The Matriarch of the Rainey Family

THE EARLY YEARS OF ROSA JARRELL RAINEY

Mother of Daisy Rainey Rice, Lewis Rainey, Gladys Rainey Smith, Della Rainey, Alice Rainey, Emma Rainey Buckley, and Eugene Rainey

Rosa Jarrell Rainey* is the matriarchal ancestor of over one hundred descendants. She was born March 7, 1868, in Stoddard County, Missouri. Rosa frequently mentioned the city of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, situated on the banks of the Mississippi River as her hometown. Her parents were Andrew and Ann Jarrell. Andrew was born in Kentucky, in 1830, according to the United States Census of 1870. The same census gave the birthplace of Rosa's mother as Missouri in 1833.

Two years later her father, Andy Jarrell died of pneumonia at the age of 42. By the age of 12, Rosa had a stepfather Archibald Gibson with a household composed of a blended family of twelve according to the United States Census of 1880. Rosa complained about at least one stepbrother that she did not like. It seems family situations with “yours, mine, and ours” have always presented challenges.

She considered her family “poor” and frequently made the statement, as she aged, “I just don’t want to go to the poorhouse.” In the 1800s, a “poorhouse” was a place for people to live that could not afford to provide for themselves. One can only imagine the terrible conditions surrounding those places of squalor and despair that fueled her fear of ever ending up there.

She battled malaria throughout her growing up years due to living so close to a swamp that produced infected mosquitoes. How ironic that same swamp has now been designated Mingo National Wildlife Refuge that encompasses 21,676 acres!

*Her tombstone lists her given name as Rosa.

The 1870 U.S. Census shows her name as Mary.
In the 1880 U.S. Census both names were given – Mary Rose.
In the 1910 U.S. Census she is listed as Mary R.
In the 1920 U.S. Census she is listed as Rosey.
In the 1930 U.S. Census she is listed as Mary.
In the 1940 U.S. Census she is listed as Rose.
Bernyce Smith Gates, my mother, says that her grandmother always called herself Rosa.

The earliest photo that my family has of

my mother's maternal grandmother Rosa

                                                 Jarrell Rainey.

As a teacher, each year I read from Laura Ingalls Wilder’s series on pioneer life to the third graders in my classroom. Wilder vividly described the symptoms and severity of malaria in her second book Little House on the Prairie.  I never read the chapter entitled Fever ‘n Ague without thinking of Great-grandma Rainey and how she was plagued by this horrible, recurring diease just because of where her family lived.

Sometimes the New Family Stories Are Good, Too

Some of the Best Family Stories Are New Ones

Last year we only baled 16 large bales off the meadow due to the severe drought so I managed the winter feeding with incredibly slim margins and a great deal of prayer. We thanked the Lord profusely as the rains began coming every month in 2013 totaling over 30 inches through August.

What joy and thankfulness filled our hearts when Tim Gates agreed to bale the meadow for a second time in late August! This was so meaningful to us since he was downsizing and attempting to get out of the custom hay baling. When Tim pulled in with his equipment and began cutting the rain-strengthened meadow, Dad remarked, “He’s a good man.”

The next morning when Tim resumed his work in the meadow here on the farm, Dad commented, “He’ll do it right.”

As I have reflected, this recent farm story wrapped in family love and commitment tied together by faith, surely does have a powerful connection with our ancestry.

I recall being told that Aunt Mamie commented about her father, Edmund, Sr., “Papa was a man of principles.” How better can Tim carry on the principles of his grandfather than with his dependability undergirded by a strong work ethic. I am grateful that Tim is the one to be entrusted with the soon-to-be “centennial” Gates family farm.

In turn, I hope the rest of us who descend from Mamie Irene Tripp Gates and Edmund Gates, Sr. will live out daily the principles of hard work, honesty, reliability, and many other qualities that they valued but seem to be in short supply in the 21^st century.

Here are photos taken after Tim baled and stored a record baling of 39 bales in the last cutting to bring the total number of bales to 67! What a blessing!

    

Twin Fawns

In midsummer while searching feverishly for Dad’s small cattle herd, I stopped to lop off limbs that were beginning to block the trail that I drive frequently in Dad’s old pickup. Perspiring and anxious, I looked up to see two wide-eyed fawns staring back at me as though mesmerized. Intricate patterns of spots marked their tense backs. These two young whitetail deer stood motionless for what seemed an incredibly long time. I regretted for a moment not having my camera in the battered pickup, but my worry and concern over cattle that had probably roamed over to our neighbor’s unoccupied pasture overarched all else. I chose to disregard our neighbor’s admonishment echoing in my mind, “I don’t want you over there worrying about your cattle. I’m checking them.” He had told me this more than once. Nevertheless, I insisted on resuming my effort to locate the cattle failing to see that God had led me to an exquisite phenomenon of nature tucked away in a quiet, remote area of the pasture. Driven by my anxiety, I missed soaking in this extraordinary experience with the twin fawns. I am sad to say that I jumped back into Dad’s treasured, vintage vehicle, revved it up, and charged ahead right into the path of those curious fawns. Obviously and instinctively, the young deer sped into the timber.

How often do I fail to see God’s gracious hand bringing to me exquisite, intangible gifts?

Lord, slow me down, give me the calmness and strength to trust You, and recognize each of the wonderful gifts You daily send to me.





 This is exactly the photo shot (taken from informedfarmers.com)  I could have gotten if I had been moving at the pace God intended instead of at my own frenzied speed. Wouldn’t that have been a priceless photo to have in one’s own photography collection?

FYI - Did you know that whitetail does are more likely to have twin fawns than a single birth?

One of the Hardest Things for a Little Girl to Do

(ONE OF THE FEW MEMORIES TOLD TO ME BY MY PATERNAL GRANDMOTHER)

Grandma Gates wasn't one for telling stories. She liked to live in the present. Yet this was an early memory she shared.

Mamie Tripp Gates remembered vividly saying good-bye to her father Rufus Tripp who was dying on October 25, 1900.  She was only five years old. Her twin sisters, Cora Dell and Nora Bell, were two years old. What a difficult loss for three little girls!

A loss of this magnitude would have made it so easy for this impressionable five-year-old to start down a road of painful resentment and self-pity creating an unlovable, bitter woman incapable of genuinely loving and caring for others. Instead this heartbreaking experience enabled Grandma Mamie Irene Tripp Gates to develop a heart of compassion and empathy visibly evident to her family, neighbors, and friends.

Below is the link to a photo of  the tombstone of Rufus “Dive” Tripp in the Ozro Falls Cemetery at Hewins, Kansas, in Chautauqua County. (This link states he was born in Newry, Maine, on April 6, 1858, but The United States Census of 1860 cites his birthplace as Illinois.)  Mamie’s father was only 42 years of age when he died.

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=pv&GRid=23860987

A Side Note: Mamie’s parents were married on March 2, 1892. Rufus was 34 years old and from Chautauqua County in Kansas. Nettie Venator listed Osage Nation as her residence with her age recorded as 20 years old. The marriage license application was filed in Chautauqua County in Kansas.

Rufus and Nettie Venator Tripp

He Was Paid for His Wheat in GOLD!

Edmund Gates, Sr. came to Newkirk and Ponca City around 1898-1900.  This trip was prompted because Edmund was disturbed because his brother John was getting a cut of the profit but doing no work on the Kansas family farm.
As a single man Edmund Sr. was working shocking wheat during the harvest here in Oklahoma Territory.  It seemed to him that every other door in Ponca City was a saloon.

Edmund Sr. was notified that the wheat crop he planted on the Gates farm near Garnett, Kansas, was ready to harvest. His neighbor in Kansas had a binder and Edmund shocked the wheat by hand.  He was so fast he had the shocking done about the same time the binding was finished. 

Here is a link to observe wheat being shocked:                              

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvUsdvCda04

Here is a link to see a horse-drawn binder at work:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SO01Lg0kKFs

Edmund hired the threshing crew as well as someone to cook for them. He cleared around $350 from his crop.  When he sold his grain he was paid in gold.  It was too heavy so he converted the gold to bills.

Interesting Note: A troy ounce of gold was worth $18.98 in 1898. A troy ounce of gold is now equal to around $1,400. I calculated and had Edmund Sr. kept the gold and passed it down to his descendants, it would be valued at over $25,000!