. Can anyone Help? write me at [email protected]  address bad

 

  He was evidently a Brother Clem Abercrombie of Beloit Kansas. (Added 2009  My great great grandfaterh andrew Jackson Pierce married Clem Abercrombies Sister Nancy Emaline Abercromibe)

2009 April I have info now that the Nancy Emaline Pierce who married Andrew Jackson Abercrombie was descended from Sampson Pierce possible brother to my great grandfather Andrew Jackson Pierce.   see photos at bottom of page

 

Mr. Abercrombie preceded his wife (Nancy Emaline Pierce Abercrombie Daughter of Sampson Pierce) in death about fourteen years, and when she died at the age of eighty-nine, she left behind 120 living descendants.  They lie side by side in the little Mount Hope Cemetery north of Fay, Oklahoma, loved and revered by all who ever knew them.

ABERCROMBIE FAMILY- LONG TREK TO FAY OK  By LoHurl Miles Mueller

       In the year of 1893 or early 1894 the Andrew Jackson Abercrombie family made their journey to Oklahoma Territory. They had first journeyed from the State of Georgia where Mr. Abercrombie's father had settled when he emigrated from England in the early 1800s.  Three brothers had immigrated to the promised land of America, one settling in Maryland, one in Georgia and one in Arkansas. Mr. and Mrs. Abercrombie were a young couple with two small children when they moved from Georgia to near Beloit, Kansas. They had made the long journey by covered wagon and had lived in their wagon until Mr. Abercrombie could plow and lay by the sod for their first home.  Thirteen children were born to the couple.  One was born in Arkansas while visiting a brother, and one child died there.  
 Five of the children were old enough to take claims, but there were no more claims to be had in Kansas and there was no money to buy land, so the homestead in Kansas was sold for a small grubstake and all the belongings and family were loaded into two covered wagons and headed for Oklahoma Territory.           Heading toward western Oklahoma and following a dim wagon trail they spent many weeks on the long trek.  Although they had brought flour and meal to last, and pork in brine, it was necessary to replenish their larder now and then, so some of the grown boys or Mr. Abercrombie would take their guns and go hunting. They camped as close as they could each night to a running stream if possible, so that they could water their stock, wash their clothes, and replenish their supply of water for the next days journey.  George, the eldest son and Exer, the eldest daughter, drove the leading wagon loaded with all their household goods, their plow and hand tools, and led a cow behind.  Mr. Abercrombie brought up the rear with all their bedding, some of their food and the younger children.  Newton and Young scouted ahead on their ponies for river crossings and campsites.
          After many weeks on the trail, they reached the banks of the North Canadian River in late evening.  They debated about spending the night where they were, or crossing promptly and taking no chances on the river rising during the night and delaying them longer; they decided to cross immediately.  George and his sister took the lead and were almost across when they kept hearing something like wind in the treetops, but there was no breeze stirring.  They looked up the river and could see, coming around the bend of the river a wall of water some five or six feet high, rolling, rushing and tumbling in its effort to forever smother their cries of terror.  George and his sister pulled their wagon up onto the bank and began hollering and waving their arms and pointing up stream to warn the family of their danger.  Then suddenly Mr. Abercrombie saw the water and whipped up his tired     horses and finally he got them to move a little faster.  Just as they pulled out of the streambed, the water closed in behind them wetting the back wheels and end gate.  White faced and trembling, the family dropped to their knees 'in prayer, thanking the Lord for their deliverance.  There was no horseplay in camp that night as the family busied itself in preparation of supper.  They unloaded the little iron stove and set it up with its oven in the stovepipe, as Mrs. Abercrombie started mixing her biscuits for the evening meal.  The older girls were busy cleaning and dressing the quail the boys on the ponies had brought in.  One of the older boys was milking the cow and getting ready to picket her out in a grassy spot for the night.  The horses too were picketed out where the grass was greening and plentiful.   
          They had their breakfast early the next morning and knowing it was not much farther were anxious to be on their way, This morning, sons Newton and Young, had talked to some people driving north in a covered wagon, who had given up their claims.  The boys were directed to the land they had just left and were told that there were other quarters close by; so the boys rode off in that direction eager to find the land before anyone else should do so.
          Soon the two pony riders had located the four quarters of land in a straight line about eight or nine miles northwest of what is now Fay, Oklahoma.  Riding back to the wagons to announce their lucky find, they rode off once more to lead the way to their new homesteads.
          The end gate of the wagon that the family was riding in was left down so the children could tumble out and run behind when they were tired of riding.  Mrs. Abercrombie was still nursing her last baby and often rested on the bedding while she nursed the little one.  It so happened that she had changed places with her daughter Nancy and had just settled down to nurse her child when the boys came riding back to announce that they had found the four quarters of land, with one quarter being taken in the middle by someone else.  
          There would be one for George, one for Exer, one for Newton and one for Young.  That left Nancy out and she was old enough to take a claim, too.  As the boys rode off to point the way Mr. Abercrombie whipped up his horses and whooping and hollering hurried for his claim.  As he came up out of a deep dip in the trail the bedding and all the family slipped out of the back of the wagon and onto the trail.  Mr. Abercrombie was making so much noise with his hollering that he could not hear his family yelling for him to stop, so on he went hurrying his team as fast as he could to their future home.  Grabbing the stake he had ready he jumped out of the wagon and drove it into the ground, claiming the quarter section for his daughter Nancy who sat beside him on the wagon seat.  Nancy was going blind and with her father's whooping and hollering she had not heard her family's yelling either, and had she looked back she could not have seen them.
          When Mr. Abercrombie in his exuberance turned to show his family the first stake, he stood in shock for a minute realizing for the first time that he had lost his family.  With trepidation he mounted the wagon seat and prepared to retrace his trail.  About a quarter of a mile back he came upon his grim faced wife and uneasy children sitting on the bedding waiting.  The children started up a din of conversation, but Mrs. Abercrombie picked up her baby and waited patiently for the bedding to be reloaded and all the children settled in the back of the wagon before she handed up the baby and climbed in with the children without a word.  Not until they were back at the claim did her expression change.  Mr. Abercrombie noticed that although her back was turned toward him, he could see her shoulders shake as if she were laughing, and he knew she was seeing the whole ridiculous situation at last and finding it funny.  He knew he would be forgiven. 
           After a hasty lunch Young and Exer and Newton rode on to stake their claims.  George stayed with the family until all were settled in cabins or half dugouts, helping to build and dig and line his sister Exer's home.  Cottonwood logs had to be hauled to Kingfisher, a distance of about forty miles or so, to be sawed into lumber.  It was a three or four days trip both ways and when it came time to haul the logs for sawing into lumber for Exer's dug out, she rode along to do the cooking and take care of her brother on the way.  When they arrived at the settlement of Kingfisher they found that the sawmill was owned by a colored family. As Exer sat in the wagon in the hot sun, one of the colored women came and invited her into her home to wait until the job was done.  From the women's conversation, Exer found that the sawmill had been stolen in Georgia and brought to Oklahoma by a group of people through the swamps of Arkansas where many of their people had taken sick with malaria and died.
           Back at the claim a few days later, her brothers soon had her dugout lined and ready for occupancy.  The town of Fay had not been established yet, so Exer became the first postmaster in the settlement.  The post office was known as Exer and her post office was the upper right hand corner of her mother's kitchen cupboard.  Every day she would ride her pony to her mother's and stay the day, returning at evening to spend her nights alone in her dugout.  She had to have a livable home of some sort and spend at least six months out of the year on her claim in order to prove up on it.  The filing fee was two dollars.  Her brothers farmed her claim for her.  They raised cotton and corn; when cotton-picking time came the girls worked along side the men, the same long hard hours.  Belle, Alice, Gracie, and Levica were old enough to help a lot, while John and Harvey and Lizzie stayed near the home site to run small errands. 
         When the town of Fay was established, the post office of Exer was closed and a post office was opened in Fay.  The Exer postmistress was paid $1.00 per month for her services, so it was of no great loss when the office was moved to Fay. 
          George moved on to Laredo, Texas.  Nancy and Gracie never married, but the rest of the young folk found wives or husbands in the community and raised families of their own.  
          No stranger ever stopped at the Abercrombie place needing a night's lodging or food for himself and team that did not have their needs filled. Although many times the stranger may hear gunshot early in the morning, it was not unusual to see Mr. Abercrombie or one of his boys coming in with a handful of quail or a rabbit or two for breakfast.  Mrs. Abercrombie's hot biscuits were talked about and bragged about by every one who had the privilege of sitting at her table, and her wild plum or wild grape jellies were talked about for days afterward.  Being from Georgia, hot biscuits or hot corn bread was served at every meal.  It was not until Exer was married that she had ever seen or tasted light bread.  Milk or cream, hand skimmed, or any other food that was to be kept for the next meal was hung in buckets by a rope into the hand dug well, and water was brought up by a pulley for the family's use. Their first stable was made by setting long poles into the ground and nailing horizontal poles to those and stuffing prairie hay in between them. The top was covered with cottonwood planks with hay or straw piled on top.  The cabin was also built of cottonwood planks nailed up and down to a framework.  Most of the furniture was handmade.  Only the living room was floored w it h cottonwood planks.  Over these were laid rag rugs made by Mrs. Abercrombie or one of the girls.  Usually Nancy helped with this work since she could not see well enough to work in the field except to pick cotton.  She could sew by feel and could braid the long strips of rags to be sewn together for floor coverings.  The living room was built first and it was set up on sixteen-inch stumps.  Both the bedroom and kitchen were lean to's, and they both run the full length of the living room.  The bedroom was curtained off into three compartments by unbleached muslin sheets.  All bedding was of unbleached muslin and all comforts and quilts were hand- made by the women folk, pieced in crazy patch or of some old pattern they remembered from earlier days.
          Washing was all done by hand on a washboard and water drawn from the well and heated in an old iron kettle in the yard in summer and in a big copper boiler in winter. If the well seemed to be low the old iron kettle and washtubs and washboards were loaded into the wagon and driven to the creek where the water was clear and a fire built on the bank and the washing done there.  Then the wet clothes were brought back and hung on the garden fence and clothesline out back of the house.
         In the fall they would dry pumpkin and squash in the sun on muslin sheets and hang them in flour sacks on pegs on the kitchen wall.  Corn also was dried for winter use.  There were few fruit jars to be had and usually the only fruit was butters and jellies made from wild grapes, plum and currants, put into jars and sealed with sealing wax.
          Eventually orchards were set out which were mostly peaches and plums.  Dried apples could be bought in big tins, or wooden boxes.  The beds were homemade frames with boards laid across and with mattresses of corn shucks or prairie hay.  Mrs. Abercrombie saved every feather from wild ducks and geese and finally got some geese of her own, which soon had them all sleeping on feather beds.  When a child had a stomachache they were usually given a dose of castor oil and when one became the victim of poison ivy, they would hunt a jimson weed and bruise it on as an application.  Sometimes they would mash nightshade berries and mix with cream, with the idea that a poison would kill a poison.  These remedies usually gave relief and comfort. 
         Cotton was not baled, but sold by the wagonload and corn was 150 a bushel on the cob.  Soda crackers were bought by the wooden box and these boxes were about two feet long and about fourteen inches square on the ends and held around two hundred or more crackers; these could be ready to eat bought for 350 to 400.  The first ready to eat breakfast food I remember was Egg-O-See.  Enormous boxes of oatmeal could be bought for 120 to 150 and hominy was used a lot for breakfast cereal.  Eggs sold for 100 a dozen and if your neighbor needed milk, you gave it to him.  Almost everything was barter and trade system.  There was very little money in the country and no one expected to get rich; and as far as I can remember, no one ever did.  Everyone worked hard and in spite of the hardships they enjoyed life and seemed to have time now and then to visit with their neighbors and friends.  Mr. and Mrs. Abercrombie were my grandparents.  They lived long and useful lives, serving their fellowman as best they could in any way they could.  Mr. Abercrombie preceded his wife (Nancy Emaline Pierce Abercrombie Daughter of Sampson Pierce) in death about fourteen years, and when she died at the age of eighty-nine, she left behind 120 living descendants.  They lie side by side in the little Mount Hope Cemetery north of Fay, Oklahoma, loved and revered by all who ever knew them.

 By: LeHurl Miles Mueller  (This info evidently was submitted to the Dewey County OK Historical Book)     Will try to get more information on Date of Publication, and pages etc very soon.

Mr. Abercrombie preceded his wife (Nancy Emaline Pierce Abercrombie Daughter of Sampson Pierce) in death about fourteen years, and when she died at the age of eighty-nine, she left behind 120 living descendants.  They lie side by side in the little Mount Hope Cemetery north of Fay, Oklahoma, loved and revered by all who ever knew them.

2009 April I have info now that the Nancy Emaline Pierce who married Andrew Jackson Abercrombie was descended from Sampson Pierce possible brother to my great grandfather Andrew Jackson Pierce.

http://www.findagrave.com Nancy Pierce Abercrombie

 

http://www.findagrave.com Andrew Jackson Abercrombie  her husband

click on the smaller photos to see larger photos
PHOTOS COURTSEY GLENDA EISENHOUR

 

     

  

  

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