The following information was copied by Susie (Susan) Wagoner Kohler, from the Wagoner book written by Marshall Blue.

Dear JoAnn,

Enclosed are dates of births of Ed's family and some history. I am unable to photostat this book, so will send you more information on Aunt Annie when I get it copied.

Parents of Ed were:

Mary E. Blu (1-26-1850) & death (1-7-1909

Joseph B. Wagoner (9-25-1847) & death (2-8-1908)

They were married January 20th, 1870 at Athens, IL in Menard Co., IL, they moved to Guthrie in Ford Co., where their first eight children were born.

1. Bertha Wagoner (1870-1934) Guthrie, IL She never married. She lived in Groom texas and lived with Ed and Aunt Annie and helped with the children. She is buried in the Groom Cemetery.

2. Male Child Wagoner (stillborn 4-18-1872 ) Guthrie, IL

3. Margaret Wagoner (1873-1955) married in 193? to Phillips Brooks Farley in Groom Texas.

4. Emma Wagoner (9-17-1876) & died (5-20-189?) Died of tuberculosis one month before her graduation from Eureka College.

5. Joseph B. Harrison (Harry) Wagoner (1879-193?) married Mary Belle Bowels in 1907, lived Emden.

6. John Benjamin (Ben Buddy) Wagoner (1881-193?) lived in San Antonio where he practiced dentistry. Married Maria Ascarra and had no children.

7. James Edward (Ed) Wagoner (1883-1947) married Annie Laurie Kneass in 1907 and lived in Groom, Texas.

8. Arthur Logan Wagoner (1886-1964) married Willie Allison (Billie) Good in 1928, they lived in Amarillo, Texas and had no children.

9. Raymond Addison Wagoner (1888-1941) married Margaret Louise Ogle in 1920 they lived in Amarillo, Texas.

Ed's grandfather, J.B. Wagoner, was a blacksmith for Abe Lincoln. His father was also a blacksmith.

It was noted on gravestones the elder Wagoner's spelled Wagoner with two gg's.

About 1905 the family moved to Oklahoma, and settled in a tiny villiage called Wagoner. The town was settled in a period when the area was part of the Creek Nation. The family lived here for a short period, then moved on to Dallas. Ed's father, J.B. purchased 250 acres of land between Dallas & Fort Worth when the town of Grand Prairie is today. He then bought land at Southland, later called Asthola, where their sons farmed for one year. He then went to Carson County area ( Groom, Texas) and bought 51/2 sections of land (3,520) where his sons settled. Bertha lived with them until their death. She then lived with her brother Ed and Aunt Annie Laurie. She was much needed to help with their five children. Annie had her hands full with helping run the farm and cooking for the hired hands. She lived with Ed and Aunt Annie for 21 years until her death.

I'll start copying the narritive of Aunt Annie's "Helping to Develop the Panhandle", and send to you when I have it done. I put more history of Uncle Ed in the next letter, as it is real interesting.

Warmly,

Susie Wagoner Kohler

Military service: Served in the Civil War at age 15.

The Wagoner family has lived in the Texas panhandle in the towns of Amarillo, Groom, Pampa, Hereford and Dumas. They have farmed, ranched and raised cattle. They also had gas wells.

The following narrative was written by William "Billy" son of Ed and Annie Laruie (He married Helen Hastings).

J.E. Wagoner, better known to his friends as "Ed", came to Carson county to make his home north of Groom in 1905. He left Normal, Illinois with his parents, brothers, and sisters and first settled at Wagoner, Indian Territory, in Oklahoma. They were in Oklahoma a short time and moved to Dallas, Texas and bought 250 acres of land between Dallas and Fort Worth which is now where the town of Grand Prairie is built.

Ed's father saw the need for more farm and ranch land for his family of six children, so he continued to search for more land. He bought a small place at Southard which is now known as Asthola, Texas. Ed and his brothers, Art and Harry (my grandfather) moved in a covered wagon to Southard in 1904 and farmed one year. Ed's father continued to look for land more suitable for farming and ranching and after seeing the country and land in Carson County, he knew it was what he and his sons wanted so he bought 51/2 sections of land making a down payment on it. The Wagoner boys moved to their new land in Carson County which was north and east of Groom to make their home. A few years later their two sisters, Miss Bertha and Margaret, and another brother, Ray, joined them after their parents had passed away at Dallas, Texas. Ben the older brother, was a Dentist and moved to San Antonio, Texas.

Ed Wagoner returned to Normal, Illinois and married Annie Laurie Kneass in August of 1907. They came to Groom on the train. Colonel Groom happened to be in town in his buggy, he was known to have the finest horses of anyone in the country, so Ed and Annie Laurie were happy to have him take them out to their home. Colonel Groom visited them often and on one visit soon after their arrival, he tied a nice wooden rocking chair on his buggy and took it to them for a wedding gift. The chair was treasured in their home for it was the only chair they had for several years. Annie Laurie loved to tell of how proud she was of her first home, a two room house with a coal cook stove, one wooden bed with a straw mattress, a homemade dining table and wooden bench, one rocking chair and numbers of nail kegs used for chairs.

Ed returned with his bride Annie Laurie, a couple days earlier than Art and other brothers were expected them so they found the bed, floors and all the household things completely covered in salt trying to kill the fleas. Ed was very embarrassed, but Annie Laurie did not let this dampen her pioneer spirit. From her first arrival in Groom as a bride, she loved the country and people of the Panhandle and she loved her new life on the farm and ranch in spite of the hard work. She had many hired men to cook for and for several years there was two of Ed's brothers and sisters who make their home with them. Margaret Wagoner married P.B. Farley and they make their home on a farm east of Groom. Art and Ray Wagoner moved to Amarillo but continued to be partners in ranching business with Ed for many years. Harry (my grandfather) returned to Illinois and made his home there. He married Mamie Bowles and they lived on the Bowles family farm east of Emden, Illinois. His grandson William Wagoner and great-grandson Brian Wagoner remain on this farm.

In the early days Ed had a threshing machine and used Joe Babcock's Steam Engine and threshed his grain and all the neighbors grain. This required many hired men besides the neighbor men to operate a threshing crew. Annie Laurie often said she was happiest when she knew she had a lot of hungry men and boys to cook for. She and Ed always raised a fine garden, cured their own meat and yeast bread was made twice a week.

One of Ed's hobbies through the years was butchering and curing their hog meat and helping cure meat for the neighbors. He had plenty of equipment and a large barn to process the meat in, so each year he and the neighbors looked forward to butchering time. He also butchered plenty of beef for use in the winter.

The Wagoner's had to go in a buggy or wagon to Clarendon for supplies in the early days. Annie Laurie often went alone to Clarendon, but always took her gun along "Just in case she needed it", she would say there were many wire gates to be opened and some fences to take down, but she never seemed to mind this inconvenience. After her two older sons came, she would take them and drive to Amarillo in the buggy. It was a long day's trip with forty-two gates between their ranch and Amarillo, she would do her shopping, go to the dentist, do some visiting and return in a couple of days saying, "this was her vacation".

Ed loved to tell about him making a trip to Clarendon to buy a span of mule and hoped to have money enough to get Annie Laurie another chair. There was a car of bananas derailed there, so he got two big stalks of bananas, the chair and mule and returned home. Annie Laurie was expecting her first child and bananas was the main food she craved. The day Ed returned with the bananas, a friend who was traveling through the country on a horse came; he too liked bananas, so he just stayed until the bananas were gone, to my knowledge this was the only unwelcomed guest Ed and Annie Laurie ever had in their home.

Ed and Art bought a Stanley Steamer car for their first one. They did not like it as it was so hard to start. Soon afterwards Ed bought a Maxwell car. Ed often said it was not as much fun as the Stanley Steamer for he had caused many a horse and buggy or horse and wagon to run away, fortunatly no one was injured, but lots of harness and buggies were torn up.

The Wagoner help fight many prairie fires, the worst being on Easter Sunday 1913.

Ed and Annie Laurie's home was blessed with five sons. They never ceased to work for better churches, schools, and worth while community projects even after their children were reared.

Annie Laurie and Miss Bertha Wagoner helped organize a Sunday School and Church in the country and later in Groom. Miss Bertha lived in Ed's home twenty-one years, she was a big help in rearing the five Wagoner boys and her Christian influence in this home and community will be a lasting memory. She passed away June 13, 1934.

Annie Laurie served on the Groom School Board, she worked hard to get the school affiliate, she was educated in music, therefore she gave much of her time to the church and school musical programs. She helped organize and worked in Home Demonstration Clubs in the county serving as president of both the Carson County Home Demonstration Council and Carson County Federation of Women's Clubs, and she was one of the first members of the Carson County Library Board.

Ed's family lived on their farm north of Groom all but two years of this time, they had ranches in New Mexico, so the family moved to Amarillo to be closer to their ranch. They moved back to Groom in 1921 and lived there until Ed's death, May 19, 1945. Victor, one of the sons, continued to farm the place until Annie Laurie's death January 10, 1955.

The Wagoners youngest son, Raymond, gave his life in Service in World War II. He was killed in Germany February 15, 1945. Being a Gold Star Mother, Annie Laurie was interested in building a Carson County War Memorial Building at Panhandle and made a contribution to its construction.

The other four sons, Robert E. Wagoner of Hereford, Texas, William A. Wagoner of Pampa, Texas, Joe B. Wagoner of Hereford, Texas, and Victor Wagoner of Amarillo, Texas, their wives, six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren love the Panhandle country and are grateful to have the memory of parents who came this country Texas, in early life and helped pioneer it along with many other neighbors and friends of Carson County.

The following narrative was written by Annie Laurie (Kneass) Wagoner (our great-grandmother). She married James Edward Wagoner.

"Helping to Develop the Panhandle"

Mrs. J. Ed Wagoner and Annie Laurie Kneass were married the 28th day of August 1907 at Normal, Illinois. A host of friends attended the wedding sending them on their journey to Texas which was made by train going to Dallas, where Mr. Wagoner's mother, father and sisters lived, to spend a couple of weeks. Then on to Groom, Texas, where in 1905 he and two brothers had come via covered wagon from Dallas, first to Southard which is now Ashtola, then to Groom. Father Wagoner made the down payment on the land to help the boys get started.

Father died in the next year, then Mother died in 1909 and Miss Bertha and Miss Margaret, who is now Mrs. P.B. Farley came to live with us. I was happy over that, although we were crowded. We lived happily together for our neighbors were scarce and far between. The Steed family were living where Mr. and Mrs. Moreman live and Mr. Ted and Evy Hodges lived where the Byron Hodges live. Our place was situated in a 15 section pasture and in order to go to town, there were 5 gates to open. Needless we did not go often. After fixing up every afternoon with the expectation of company, in about two months Mrs. P.E. Johnson and Mrs. Pleasant came and spent the afternoon, inviting us to Sunday School at the School house and Mr. Steed was superintendent. Mr. Steed came rideing up on horse back and told us all about it and said, "Mr. Ed, you come and bring the Missus, " and of course, we were delighted to have someone want us.

When we got on the train in Dallas to come West, we really felt it to be an adventure and we were thrilled with the idea and vastness of it all, and we could see so far. We felt we had been married so long ( 2 weeks to be exact), no one would know we were bride and groom. After we left El Reno, the train went slower and slower, felt as if we should never arrive. Pretty soon the train completely stopped and all the train crew got watermelons. Someone had been very accomadating and planted along the track. We laughed and said we guessed we were not in a hurry, and then the conductor, a large man, come bringing us a large half and looked kinder shy and said, "for the bride and groom". It was the best watermelon I have ever tasted and a very delicious joke on us.

We arrived in Groom expecting brother Art to meet us, but no Art, so we waited, I in the depot and Ed going to try to find someone with buckboard to take us home. In the meantime several of the girls, with tall Mexican hats, cowboy skirts, gloves and shirts, came over to see, but not to speak to the Bride. I was so lonely but they would have none of me for I was dressed in silk with plumes on my hat and was different they felt. Among those, you see, were Irene Steed who is now Mrs. Roach and Zona Slay who is Mrs. Cornett. Mr. Wagoner finally got old Colonel Groom to take us home. He was just grand to us and come by and had dinner every so many times with us and we always enjoyed him for we loved to hear him talk about frontier days and hauling by ox team the lumber for barns and house from Dodge City, Kansas.

Art finally came home, he had been gone a week threashing Jericko and all around so when we had wheat we could call near and far for help us, to thresh. And that was the way we dids for several years. Sometimes they would be gone 2 or 3 weeks threasing. Mr. Wagoner was always a pretty good cook and some of the men would ask him to help their wives cook so I would go too when they were not more than 10 miles away, but I was the chore boy then and we just could not all leave on account of the chickens, hogs and cows.

We sold our steers in 1909 and had to drive them to Pampa, which took several days to ship, though everything was in fine shape to leave. Had a boy hired to help me but the boy came the next A.M. after they were gone and said he was afraid he might do something wrong so he just wasn't coming there I was all alone on the wide prairies and I was really afraid. It began to rain and never ceased for a week and I had a sick horse to doctor. I did not know a horse could get its head up so high and I stood in the feed trough and tied his head down and drenched him with spirits of nitrate and water. He lived but I was surely scared of him. Then I had to haul feed to cattle that were left about, 2 big bundles a day and milk cows, water the hogs feed them and the chickens. I also started making the garden while they were gone so I was really busy. When they came back they drove 100 head of hogs from LeFors which was the largest drove of hogs near Groom at that time.

Fresh fruit and vegetable were not shipped here for several years so a garden was our salvation. Mr. Wagoner took a trip to Clarendon for buying mules, and a carload of bananas were stranded there so he brought home 2 bunches and me, my first rocker. He hung the bunches on either side of a double door with the rocker in the middle as I had gone to visit Mrs. Steed he was gone. It was really something when i got home and saw it. I had wanted bananas so much I just had to cry.

Not long after this I had a toothache continually so Mr. Steed and my husband made arrangements for the two wives to go to Clarendon to the dentist and word had been received Irene had been badly burned at the Methodist College dormitory. So with my ponies and Steed's buggy we started early next morning. A bad norther came up and we nearly froze to death. Irene was better when we got there and I got my tooth pulled and a new tooth pegged in. On the way home it was so cold we stopped at Mrs. Charles Harris' and stayed overnight. At the time she lived where Mr. Emil Lack lives but they just had fire downstairs and we slept upstairs and we never could get warm. The "northers" seemed to be colder then and we of course had an open buggy. Mrs. Harris had a grand breakfast for us and we came on home as it had moderated. When we wanted to go any place then we would just start out angling in the right direction, take down the fence, go thru, and nail it back up.

In the spring of 1910 we built a two room house down by our windmill and left the rest of the Wagoner family what is now the Jinks Pool place One day Colonel Groom came by in a fine surrey with a colored man driving for him and said, "Eddie you are going to have to move your house up the hill for I have seen water up to the first brace of the windmill." So we felt he must know as he had been here so long, so we made preparations to move it up the hill and sure enough in about a week after we had moved it the flood came and our house would have been completely covered with water if we had not heeded his advice.

One July the 3rd our first son was born and soon after, Miss Bertha organized a Sunday School in a house out near the George Clark home. We would go and take the babe in a box and he would play and be perfectly contented until someone would try and pick him up. I sang and taught a Sunday School Class. Also, Mrs. Farley and Mother Farley taught class as they had moved here then. At first Father Farley and John came here and batched and would get so homesick and would come and eat with us and were delighted to have them. When the rest of the family came we loved them just as you would kin and we felt more like this was really our home. And then we had socials and picnics and parties which we needed for our morale. And soon Margaret and Phil were married and Effie came to visit her sister and soon she and John were married. We begun to have new roads and it wasn't long until Mr. Sweeney, Roy Leepers, Dad, brought in an old chain drive car. Then Mr. Roder go a Reo, Brother Art bought a Stanley Steamer and Walter Knopp had a Studebaker. Our first car was a Maxwell. Mr. M.L. Steed had the first Ford.

About this time we began building silos and we had 2 here, 2 at the Collins place, 2 at the Bentley place and one big one on the Pool place. This caused a lot of men to come in to work as it took a crew of 15 to 18 men and about 2 weeks at each place. Quite a few who helped fill silos remained here to live. Some of them are S.K. Roach, Skeet Morrow, Ben Franklin, Joe Babcock, Bill McDowell, Lee Sadler, Jim Byes, and John Ray, all such good help they are all living in and around Groom. Later Mr. & Mrs. Ray rented our place and we moved west and north about 11/2 miles on the same creek. We sold that place to P.E. Johnson and Mrs. Johnson still owns it.

Another thing that happened which caused a lot of publicity was the dipping vat. We bought a lot of cattle out of Old Mexico. The government inspector, John Snider, of Amarillo came and inspected them and said you have to dip your cattle for Scabies, so we made pens to hold the cattle and a vat. The only kind of dip available then was sulfur and lime which had to be mixed with water and cooked with steam. At that time Joe Babcock had a big old thrashing machine and we used it and Jake Paetzold ran it. He is Mrs. John Homer's brother. People came from miles around the days we dipped. Mr. Lee Sadler was one of the ones who ran one of the rods to hold the cattle under for they had to held under so many minutes by the clock and dipped twice two weeks apart. This work took a lot of cowboys for we had 100 section pasture leased from Colonel Groom so there had to be chuck wagons and old cook Dad to cook and roundups, etc. Then the fall harvest would come of feed or row crops as it was called. We had 3 or 4 one row binders and it took 2 to each binder to shoch, then it had to be stacked, then fed to the cattle which was all done by teams and wagons. So much man power has been eliminated since we have trucks and tractors.

All the time we were rearing our family of fine boys. I had from 3 to 5 to 7 or 8 hired men to cook for but in later years we had bunk houses and cook Dad which helped me out considerable, and Mr. Wagoner has always been good to help me. Also Miss Bertha Wagoner lived with us 21 years and was especially so good to help with the children, and I sometimes felt jealous that she had more time than I. But they loved her so I could not feel bad for long. I was always called on to sing everywhere and could go and know the children were well cared for. We always took the children to church and Sunday School. Miss Bertha was superintendent at Groom for 20 years before she passed away and was not only mourned by her family but the community as well.

There are many in the community I would like to say were a help to us and especially after the first World War when we were flat broke. We came very nearly losing all we had, because we bought too many high priced cattle, then the bottom went out. It was just like a dream and when everything we had was gone, except our friends, and they have been real friends. And so through the year we find that nothing is so worth while as our friends and the feeling we have when we have our just debts paid and owe nobody again. It is a grand feeling to be independent as it took us many long years to pay our debt

each month with the interest added on to compound when not able to meet them. Then came the hard years of the dust storms when no crops were raised to speak of. Then a few years ago we were completely hailed out tow years in succession, but we borrowed money & wheat was put in for another crop and made good. Then came the government program. And I don't see how we could have survived if it had not been for the Government paycheck. We now look forward to the years ahead and see God's plan in it all and know we are stronger men and women for having to struggle. And it has been a wonderful like of ups and downs, and things accomplished.

I forgot to mention the prairie fires which damaged many acres and cost the lives of some stock and almost the life of Mr. Will Farley as he was using a plow and team to plow to back fire. He was burned badley as the wind whipped around and caught him unawares. This was on Easter Sunday 1913 and I had sung at church and went home to dinner with Dr. Griffiths who had built the house where Mr. & Mrs. John Farley now live. The word came before we sat to eat and all the available men in town went. We never saw them for 2 days as the wind was so high and kept changing. It was very hard to control. I remember several other prairie fires but this was the worst. Men just left everything and went where there was a prairie fire.

Annie Laurie, who wrote this narrative, graduated from Bloomington (Illinois) Conservatory of Music, taught voice and sang professionally. She also attended Illinois State University at Normal. While this background might not seem to make her a candidate to be a pioneer, that is exactly what she was.

Relationship to Daniel Boone

Authority -- Vickie Ann Seal Roop

As I figure out our relationship to Daniel Boone, it is this: Our most direct lineage is his Uncle Joseph Boone, which makes Daniel an 1st Cousin to Joseph's daughter Catherine Boone Ingles.

Daniel Boone -- 1st Cousin to Catherine Boone.

Daniel Boone -- 2nd Cousin to Elanor Ingles, daughter of Catherine.

Daniel Boone -- 3rd Cousin to Ambrose Dudley Victor, son of Elanor.

Daniel Boone -- 4th Cousin to William H. Victor, son of Ambrose.

Daniel Boone -- 5th Cousin to Eliza Sturgis Victor, daughter of William.

Daniel Boone -- 6th Cousin to Ellen Louisa Kneass and Annie Laurie Kneass, daughter to Eliza.

Daniel Boone --7th Cousin to Robert E., William A., Joseph B., Victor S., and Raymond R. Wagoner, sons of Annie Laurie.

Daniel Boone --8th Cousin to Gayle F., Elizabeth A., and Joe Bob Wagoner children of Joseph.

Daniel Boone -- 9th Cousin to Dennis K., Vickie A., and Ty J. Seal children of Gayle.

Daniel Boone -- 10th Cousin to Robert L. and Katherine A. Roop children of Vickie.

It was originally stated that Daniel Boone was an Uncle through his brother Joseph but through further research I discovered that he was a cousin instead. Squire Boone (Daniel's Father) and Joseph Boone were brothers. So that made Joseph's daughter Catherine a first cousin to Daniel.

(Researched November 20, 2000)

Signed, Vickie Seal Roop

The following is a translation of a promissory note witnesses by Daniel Boone.

For _______ recieved I promised to pay to Mr. Hugh Mc_entie ___ order fifteen pounds current _______ of Virginia on or before the first day of April ______ As witness my hand and seal at Limestone this 3d day of February 1786.

Elenezer L. Platt

Test Daniel Boone

Sirs As Captain Platt has left his store house and all thes consearns in my hands in orders to ____ the cash at the _____ _______ note matures as before Witness my hand this 3d day of February 1786.

Daniel Boone

In researching to verify the promissory note I found the following information:

About the year 1786 Daniel Boone left the neighborhood of the Kentucky river and lived for some time at Limestone, now Maysville, at the mouth of Limestone Creek, a tributary of the Ohio River, then in Bourbon county, now in Mason county. (s. Vol. 2 p. 556) He was there a tavern keeper and merchant, and was one of the first trustees of the town. While living at Limestone, in 1786, he was also make one of the first trustees of Washington, the oldest towns in the then Burbon county.