He Loved and Collected Equines

Bill Rainey - A Man Who Loved Horses

            William “Bill” Marion Rainey had a fascination with equines. He was seated on a horse when he first caught the eye of his future wife, Rosie, Bill’s favorite name for her. (See Blog Post of October 20, 2013 entitled William Marion Rainey for more about the early days of their relationship.)
             When the Raineys moved from Pawnee County in 1911 (according to Gene Rainey's obituary) or in 1913 (according to Rosa Jarrell Rainey's obituary), to the Big Bend community, Bill had several mules. He was told in confidentiality to quickly divest himself of those equines since the Hookie Miller Gang was known for stealing horses and mules. Supposedly, Miller traveled through and hid out in the west part of the Big Bend. Bill took the inside information passed on to him by a good neighbor who was rumored to be in cahoots with Hookie Miller! Rosie was glad to see the mules gone.
            Bill prized fast horses. My mother, Bernyce Smith Gates recalls one of those former race horses owned by her grandfather. This beautiful bay named Fox was sleek and long-legged. Larita Rogers, the niece of Emma and Bill Buckley, was visiting from Pawhuska. Perhaps Mother was trying to show a city girl a good time in the country. For whatever reason, Mother got herself and Larita on Fox bareback at her grandparents’ place (which in more recent times was the home of Emma Buckley). Fox needed no encouragement. Off he went with Mother holding tightly to his reins and Larita clinging for dear life to Mother. Mother headed him to the Betts place where she and her parents lived. (Today Wayne and Eloise Mitchell live on this place that was the original Osage land allotment of Eloise's family.) Mother reined him in when they reached her home and off they hopped. Fox wheeled around and sped back to the home of Bernyce's  grandparents. Mother and Larita walked back since Fox had left them literally in his dust!
             Great-Grandpa Rainey enjoyed the local horse races and put a little money on the ponies. My grandfather, Calvin Callcayah Smith was married to Bill Rainey’s third daughter, Gladys Vivian Rainey. My grandfather related the following incident from the late 1920s. His father-in-law, Bill Rainey and the family were in Fairfax. One of the purposes for this trip was to get all the signatures of the Osage land owners to lease land in the Big Bend. Only my grandpa knew his father-in-law also had money wagered on a horse in an upcoming race there in Fairfax. In fact, with a twinkle in his eye, he told my grandpa, “Go tell them I’m waiting to get just one more signature.” Grandpa clearly knew Mr. Rainey was stalling for time to see if his horse won. Anyone who knew my maternal grandpa would not be surprised that his father-in-law’s little subterfuge was safe since Grandpa was pretty tight-lipped.
              Bill and Rosie never saw eye to eye on his mule and horse trading. Once she even asked him about a mule that appeared to her to be lame. He replied, "Why Rosie, that's just the way he walks!" My mother said time proved Great-grandma Rainey was correct in her diagnosis of the mule.            
              Rosie occasionally questioned the wisdom of keeping so many mules and horses since each of them had to be fed. Bill would say, “Rosie, you’re a good worker but no manager.” No one, however, was surprised that soon after his death she quickly liquidated the equine stock.

 Tying Their Teams Together and Talking Politics

                Speaking of teams of horses – according to my father when he was a little boy, his father Edmund, Sr. enjoyed nothing more than meeting up with Mr. Rainey in Ralston or Fairfax. The two men would tie their teams together, one would ride in the wagon with the other, and would visit all the way to the Bend. Then upon arriving at the Belford School House, which was located just a half mile from my parents’ home today, to Dad’s utter chagrin, his father and Mr. Rainey might visit another hour. To a little preschooler, their visiting seemed endless, but little Edmund, Jr. knew better than to complain even though he was aching to go home. Children were to be seen and not heard. These two men were staunch supporters of the party of Lincoln. Both of their fathers would have voted for Abraham Lincoln. No matter how much their mothers admired Abe Lincoln, they never voted for him since women did not have the right to vote yet. Bill Rainey had been born just three years after Lincoln’s assassination, whereas Edmund, Sr. was born twelve years after that horrible event in the 1800s. Even though there was a nine- year age difference and one was born in Kansas while the other was born in Missouri, as Dad would say, “They ran together like two little black mules,” where their political views were concerned.

Ed Gates, Sr.  - political soulmate
 with Mr. Rainey

William Marion Rainey - 
The Man Who Loved Horses

   

Two Cousins on a Covered Wagon Excursion

The Territorial Adventures of Ed and Fred

            Edmund Sr., age 30, and Fred Serriere, age 20, prospected for a place to settle by following the railroad from Kansas into Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory in early 1907. On November 16, 1907, these two territories – Indian and Oklahoma- joined to become the 46^th state in the Union.
            Edmund, Sr. and Fred were first cousins. Edmund, Sr.’s mother Elizabeth and Fred’s mother Amanda were sisters. Fred and Ed had gotten close since Fred was living with Edmund, Sr.’s family because Fred’s father had failed to provide for him as well as being abusive and “kicking him around.” 
            Ed and Fred traveled in a covered wagon from Crawford County in Kansas.  They were looking for new land. Edmund and Fred were amazed to see the corn piled as high as it could be scooped at the railway stations. Seemingly the corn harvest for that year exceeded the amount the railroad cars could hold at the stations in Remington, Fairfax, Ralston,  Skedee, and the others all the way south as far as Chandler. Near Fairfax, they camped close to the railroad track located in the vicinity of the Robertson Addition.
           Fred shot craps winning as much as $1.50 some nights. Fred’s winnings financed their trip, but he was sometimes forced to fight his way out of a game! After reaching Chandler, they retraced their journey back to Kansas. Needless to say, both adventurers had tales to tell of the territories south of Kansas.

Fred Serriere and Edmund Gates, Sr. in 1960.
They were ages 73 and 83 respectively.

Three Freds and Three Eds

            Fred Serriere and Edmund Gates, Sr. married and had their children.  Their families enjoyed spending time visiting each other. Edmund, Sr. settled in the Big Bend rural community west of Ralston. The Serriere family lived in Blackwell, Oklahoma, with Fred working at the smelter there.  Since Fred Serriere’s family lived in town, they delighted in coming to the farm. The Gates family looked forward with anticipation to their visits.

When the two families got together, the comment was always made, “We have three Eds and three Freds.”

Edmund, Sr. named his second son after himself – Edmund, Jr. His next son was named Fredrick Daniel. His siblings referred to him affectionately as Freddie. So the Ed Gates family had two Eds and one Fred.

Earliest Photograph of Fredrick Daniel and Edmund Gates, Sr.

Fred and his wife Sarah named their second son Lawrence Fredrick. A vintage picture sent to Mamie, the wife of Edmund, Sr., from Sarah in 1911, identifies Lawrence Fredrick as Freddie. The photograph shows their youngest son, James Edward as just a baby. He was always called Eddie by family members. The Serriere family had two Freds and one Ed.

George, James Edward "Eddie", and Lawrence Fredrick "Freddie" Serriere.

It is sadly ironic that Freddie Gates and Freddie Serriere did not reach their twentieth birthdays. My father’s brother was struck and killed by lightning on his fourteenth birthday. Freddie Serriere died as the result of a car crash at age seventeen.

My father remained close to Eddie Serriere until Eddie’s death in 1998. They both shared the love of spinning family yarns, and whenever they got to visit each other, they did just that. 

Eddie Serriere and Edmund Gates, Jr. at the 1993 Gates Family Reunion



Alice Rainey - The Valentine Baby

A Special Aunt

  On February 14, 1902, in Sacred Heart, Oklahoma Territory, Alice Vertle Rainey was born to Mary Rosetta and William Marion Rainey. She already had two older sisters, Daisy Dean and Gladys Vivian along with one older brother, Lewis E.
  When just a young child, Alice contracted measles, and complications from this disease caused a permanent visual impairment. Seemingly, even though she could read large print and could write with larger letters, her education was limited due to her limited vision.

Left to right - Emma Maryann Rainey, Eugene Robert Rainey, & Alice Vertle Rainey. In the
forefront is Ethel Robinson, a family friend. (Thanks to Lou Brock for restoring this photograph.)

  This didn’t stop Alice from being a terrific cook, good housekeeper, and quite handy with the outdoor chores. One family story associated with her scrumptious cream pies involved her younger brother Gene. Alice had made a couple of cream pies anticipating “company” coming for Sunday dinner. To her chagrin, she set them out to cool, went for a visit, and returned to find her generous brother had taken them and shared with neighbors. She had a few choice words for him.

  Alice loved a good laugh, joking, and teasing, but as the above recollection reveals, she had the quick temper and tongue known to be present in the Rainey DNA! During an incredibly bitter cold snap, she was milking a cow, shivering in the frigid temperature and battling the howling wind when her father, a known prankster and joker, advised off-handedly to her, “Why don’t you get behind that barbed wire fence to warm up?”  No disrespect was intended, but Alice retorted to him using words that women in the early 20^th century were never to use.

Alice Rainey in her teens.

   William Marion Rainey died in August of 1931. Gladys and Alice were impacted by the death of their beloved father. Perhaps for the first time, the two of them faced their own mortality. Because of this, they were both converted under Brother Stalling’s preaching at the Belford Sunday School in September of that same year and then baptized. The word converted in that day and time meant that Alice and Gladys, my maternal grandmother, recognized they were sinners on a wrong path and asked Jesus to convert or change their lives enabling them to walk in His way.
   Alice’s youngest sister, Emma became a young widow and was alone without her adoring husband, facing providing for herself. She accepted a position of responsibility in the Government Printing Office in Washington, D. C. Emma had many suitors from bankers to railroad conductors to other men of prominence from many walks of life. Alice took great delight in teasing her sophisticated sister about these high-class, big city men.
    Alice died on July 8, 1951, in the Pawnee Hospital following a diagnosis of stomach cancer. Mother recalls the void her death left in the Rainey family, especially for her grandmother, Rosa, age 81, with whom Alice had lived all her life.
    I have heard from family members who knew and loved Alice how spirited and fun loving she was. She loved children, and they responded to her. My mother spent much time with her and never heard her complain about her blindness or use it as an excuse for being unable to attempt and accomplish a task. Over sixty years ago, Alice died before reaching the age of 50. Yet her life stands as a life to be patterned, with an absence of grumbling but a commitment to bring happiness and love to others.
    Valentine’s Day, Alice’s birthday, is all about love and giving love to others. Alice Vertle Rainey stands as a “Sweetheart” of expressing love, never seeking to receive love in return, but just loving others with all her heart.

Alice Rainey visiting with Edmund Gates, Jr. in the yard of the Rainey home.

Early Jobs of Edmund Gates, Sr.

   Edmund, Sr. came to Fairfax in the early 1900s and helped A.C. Hunsaker on plumbing jobs. In the book From a Field of Cane, The Early Years of Fairfax, Oklahoma 1903-1913, A.C. Hunsaker is identified as one of the early founders of Fairfax starting his long-running hardware, furniture, and undertaking businesses. Initially, these all operated out of the same building. Whether you needed a casket or gasket, you could get it from A.C. Hunsaker in the brand-spanking new town founded on February 16,1903! The forward-looking pioneers who had relocated from Gray Horse to this new government townsite would have kept Edmund, Sr. busy installing plumbing in their new homes and businesses.

   Edmund, Sr.’s cousin, Edith Gates Harrington, and her family had settled in Fairfax. Her husband A.C.--who coincidentally  had the same initials as Mr. Hunsaker, Grandpa's boss-- was installing acetylene lights. In the early 20^th century, streetlights and lights in buildings were often acetylene lights.
  In Edith's preteen years, Edmund, Sr. had been taken to her family's home from his own home where only sign language was used by his deaf parents.  For a period of time in Edmund, Sr.'s young life, in order to learn to speak, he had lived with Edith's family in Illinois. Edmund, Sr. seemed to have been influenced to come to the new town by his closeness to Edith. (My blog on December 1, 2013  Early Days of Edmund Gates, Sr. details the time Edmund, Sr. lived with Edith's family.)

Edith Gates Harrington and her husband, A.C. in

a photograph taken in 1936. Edith was a daughter

 of Edmund, Sr.'s uncle, Robert Bell Gates. Edith was

 seven years older than Edmund, Sr. She was born in

Woodbine, Illinois, in 1870.

  Edmund, Sr. evidently then headed back home to Kansas only to be once again disillusioned with a family farm partnership with his father, John Fredrick, and his brother, John. (See blog post of September 1, 2013, entitled He Was Paid for His Wheat in GOLD! to read of an earlier business disagreement with John.) My grandfather, Edmund, Sr. was driven to succeed and wanted to reinvest as much as possible in the family farm operation to increase productivity. John, his brother, wanted to sell cattle to buy a ring for his girlfriend, Ethel. Grandpa viewed this as a frivilous, extravagant, and totally impractical reason to sell livestock, and therefore a business move he could in no way support.

John Fredrick Gates, Jr., the only brother of Edmund, Sr.,

was born on September 12, 1882, in Mulberry, Kansas.

   Upset over John's decision, Edmund, Sr. went to Montrose, Colorado, to help dynamite out and build the Gunnison Tunnel. History shows this project took the lives of many men who built it. The Gunnison Tunnel was constructed from 1904-1909. He mentioned later to Edmund, Jr., my father, that he damaged his ears working on the Gunnison Tunnel. Evidently, Grandpa’s hearing impairment was not entirely due to heredity.