Miracles at the Little House

                  Bernyce Gates, my mother, was born 1.5 miles west of where she lives now. Almost everyone was born at home in 1924, her birth year. Later she lived in a little house with her parents, Gladys Vivian Rainey Smith and Calvin Callcayah Smith, located near the Arkansas River about 2.5 miles south of my parents’ present home. My grandparents leased the Oliver Morton place. Oliver Morton was the great-great-grandfather of Donna White Renfro, Lisa White Crabtree, Teresa White Smith, Joe White, and the late Anna White Vance. Presently in the Bend, Cassi Rice Fesler’s family lives closest to the Morton place. The place is now farmed by David Crabtree.

Oliver Morton, original Osage allottee and owner of the land
leased by my grandparents. (courtesy Osage Tribal Museum)

                Mother succinctly recalls the little two-room house with her baby bed and her parents’ bed on the east side of the front door adjacent to a sitting room on the west side. The length of her parents’ bed spanned half the length of the front room. Only a 4-foot divider separated their sleeping area from a sitting area on the west side of the front door. The second room in the house was a kitchen/dining room located at the back of the house. The house was approximately 10 feet by 14 feet giving them a whopping 140 square feet! Wow! Times have changed.

The little house on the Oliver Morton place. Mother's baby bed was positioned
under the window on the left. She reminded me to notice no electrical lines
were coming into the house. No one at that time had electricity in the Bend.

               In 1928, Mother was a sick, little girl suffering from a severe case of pneumonia. Her recovery was miraculous since another lady in the community, Dona Ada Snow also suffered from pneumonia at that same time and died in her early 40s, leaving her husband, Asa Snow and seven children. Later Mother’s uncle, Gene Rainey married Raucie Snow, one of Mrs. Snow’s daughters.

                Diphtheria, a serious disease affecting the throat and damaging the heart and nervous system, has all but been eradicated in the 21^st century due to immunizations. However, Mother and my grandmother, Gladys acquired the disease in the mid-1920s. At that time in history, it was believed that cats could transmit it to humans. Mother’s parents had been unsuccessful in deterring stray cats from going under the porch of their little house. It is now believed it is transmitted in much the same way as a common cold.
                Both Grandmother and Mother were seriously ill. Grandpa was working in the field. As the day wore on, their condition worsened. Almost miraculously, Dr. E. N. Lipe appeared at their home. He had received a phone call from a “Smith” asking him to come to their home. In actuality, the call was from the Smith family living in the north Bend area located northwest of Fairfax and much closer to Ponca City. Dr. Lipe assumed it was my mother’s family and traveled from Fairfax west to the Big Bend.

Dr. E.N. Lipe practiced medicine in
Fairfax. His wife was the city librarian.

                Upon arrival at the little house, Dr. Lipe began to explain he was responding to the telephone call. Grandma, in her weakened condition, explained they hadn’t called. No one in the Bend had phone service in those early days! He realized immediately the grave situation and went into action giving Grandma and Mother injections and prescribing medicine to take as further treatment to insure their full recovery. Since tens of thousands died during that century in the United States, it does seem that God intervened directing Dr. Lipe to their home. Incidentally, the other little girl for whom Dr. Lipe had been called also recovered even though the doctor didn’t get to their home as soon as they expected.
                Obviously, God had a plan for both my mother and grandmother. Grandma in her twenties had not faced her own mortality or even thought about life after death. She would confront and deal with both these issues in 1931. (See the blog post entitled Alice Rainey – The Valentine Baby posted on February 9, 2014.)
                Childhood death was much higher in the early 20^th century. When researching family history from previous centuries, it becomes obvious that most families were touched by death – either a baby, a child, or even a parent with complications from common illnesses such as influenza. Many women died in childbirth. So it was a sort of miracle for Dr. Lipe to go to the wrong family with a desperate need for medical attention and in turn, preserve one little family living in a little house.

Calvin Callcayah, Bernyce, and Gladys Vivian Rainey Smith
in front of the "New" house that replaced the little miracle
house. Mother and her family were so proud of that new house.