The First Language of Edmund Gates, Sr.

                My paternal grandfather, Edmund Sr., the firstborn son of Elizabeth Studebaker Gates and John Fredrick Gates, was born 145 years ago into a silent home. Both of his parents were designated as “deaf” on U. S. census reports.

                Elizabeth had been born in 1851 to a preacher/farmer, Daniel Studebaker. Great-great grandpa Daniel, unlike many of his era, valued education for girls. He was more advanced and informed than many fathers. Daniel learned of a relatively new way for the deaf to communicate, American Sign Language. Being a man of faith, he must have considered the opening of the Kansas School for the Deaf a gift from God. He enrolled his beloved ten-year-old Elizabeth in the new school at Baldwin about thirty miles from their home. The two arrived with ham, butter, and eggs as a down payment on her tuition. Daniel promised the delivery of a wagon load of corn the following week for the final tuition payment. Elizabeth, the first enrollee of the Kansas School for the Deaf, studied diligently for six years and worked at the school, too. (To view a photograph of the first KSD building, go to:https://bernadeanjgates.blogspot.com/2013/10/education-of-elizabeth-studebaker-gates.html)

                John Fredrick Gates came into the world on January 4, 1840, in Jacksonville, Illinois, as a healthy baby boy to Passingfair and Edmund Gates.  At age 14, he contracted scarlet fever and typhoid fever. The young man regained his health but lost his hearing. My father said his grandfather accompanied his friends to the train station as they departed to fight for the Union in the Civil War, but because of John’s disability he could not serve.

                By the 1870 United States Census, John Fredrick was in Crawford County, Kansas, on a farm with his real estate valued at $2,300. Land in Crawford County in 1880 was valued at $11/acre. John Fredrick must have had a “spread” of at least 200 acres.

John Fredrick and Elizabeth Studebaker Gates

                Elizabeth, age 25, and John Fredrick, age 35, met and within a week they were married. The following year my grandfather was born. Their marriage lasted 41 years until John Fredrick’s death.

                Grandpa could sign fluently since signing was the only means of communicating in his home with his deaf parents. His father drove his team of horses with sounds he made. By the time, Grandpa was age three, he had a five-month-old sister. Since both of their children were not hearing impaired, John Fredrick realized little Edmund needed to learn to verbally speak English. He was taken to Illinois to live with John Fredrick’s brother, Robert and his family. Great-grandpa’s plan was for little Edmund to return and teach his little sister, Merry (pronounced like "Marie").

This reportedly is the
earliest photograph of
Edmund Gates, Sr. Mother 
questioned this photograph.
I told her Martha Gates
Johnston gave this copy to
Dad following Grandma's
death. I think the blondish
hair caused her to quiz me,
but my father's earliest 
photo shows a little blonde
toddler! I only knew Dad 
with black or gray hair.* 

                Even though my grandfather learned to speak verbally from his Uncle Robert's family, then returned to teach his siblings, Merry, Ella, and John, to speak,  Grandpa struggled with his profound hearing loss. My father and his siblings mentioned that Grandpa declared his hearing worsened after he worked in Colorado on the construction of the Gunnison Tunnel before his marriage with no hearing protection while incessant dynamite charges exploded around him. 

                Grandpa, an extrovert, embarrassed both Uncle Jim and Uncle Herb at funerals when he insisted on talking to them and asked questions. Uncle Jim said when he tried to answer softly, Grandpa retorted, "Speak up! I can't hear you." Uncle Jim had to forget about funeral protocol and answer Grandpa in a bold voice that he (and everyone else at the funeral) could hear. (I was almost 10 years old when Grandpa died. I never could converse with Grandpa because I couldn't project my voice loudly enough.)

                My father stated that after his brother was struck and killed by lightning, his parents became Christians. Grandma faithfully attended worship services, but Grandpa's hearing deficit kept him from trying to attend. For this reason, I so wish my grandpa could have attended a church with a sign language interpreter. Grandpa enjoyed music. He could have signed along and have sung with his voice. What a change that could have made in his worship experience since sign language was his first language! 

*To read more about the blonde revelation, go to: https://bernadeanjgates.blogspot.com/2020/06/the-blonde-mystery-solved.html

The Prize Fight the Gates Boys Missed

Major Disappointment for the Gates Boys

On the evening of June 22, 1938, Edmund, Jr., age 19, along with his brothers, Jess, age 14, Herbert, age 9, and Jim, age 7, hopped onto Old Bertie, a gentle mare. They were headed to Glen and Fern Anson’s home to listen to the rematch between the famed boxers, Max Schmeling of Germany and Joe Lewis of the United States. Of course, the radio was the most advanced method of communication, but the Gates family had none. The Gates boys were thrilled to have been invited to the Anson home for the sports event of the summer. They had been looking forward to hearing this boxing match from New York City for many days.           Max Schmeling had defeated Lewis two years earlier. This had fueled the fire of Nazism in Germany. All America was interested in this rematch. The four Gates brothers had anticipated hearing the fight with their neighbors. For Edmund, Jr. getting to listen to the boxing match with one of his close friends, Arthur Wulf just made the evening that much better.  Arthur and Dorothy, his sister, had come to live with the Anson family. Edmund, Jr. and Arthur both enjoyed being active and became best friends when Arthur moved to the Bend.          That evening as Old Bertie carried Edmund, Jr., Jess, Herbert, and Jim over the dirt road east of their house, they met Nat Abington, the grandfather of Sam Abington, at the bridge about one mile northeast of their farm with unbelievable news.  The boys couldn't believe their ears when they heard Mr. Abington say, “Boys, the fight is over. Lewis won.”          Edmund, Jr. reluctantly turned the mare around and headed back home. The boys with their crushed hopes of a fun night trudged into the bunk house after reporting to their parents of missing the whole prize fight. In the early 20th century, there was no NBA Championship series, no Super Bowl, no NCAA March Madness in college basketball, and only five bowl games played by the top college football teams. In the 21st century, when some major sporting event can be viewed almost every night, it is hard to understand how much their excitement must have built in anticipation of this rematch, and in turn, how dejected and disappointed the four boys must have been that night as they drifted off to sleep to awaken at dawn for another day of summer work in the field.        History revealed Lewis knocked out Schmeling in just over two minutes. In the Great Depression of the 1930s, this victory instantly gave Americans a real-live hero in Joe Lewis when the decade had been permeated by bleakness and the despair of the economic collapse and the Dust Bowl. Jim, Herbert, Jess, and Edmund Gates at the first Gates Reunion at Lake Ponca in the early 1970s

Fredrick Daniel Gates - born
June 16, 1921, died June 16, 
1935.

      This past week prompted thoughts of the Gates brother who remained a teen in the hearts and memories of the Gates family. Earlier this week on June 16th, Mother and I discussed how that day marked the 101st birthday of Fredrick Daniel. Ironically, we recalled 87 years ago on Freddie’s 14th birthday on Sunday, June 16th, he was struck and killed by lightning.
      I reread Dad’s closing thoughts about his younger brother’s death and posted them below. I realized and am reminded goodness can emerge from a devastating event.

Papa seldom worked on Sunday after that Sunday that Fredrick was killed. (Prior to Fredrick's death, the Gates family worked seven days a week.) He and Mama became Christians as a result of our family’s tragedy.  Even though we had no car they* tried to attend the Pentecost Holiness Church that was located on the northwest corner of what is now Carl Goad’s property. 

*Usually, Grandma attended with the children because Grandpa’s profound hearing impairment made church services, funerals, etc. frustrating. Every time I view a worship service being interpreted for the deaf by a sign language interpreter, I think how much Grandpa would have benefited from it.

Money Can't Buy That

              June 15^th will mark 103 years since my father’s birth on the northwest part of the south bend of the Arkansas River in Osage County. This area is commonly referred to as “the Bend.”

            Dad and his brothers had so many pithy sayings that conveyed truth or explained a situation precisely in a few words. I’ve written before about his favorite witticisms. (A link to this blog post is at: https://bernadeanjgates.blogspot.com/2015/06/witty-wisecracks-and-wisdom-of-edmund.html )

            One that I have found myself using repeatedly is Money can’t buy that. Every time I am shown a new baby, I usually respond with Money can’t buy that, especially if the young parent knew Dad. I have yet to have a new mother or father disagree with the statement. Only God can truly create life even with the latest genetic scientific discoveries. Life still begins with God.

            When a gravely ill person regains health even though death seems imminent, Dad’s adage applies. Only God holds life and death in His hand. The couple with a marriage that appears doomed to irreparable brokenness finds themselves resigned to its dissolution. Upon the marriage’s reclamation, the couple rejoices that even though Money can’t buy a good marriage, theirs is much better than it originally was. Again, only God can change our wills and attitudes to conform to harmony in relationships instead of hatred.

            I glimpse situations beyond my control daily. Sometimes it seems I pray moment by moment for God’s guidance and resolution of cattle/farm issues. Without fail, He interjects Himself on my behalf. The outcome frequently is not as I had expected but always working for the best, as He promises in Romans 8:28.

            Every person, atheist, agnostic, or believer, experiences the goodness of God innumerable times. If we recognize that gift of lovingkindness from God’s hand, we will join Dad in saying, “Money can’t buy that.” These verses bear out God’s goodness and are verses worth meditating on daily.

            The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth. Exodus 34:6

                The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works. Psalm 145:9

            The habit of looking for provisions that money can’t buy illumines a life and creates an awareness of God’s presence. Often at a moment of weakness, despondency, or disillusionment, the Father of Lights (see James 1:17) becomes so visible with His intangible gifts for us.

            His most lavish gift is His Son sent to be the payment for our sin. With His own death, He provides what we never could. God’s justice demands our sins be covered for us to be forgiven and brought into a right relationship with God. Paul wrote of this in Romans 4:7 – Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. As Dad would say, Money can’t buy that.

My father, Mother, Angie, Ben, and Myself
One of our last family vacations in Branson in July of 2010. 

Vacation Bible School in 2004

Front: Samantha Snyder, Melissa McInturf, Jaden
Bentley, Shelbie Dorris, Erin Taylor, Harrison
Redden, Kyle Silsby. Back: Emily Haynes, Jordan
McInturf, and Brittany McInturf (Hoagland)

            18 years ago, Ralston children enjoyed Vacation Bible School. What a difference almost two decades can make!

            In 2004, kids sang songs, learned the motto, scripture passage, and pledges from large handwritten posters each of the five nights. Kids were invited by snail mail postcards, phone calls on landlines, and door-to-door flyers.

Leslie Fast, Nolan Bratton, D. J. Bartlett, Torie
Turner, Kelsie Fast, Lara Dooley, Kim Smith, and
Kaylee Terry

            Now what seems a light year’s leap ahead, the catchy song lyrics, motto, scripture passage, and pledges appear on the large screens at the front of the church in cool, colorful graphics. Almost every child’s family has access to posts from the church’s Facebook page and all children can be notified almost immediately all at once. 

Madison Davis, C. D. Silsby, Andrew Swafford,
Preston Dorris, Marcie Turner, Amber Wilson,
Dalton Crenshaw, Sierra Palmer, Kelsey Conner,
Destonie Dorris 

            Yet some things about Vacation Bible School remain the same. A necessary requirement is a staff of dedicated teachers and workers. A good VBS must have caring parents wanting their children to learn truths from the Bible. Another key ingredient in a successful Bible school is a bunch of kids who attend each of the five sessions. Finally, nobody attends Bible school without learning Jesus is God’s Son who loves each kid so much He came to earth, lived as a human who was fully God, and gave His life on a Roman cross for the purpose of paying for the sins of people.

Dylan Shannon, Dylan's cousin Jessica, Mercedes Bartlett, Robbie Kennedy, 
Tommy Hillsberg, Skylar Yarber, Jordy Brandenburg, Joe Harp

            Whether in our 21^st century or in the 1960s when my 97-year-old mother taught children that God who created them wants each of them to receive Jesus. With slim resources and her Bible, Mother impacted children who still comment about that fun time over 55 years ago. What a wonderful promise that anyone who receives Jesus can have a relationship with Him that begins here on earth and will continue eternally!

All PreK - 5^th graders are invited to 

2022 Vacation Bible School 

at the Ralston Baptist Church each evening from 6 – 8:30 p.m., 

Sunday-Thursday, June 5 – 9.