David H. LeCrone and SonsMom and Carl gave me one of the neatest presents for Christmas. It's an absolutely huge book called Rollin' Along For A Hundred Years: The Centennial History of Helena, Oklahoma, 1904-2004 by Suzanna Sturgeon Yates. When I say it is huge, I mean it. It measures 11.5" x 9" x 1.75", weighs in at (I kid you not) four and a half pounds, and contains 534 pages of history. TJ was a book widow for several days after I got this volume, because I had my nose buried in it constantly.
There's a lot of information about my family's early days in Oklahoma in this book. And it doesn't take long to get to it, either. On page 8, the author quotes from Web Glidewell's account of the Oklahoma Land Run, called "The Run of '93": "There were six in my father's party: D. H. LeCrone, A. W. LeCrone, Z. Brewster, Joe Couch, George Bonham, and himself. These men had all been down in Oklahoma many times on hunting trips and intended to stake claims near Pond Creek because of the railroad... About 4 o'clock in the afternoon, they reached the place west of Pond Creek where they wanted to locate. Each man threw up a small pile of dirt about a foot high, took staves, wrote their names and time of arrival on each of them and put them in the mound of dirt.
"They were tired, thirsty and hungry so they rode into Pond Creek to find their chuck wagon and driver. ... After a good meal of bacon, flap jacks and coffee, they fed and watered the horses and bedded down for the night. This proved to be a mistake as the next morning when they went back to their claims, someone had taken every claim but one. ...rather than stay and contest the claims, [the men] got together the next morning and decided to go on another 25 miles, near to where Helena is now."
David H. LeCrone was my great-great grandfather. A. W. LeCrone was his brother. The claim David LeCrone staked south of Helena was still in the family when I was a kid. My grandfather, Emery F. LeCrone farmed it until I was 6 years old. I remember it very well - especially the cistern, the windmill, the barn and sheds, the outhouse, the snake I found in the front yard, getting stung by a wasp (and getting doctored with chewing tobacco by my great-grandfather, William C. LeCrone - David LeCrone's son - who lived in a mobile home on the property). I remember building and flying kites in the field on the east side of the house with my Uncle Ted and Uncle Bud. And I remember playing Cowboys and Indians with my Aunt Linda, who was only eight years older than me. I remember the skunk in the chicken house and the badger in the yard. I remember the water bucket and dipper and the wooden crank phone on the wall in the kitchen. I remember the upstairs bedrooms. I remember Boots the dog (who bit me for poking at him while he was eating) and great-grandma's mean black cat, Lucifer (or satan, I can never remember what it's name was). I remember Sugar the cow. I also remember getting scalded with hot coffee out on that farm, but that's a story for another time.
In 1894 a Sunday School was started which was attended by David H. LeCrone and his family. This Sunday School became the Presbyterian Church. "Uncle Dave LeCrone (as he was called by many of his friends and neighbors) ....helped to build the church [and] the church was completely paid for when finished. ... Uncle Dave... went to Enid and got the chairs for the church. Returning, Uncle Dave's team ran away and not being able to hold them in the road, he made a big circle and got them under control, not losing a single chair." David H. LeCrone served as one of the first three Elders of the newly-formed Presbyterian Church. He was also one of the founding officers and trustees of Good Hope Cemetery as well as one of the original stockholders of the Bank of Helena.
David H. LeCrone was born in 1849. That means he was 44 years old when he made the land run. He was doing the hard kinds of things in mid-life that most people only contemplate in their youth. That gives great hope to folks like me who are hovering around the mid-century mark and wondering if God still has cool things for us to do.
There's a lot of information about my family's early days in Oklahoma in this book. And it doesn't take long to get to it, either. On page 8, the author quotes from Web Glidewell's account of the Oklahoma Land Run, called "The Run of '93": "There were six in my father's party: D. H. LeCrone, A. W. LeCrone, Z. Brewster, Joe Couch, George Bonham, and himself. These men had all been down in Oklahoma many times on hunting trips and intended to stake claims near Pond Creek because of the railroad... About 4 o'clock in the afternoon, they reached the place west of Pond Creek where they wanted to locate. Each man threw up a small pile of dirt about a foot high, took staves, wrote their names and time of arrival on each of them and put them in the mound of dirt.
"They were tired, thirsty and hungry so they rode into Pond Creek to find their chuck wagon and driver. ... After a good meal of bacon, flap jacks and coffee, they fed and watered the horses and bedded down for the night. This proved to be a mistake as the next morning when they went back to their claims, someone had taken every claim but one. ...rather than stay and contest the claims, [the men] got together the next morning and decided to go on another 25 miles, near to where Helena is now."
David H. LeCrone was my great-great grandfather. A. W. LeCrone was his brother. The claim David LeCrone staked south of Helena was still in the family when I was a kid. My grandfather, Emery F. LeCrone farmed it until I was 6 years old. I remember it very well - especially the cistern, the windmill, the barn and sheds, the outhouse, the snake I found in the front yard, getting stung by a wasp (and getting doctored with chewing tobacco by my great-grandfather, William C. LeCrone - David LeCrone's son - who lived in a mobile home on the property). I remember building and flying kites in the field on the east side of the house with my Uncle Ted and Uncle Bud. And I remember playing Cowboys and Indians with my Aunt Linda, who was only eight years older than me. I remember the skunk in the chicken house and the badger in the yard. I remember the water bucket and dipper and the wooden crank phone on the wall in the kitchen. I remember the upstairs bedrooms. I remember Boots the dog (who bit me for poking at him while he was eating) and great-grandma's mean black cat, Lucifer (or satan, I can never remember what it's name was). I remember Sugar the cow. I also remember getting scalded with hot coffee out on that farm, but that's a story for another time.
In 1894 a Sunday School was started which was attended by David H. LeCrone and his family. This Sunday School became the Presbyterian Church. "Uncle Dave LeCrone (as he was called by many of his friends and neighbors) ....helped to build the church [and] the church was completely paid for when finished. ... Uncle Dave... went to Enid and got the chairs for the church. Returning, Uncle Dave's team ran away and not being able to hold them in the road, he made a big circle and got them under control, not losing a single chair." David H. LeCrone served as one of the first three Elders of the newly-formed Presbyterian Church. He was also one of the founding officers and trustees of Good Hope Cemetery as well as one of the original stockholders of the Bank of Helena.
David H. LeCrone was born in 1849. That means he was 44 years old when he made the land run. He was doing the hard kinds of things in mid-life that most people only contemplate in their youth. That gives great hope to folks like me who are hovering around the mid-century mark and wondering if God still has cool things for us to do.
3 comments:
Thanks for sharing. I had know idea that our great-great grandfather was a Presbyterian Elder. How very interesting.
I thought you'd appreciate that, Davy.
Also, (and I'll have to do a little more digging on this for the exact name and dates) just a few generations before D. H. LeCrone we had a LeCrone ancestor who was a Huguenot minister in France. There's a rich reformed heritage in our blood.
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