My grandfather. Granville Moody Whiteman, and his brothers, Albert Leroy, Charles (Charlie) and William Elmer all settled in Cowley County, in what is known as the Upper Timber Creek community, in the northeast corner of the county. Except for Elmer, who never married, they raised their families in that community, within a few miles of each other and their children attended the Upper Timber Creek rural grade school.

Their father, William Rapier Whiteman, had two marriages. His first wife, Mary J. McFarland, was the mother of Martha Ann, Albert Leroy,, Granville Moody and another daughter, Althea J. (Allie). After Mary died, he married Nancy Elizabeth Applegate. Children of his second marriage were Jennie M., Benjamin Franklin, Charles Edward, Levi D. William Elmer. and Annie Laura.

All his children except Annie Laura were born before he moved to Kansas. William Rapier’s first location in Kansas was in the vicinity of Walnut, Kansas in Crawford, County.

Plot for the Upper Timber Creek Friends Church was donated by Orville John Whiteman, son of Granville Moody, and Orville’s wife, Alberta Calvin Whiteman. Alberta had come to the community to teach the rural school there, her first position after graduating from High School in Winfield and receiving her credentials to teach in a rural school. It was there that she met Orville and after having taught the eight month school term, she and Orville were married in May of that year. They lived all their married life on their farm, adjoining the school and the church after it was located on the land they donated for that purpose Their children attended and graduated from the eight years of grade school there, before three of them went on to graduate from the high school in Atlanta.

After the church was made available (before this, services were held in the school house) then a parsonage was also put there. I know that at least part of this parsonage had formerly been a part of Charlie and Mary Whiteman’s house. Mary was a sister to Jennie Parker, who lived in the community, also. She was the wife of George Parker. Their children attended Grand Center school, not far from Upper Timber Creek school. With larger families and less transportation, school districts were smaller and closer together in this period.

There is still land owned and in some cases lived on, that was a part of the property of the very early settlers of this time, including some of the Whitemans. A granddaughter and grandson of Charlie and Mary Whiteman, a widow of a grandson of Granville and Ada Whiteman, and a grandson of theirs as well, also land owned by a grand daughter.

Family of Granville Moody Whiteman and his wife, Ada Lucinda Whiteman.  On the back row  is Albert Paul, to his left in the picture is Claudia and another sister,  Grace Buenta .  On the front is Granville, Orville John, Ada Lucinda, and Ida.  The small child is William Stephen, always called Willie. As of this writing, May, 2003, none of the group including their spouses are living, nor have they been for a number of years.

      We began pastoral work at Timber Creek on September 1, 1940 and our salary was $400 per year. We lived in Albert Whitman's two-story house and we also had a cellar, henhouse, barn, and garden. We paid 38 cents a month for a farmers line telephone (party line). In the spring I worked on the fence posts, trees, and other chores around the place. I worked 3 days for the township and earned $3.00 per day. The work consisted of using a shovel to load a truck with high side boards, putting gravel on the roads, and using a team and slip to get gravel from the creek bed.

     I also worked for Carol Cranston for 35 cents an, hour. I fed cattle from the trench silo and used two mules to pull the hayrack back in the silo. One day when I was at the Cranston house I called Carolyn on the telephone about a problem we had been having with Clyde Jamison's 3 sows getting in our garden and hen house. Knowing that Clyde would be listening in on the party line, I told Carolyn to get the gun and go shoot the sows. Sure enough, Clyde showed up pretty quick, on his horse, and drove the sows back home. We never saw the sows in our garden again.

     Bryant schoolhouse was for sale by sealed bid. We bid $425.00 for the school and coalhouse. The men of the church met after church and consisted of Granddad, Albert, Willie & Orval Whiteman, and Carl Parker (Biddie). Orval, Carl Parker, and I looked at the building and made the bid. Alberta Whiteman, Willie Whiteman and one other person were on the school board. We moved the Bryant schoolhouse to its present location and did some remodeling to the church building by adding a room on the back and a front porch. We were able to finish the project because it was started before rationing went into effect. No new construction was allowed because of the war. One day I was mowing pasture with a 10-20 Farmal tractor with rubber tires in front and steel wheels in the back when I had an appendicitis attack. I had been riding on the draw bar and it "'as very rough riding. Carolyn took me to the Wesley Hospital in Wichita for an appendectomy operation. The appendix had ruptured and I spent 13 days in the hospital before being sent home with a drainage tube that was still draining.

     Francis and Alice Lofland, who lived in Wichita, visited us one Sunday afternoon and told us about Japan bombing Pearl Harbor that morning. The next day we were filling the silo for Albert Whiteman and at dinner they told us that President Roosevelt had declared war on Japan. Remember Pearl Harbor Dec. 7, 1941.

     Carl Jamison drove us to Winfield for Stanley's birth. We ran out of gas north of Winfield so we walked to a farmhouse and borrowed one gallon of white gas to finish our trip. Stanley was born Sept. 8, 1942.

     When Stanley was born, the proud father was showing some of the church people the newborn babies. An embarrassing moment occurred when he picked out the wrong baby to show the folks.

     Carolyn stayed with Orvin and Daisy Hollingsworth in Wichita a few days after Stanley was born. Orvin, the blind piano tuner, stayed with us a few days at Timber Creek and also later at Cold Springs.

     Vivian Hickman taught school from 1940-1941 and boarded at the parsonage with us in Timber Creek. Vivian later married Herbert Thornburg.

     One afternoon we were asked to sit with Ida Whiteman, who lived with Granddad and Grandma Whiteman. Ida came out of her room all dressed up and wearing high-heeled pumps. She said she ordered her clothes from the catalog. She didn't go anywhere. She just stayed in her room. The "rumor" was that she had dated a young man that her parents had forbidden her to marry. She had decided to make them care for her the rest of her life.

     IN THE LATE FALL OF 1931 A GROUP OF NEIGHBORHOOD WOMEN DECIDED TO MAKE A QUILT TOP AND GIVE TO CORA LAMB, OUR CHURCH PASTOR, AT THE TIME. OUT OF THIS MOVEMENT SPRANG THE DESIRE FOR A CLUB, OR SEWING CIRCLE, AT WHICH NEIGHBOR WOMEN COULD BRING THEIR SEWING AND IN THE MEAN TIME GET BETTER ACQUAINTED, GAIN RECREATION AND PROMOTE A FEELING OF FRIENDLINESS AND GOOD WILL IN OUR COMMUNITY.

     IT'S ACTIVITIES LATER GREW TO GIVING FLOWERS AND GIFTS TO THE SICK, SHOWERS AND MANY OTHER DEEDS OF KINDNESS AND USEFULNESS. THE SOCIETY WAS ORGANIZED IN MIDWINTER 1931..32, AT THE HOME OF CLAUDIA JAMISON, WITH ETHEL WINDSOR AS PRESIDENT.

     THE SOCIETY MEETS EVERY 2 WEEKS AT THE HOMES OF THE MEMBERS SERVING REFRESHMENTS EACH TIME. IN A LITTLE MORE THAN 7 YEARS OF THE EXISTENCE OF OUR ORGANIZATION, ONE ORIGINAL MEMBER, CORA WHITEMAN (MRS. ALBERT), HAS PASSED TO HER REWARD, MANY OTHERS HAVE MOVED TO OTHER PLACES AND NEW MEMBERS HAVE come  in.

A complete list of membership covering the 7 years: 1932-1937.

     BELOW ARE LISTED SOME OF THE THINGS OUR CLUB HAS ACCOMPLISHED: GIVEN STORK SHOWERS FOR: EDNA WILLCUTS, EDRIE PARKER, LAVINA KRUG, ESTHER DEDMAN, MANEVA WHITEMAN, MANILA SMITH, SELMA WHITEMAN, LEONA CRANSTON, ALBERTA WHITEMAN. BABY BASKET TO SELMA WHITEMAN (FOR BABY BARBARA ARLENE), SHAWL FOR RHONDA DENNETT, SHOWER FOR FRANCES GUTHRIE.

     SHOWERS FOR THE FOLLOWING BRIDES: MAE KOONCE, ESTHER DEDMAN, MELBA JEAN WILSON, MAUDIE STEWART, CLARA LANIER AND RUTH ELLA LAWRENCE, LUELLA PARSONS, DOROTHY WILSON, AND MAE ELLEN JAMISON.

     GOING AWAY GIFTS WERE GIVEN, AS WELL AS FLOWERS AND GIFTS FOR THE SICK. GIFTS TO THOSE IN THE HOSPITAL WERE MARILYNN LEE, VIRGINIA Fox, RUSSELL WHITEMAN, GERALD WILSON AND HAROLD KASTER.

     THE CLUB ENTERTAINED OUR FAMILIES ONCE A YEAR WITH A PROGRAM AND SUPPER. ALSO ENTERTAINED OUR MOTHERS OR OTHER MOTHERS WITH A PROGRAM AND LUNCHEON ON MOTHERS DAY, MAY, 1937 AT THE HOME OF SELMA WHITEMAN. EACH CHRISTMAS WE HAVE EXCHANGE OF GIFTS AND HAD CHRISTMAS TREE AND PROGRAM AT THE HOMES OF MAUD SHIELDS, MANEVA WHITEMAN, ESTELLA PETERSON, FLORENCE FOX, ALBERTA WHITEMAN, ETHEL WINDSOR AND RHONDA DENNETT.

     FOR THE PAST 2 YEARS WE HAVE DRAWN NAMES FOR MYSTERY FRIENDS AND GIVEN GIFTS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. WE HAVE GUESSED ON THE MYSTERY BOX, THE LUCKY ONE BRINGS THE MYSTERY BOX TO THE NEXT MEETING.

     SEWING THE SOCIETY HAS DONE: GAVE TEA TOWEL SHOWER FOR EACH MEMBER, PIECED A QUILT TOP FOR EACH MEMBER, TACKED 2 COMFORTERS FOR MRS. SCHOOLEY, TACKED 2 COMFORTERS FOR SELMA WHITEMAN. HAD ALL DAY QUILTING AND COVERED DISH LUNCHEON AT THE HOMES OF IDA LANIER, GRACE HAWLEY, MAUD SHIELDS, FLORENCE Fox, ESTELLA PETERSON, ALBERTA WHITEMAN AND MATTIE PARKER.

     WE SERVED A PUBLIC DINNER AT WINFIELD AND CLEARED $32.57. OTHER DINNERS AT FARM SALES WE CLEARED $3.00, $7.00 AND $10. WE PURCHASED ARTICLES FOR THE COMMUNITY OF HALF DOZ. FOLDING CHAIRS, 5 DOZ. SPOONS, 4 DOZ. TIN CUPS, HELPED PAY FOR PIANO AND GAVE $4.00 TO THE CHURCH FOR MISSIONARY PURPOSES AND PAID $5.00 ON IRON LUNG FUND.

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