Sarah Francis

	Garvin County County Seat - Pauls Valley
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Sarah Francis (Howard) WINTERS
Information furnished by Amy Southall

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1937 WPA Pioneer History Interview

My name is Amy Southall, and my great-great-grandmother was Sarah Francis (Howard) Winters who says in her 1937 WPA Pioneer history interview that she was born 14 Nov 1861 in Montgomery County , MO to Cornelius Clark & Mary (Greenwell) Howard. She married John William Winters 16 Nov 1877, but we aren�t for sure where, whether it was in or near Pauls Valley or Wynnewood, near where their first 5 of 13 children were born in the Chickasaw Nation, IT, before moving to Southwest Oklahoma and homesteading in Warren, or whether they were married in Ft. Gibson, IT, or even Ft. Smith, AR, where martial law was enforced.

Sarah came with her family to the Indian Territory in about 1875, whereas John had come in about 1872. He drove freight wagons, transporting goods to and from the IT.

Within the first 4 pages of the 6-page interview, Sarah mentions Smith Paul and Joe Paul, as well as the death of Smith�s son Sam, whom she says she knew very well, by son Joe (no detail); of Jinks Maxfield on whose land her father farmed, as well as Harriet Hester from whom they later rented land, stating that Harriet�s husband, Joe, was killed by a US Deputy Marshal supposedly in a whiskey raid.

On page 3, she begins mention of the principal crops, cotton and corn, and that most of the corn was sold to Fort Sill as well as some garden vegetables they raised. They took the corn to the watermill on Rock Creek for grounding. They took their cotton to the water-powered cotton gin, which apparently was also in or near Rock Creek.

On page 3, she mentions Jim Gardner�s pasture fence being the first barbed wire fence she had ever seen.

Her husband, John William Winters, who is of Irish and Cherokee heritage but was orphaned and raised as White in or near Ft. Smith, apparently lived at the mill in Cherokee Town at least in 1874�1876 per Ft. Smith court dockets regarding a misunderstanding in the sale of a pony by John Winters, originally purchased from John Paul (the case was dismissed).

I first came across Cherokee Town by way of the dockets through another Winters researcher. I wish I could find court record of Sarah & John�s marriage but don�t know where to look or even if there would be a surviving record.

Maybe this can help in the whole historic picture of the area. I would like to find other hard information, i.e., land records, etc., on my Winters family.

Thanks,

Amy Southall

jeffsouthall@cox.net

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